The Panic of '89 [Hardcover]

Paul Erdman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Erdman's cool, incisive style heightens the effects in his new novel, topping The Crash of '79 and his other bestsellers. The hero, Paul Mayer, resembles the author; both are eminent economists and natives of Sweden now living in the U.S. As 1989 looms, Mayer contemplates a grim future, with troubles amassing since the second term of America's "luckiest" President, blameless and unworried during his last days in office. The stock market drops out of sight. Banks are falling like dominoes. Foreign countries default wholesale on huge loans to the U.S. These are among the possibilities Erdman graphically spells out, sending shock waves through the reader. The cast of characters is also strikingly real. International conspirators include Arabs and Venezuelans, a Swiss banker, a motley gang with designs on each other and on the main objective, the Bank of America. As the narrative accelerates, so do the crises that Mayer and a few allies commit themselves to averting. If they succeed, the valiant team will belong in the company of Atlas, Hercules and other doers of the impossible.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Panic details an international plot involving slippery financial maneuvering and terrorism to destroy the American banking system. Worldly bankers, high government officials, international terrorists, and the presidents and oil ministers of three Latin American countries all play parts. So do Henry Kissinger, Paul Volcker (chairman of the Federal Reserve Board), Ronald Reagan, and Mikhail Gorbachev. The book's plot is plausible, but barely; its characters are stereotypes. (A terrorist leader boasts that he has "killed about 700 people . . . since 1985.") Erdman never takes his role as prophet too seriously; he simply writes a good story. Panic is similar in its premise to Michael M. Thomas's The Ropespinner Conspiracy (LJ 1/15/87), but it is more fun. David M. Keymer, Dean of Students, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Utica
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (December 9, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385231245
• ISBN-13: 978-0385231244
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,866,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning financial thriller, August 15, 2002

By 

E. Lambeth - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Panic of '89 (Paperback)

Paul Erdman is to finance what John Grisham is to law. This book is a stunning page-turner. It was the first of Erdman's books that I read and it got me hooked; since then I have made it through most of the rest of his books. (The only one I liked better was "Zero Coupon".)

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Drop the Book and Run, April 8, 2002

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panic of '89 CST (Audio Cassette)

The only panic I felt was how to put he book down fast enough. I should not try and read these types of books because I never seem to really enjoy them, but this book just did not turn me on. It was like the author took the characters from Wall Street and gave them narcotics. It just was a slow book.