"Men Seeking Women" is a genuinely entertaining collection of stories that all, in one way or another, center around sexual relations on the internet (with the curious exception of the last story by Po Bronson which, while good, doesn't seem to have anything to do with the rest of the collection). This is a really strong group of stories that explores the impact of the internet on the interactions between the sexes in a variety of different ways and from a variety of different angles. Some of the stories were better than others, of course, but I particularly liked "Payback Time" by Gary Krist, which takes as its theme the way men develop powerful crushes on enigmatic women they encounter on-line but of whom they know nothing; "Minesweeper" by David Liss, which is about a serial internet liar and how he justifies his awful behavior to himself; "The Face in the Glass" by Paul Hond, which is basically just effective and creepy; and "Prisoners of the Heart" which is, perhaps, not particularly realistic, but a whole lot of fun.

La investigación de la muerte de su padre y el socio de este llevan a Bemjamin Weaver al desconocido mundo de la naciente Bolsa de Londres, sus intrigas, manipulaciones, estafas, mentiras y crimenes. Muy bien logradas las descripciones que el autor hace del Londres de principios del siglo XIX, sus clases sociales, condiciones de vida, criminalidad, etc.

THE COFFEE TRADER is not an intellectually challenging book, although it is somewhat informative and a mildly inviting "summer" read. The setting is Amsterdam in the mid-17th Century. If you love all things Dutch you will probably enjoy the book more than if you do not. On the other hand, if want to know more about the Netherlands during the age of Rembrandt and don't want to engage in the taxing business of reading history, this little book may suit.

The main character, a Portuguese Jew name Miguel Lienzo, has escaped the Inquisition in his native country and is living in Amsterdam in the midst of a community of Jewish refugees. Although the author refers to him as a merchant, Miguel is really an early version of the Wall Street trader, whose fortunes are won and lost via buying and selling commodities-commodities he may not even possess. Commodities exchange is a zero sum game-someone only wins if someone else loses. If you eschew this type of business venture, you may not sympathize with the protagonist.

At the beginning of the book, Miguel, a reasonably devout Jew, has lost his way financially through a series of missteps associated with a failed sugar deal. In addition, his trading has affected the welfare of several others who now view him as an enemy. Miguel is about to embark on a new enterprise involving coffee that he hopes will remake his fortune. In the meantime, while he waits to recoup his fortune, he lives in the wet basement of a canal house owned by his brother Daniel who is described as a "merchant." In addition to Daniel and Miguel, the house is occupied by Hannah, Daniel's wife (a closet Catholic), and Annetje a Dutch housemaid. Other Jewish and Dutch characters populate the book, and many of them including Miguel's business partner, a mysterious Dutch widow, elicit some interest.

The first three hundred pages of the book were well enough written that I finished the book in spite of finding the last 50 pages less than satisfying. There are too many characters, and some of the most important are not well developed. Although the plot shows some promise, I think the author failed to deliver the goods because the plot fizzles and the loose ends are clumsily handled. Everything that happens could have happened, but much of it is not plausible given the foreshadowing. It's almost as if the author became tired of his creation and decided to finish it when it was half-done.

I loved Liss's first book, A Conspiracy of Paper, but I have to say I think I love The Coffee Trader even more. This one is set in 17th century Amsterdam and concerns a trader's efforts to get a monopoly on coffee just as coffee is first emerging in Europe. This novel moves and feels like a thriller, and I kept turning pages late into the night to find out what happens next, but Liss doesn't rely on tricks used by cheap thrillers ' no piles of bodies or burning buildings, etc. His protagonist's anxiety about debt, ruin and humiliation make this novel moving and real and very, very compelling.

Liss tackles a number of tough topics here: commodities speculation in the 1600s, the insularity and paranoia of the Amsterdam Jewish population, the corrupting nature of trade, and so on. He clearly knows his stuff, and I walked away from the book feeling like I had received a great history lesson, but the book never gets bogged down with details. Probably because the characters are so believable and compelling. Every character has some kind of secret agenda, but it is never what you think, and the novel's conclusion is risky, but very, very satisfying.

This is the best historical novel I've read in years. It is suspenseful, funny and addictive. Even people who don't like historicals should check it out.

The Coffee Trader immediately engages the reader in a vibrant world of intrigue and high-stakes speculation in an unlikely but wonderfully exotic setting-- Amsterdam in the middle of the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. It is a story of loyality vs. betrayal, honesty vs. duplicity, familial battles and unpredictable alliiances. David Liss has managed to capture the colorful world of Sephardic Jews, who having escaped the inferno of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition, struggle to find their identity in their New Jerusalem, the sometimes not-so-tolerant Dutch Republic. The story centers around Miguel Lienzo, a Jewish commodities trader who hatches a plan to corner the market in a newly discovered commodity--coffee--and become rich overnight. His challenge is to keep his plan a secret from those who would scheme against him, including members of his own family and community. The Coffee Trader serves not only as a primer on the history of the coffee trade, but a lesson on the mechanics of trading techniques on the first modern commodities exchange-- the Bourse in Amsterdam. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the Dutch Republic, Sephardic Jewry; coffee lovers and futures traders."

From the immediately engaging narrative voice of the protagonist, Benjamin Weaver, to vibrant descriptions of history and place and character, to lucid explanations of the workings of early financial markets, A Conspiracy of Paper, by David Liss, succeeds admirably. He strikes the right balance in the language of the book with his nods to both eighteenth-century prose style and the modern reader's sensibilities. Barring any glaring incongruities, compromises to accuracy in language and detail in historical fiction are acceptable, perhaps even preferred, if they improve the author's ability to communicate to a general audience of modern readers. In other words, it's my bias that history serves the fiction.

Yes, the plot is convoluted. Liss succumbs to the misguided notion, rampant among mystery writers, that complexity and cleverness in plotting are necessarily synonymous. And violence, certainly, is an effective method of getting to the heart of a matter. But Weaver's reversion to violence in the last 50 pages, after struggling with his friend Elias' deductive method for hundreds of pages, seems too much a deus ex machina, as though Liss had painted himself into a corner and couldn't find a way out.

These couple of reservations aside, A Conspiracy of Paper is an engrossing historical mystery.

A historical novel is a wonderful way to learn about the past, and A Conspiracy of Paper most certainly fits that bill. David Liss did a great job of not letting plot suffer so he could develop historical detail, or vice versa. All of the characters were very well developed, and the plot moved along quickly with surprises around many a corner. I found the relationships between the characters to be real and interesting, and learned so many quirky little details from reading this novel -- about boxing, the beginnings of the stock market, even the origins of the phrase "to double cross someone." I've seen many comparisons to Caleb Carr, and I suppose that they make sense -- chances are that if you enjoyed The Alienist or The Angel of Darkness, you'll like A Conspiracy of Paper. An informative and enjoyable read -- it will be difficult to put the book down until you know who Mr. Rochester is!

A Conspiracy of Paper is without a doubt the best historical mystery I have ever read-- suspense-filled, clever, filled with period detail, and written in a narrative voice evocative of the 18th-c without being precious or pretentious. Liss has created a hero who is irresistable and vastly complex. What makes this novel particularly remarkable is its pairing of financial intrigue with the development of probability theory, which is used to wonderful effect. The attention to Sephardic culture and boxing make this novel truly exciting and a pure reading pleasure.

I usually don't like books that begin with an explanation of their reason for being which is not tied in, in some more profound way, with the main storyline - this kind of thing strikes me as amateurish and unnecessary, even in a first person account. So, given all the glowing praise for this book (not to mention its Edgar nomination), when I read its opening comment ("For some years now, the gentlemen of the book trade have pressed me in the most urgent fashion to commit my memoirs to paper") I hoped for some spin at least remotely as unusual as that put on the story by similar openings in each of the four parts of Iain Pears's "Instance of the Fingerpost," to which this book has been compared. Alas, I soon found that this hope was in vain, and I almost didn't continue reading.

I am glad that I did, however, because although this is clearly a "first," Liss tells a richly textured and, for the most part, well-researched tale. His background in both history and economics allows the author to give an interesting spin to mysteries as a genre, and to this book in particular. Despite some unnecessary phrases like the one mentioned above, he vividly conveys the atmosphere of the place and the society he describes; namely, that of 18th century London with its lawless underbelly, corrupt judges, dark alleys, ginhouses, whores and, in particular, 'Change Alley and its coffeehouses and the prejudice against "stock-jobbing" Jews. The book's narrator, ex-boxer Benjamin Weaver (born Benjamin Lienzo and formerly professionally known as "The Lion of Judah") is a compellingly drawn character. And as a comment on the volatility of the stock market and its dangers for the uninitiated, the book couldn't be more timely; even if its story ends before the actual burst of the so-called "South Sea Bubble."

Unfortunately, Liss has forsaken historical accuracy in a major way in the portrayal of Miriam, Weaver's almost-love-interest (the relationship between the two appears somewhat contrived anyway) - and he has done so against better knowledge, as he admits in the interview with fellow author Sheri Holman reproduced at the end of the book. Here, and in his representation of other women (a literate laundry lass?!) the book loses a good part of its credibility. Not only would Miriam not have had the liberty to move about in society as she does, or to freely interact with Weaver in the way that Liss portrays (not even if Weaver had unequivocally declared to his uncle his intention to marry her, which he hadn't); she also would neither legally nor socially have been able to engage in any stock transactions. Weaver's friend Elias, with his penchant to sink money into disastrous "get-rich-quick-schemes," would have been a more credible victim to the fraud perpetrated there (although arguably that inclination of Elias's is not easily reconcilable with the insightful lessons which, on the other hand, he teaches Weaver about the stock market and the "new economy"). Unfortunately, this is not just a minor and ultimately negligible aspect of the story but a key element and hence, a major detractor.

Generally speaking, though, this is a promising start, and I am looking forward to reading Liss's next book. He is clearly able to draw the reader into his story, and in a mystery, this is one of the things I am looking for the most. Given his background, I just hope next time he'll get rid of the unnecessary bywork and stay true to what he has researched and knows historical facts to be, particularly where it comes to the core elements of the story.