The Rhinemann Exchange (Paperback)

by Robert Ludlum (Author)
Key Phrases: gyroscopic designs, light grey overcoat, unfocused picture, Buenos Aires, New York, Erich Rhinemann (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A superb plot filled with exciting chases, double crosses, secret codes, and beautiful women....A picture of the beastliness underlying the espionage world, a world of brilliance without scruples, brutality without restraint." --Chicago Tribune -- Review

Review
"A superb plot filled with exciting chases, double crosses, secret codes, and beautiful women....A picture of the beastliness underlying the espionage world, a world of brilliance without scruples, brutality without restraint." —Chicago Tribune

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (July 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553280635
• ISBN-13: 978-0553280630
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,490 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Exciting Ludlum Book!, September 12, 2000

By	Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ludlum has used a unique plot and a very original approach to writing this book. Both of the powers in World War II are in need of a product to have a sucessful war effort. The Nazis are in need of industrial diamond to finish Peenemunde and the Allies need a gyro guidance system in order to effectively bomb the Germans. The two sides are finally brought together and a deal is made. The two parties will meet in Argentina. David Spaulding an excellent agent in Spain is sent to Argentina by his government. He doesn't know the real purpose of the illegal transaction. The Nazis are going to trade the gyro system foe the industrial diamonds. In the meantime the Haganah(an underground Jewish group) brings Spaulding the real nature of the transaction. Spaulding is finally able to crash the deal. The Nazis lose thanks to Spaulding, with the help of the Haganah. This is a very good book that is definitely a page turner.Buy it,you will not be dissapointed.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The best of Ludlum, May 29, 2001

By	Noel Molloy (Werribee, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This was the first Ludlum book I read, and I think the best. It has a good plot, easy to understand characters and none of the confusing plots and paranoia that were so evident in his later books. This is a great read, a thriller up there with the Ipcress file and others of that genre.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pot-boiling Thriller, May 26, 2006

By	John Yuskaitis (Bergenfield,NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ludlum has written several other very good spy stories, but in my opinion, this is his best. The events he desribes which go to make up the story follow each other in a logical progression, and therefore it is easy to see why what came after was necessarily preceded by what came before, and you are not left with asking yourself "how did this happen"? The mystery is neatly unfolded. The characters are well-described and interesting.

The most basic premise of the story is the trade being arranged between the United States and Germany for materials critical to the war effort for both. The Germans need industrial diamonds for their Peenemunde rocket project, and the US needs a high-altitude gyroscope for its bombing runs, and an exchange is arranged in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a neutral venue. But our Man from Lisbon, Secret Agent David Spaulding is unaware of this treasonous act of helping the enemy by supplying them with the diamonds they need, because he is only aware of his assignment to bring back the gyroscope plans. But a very interested third party intervenes and makes him aware of the true nature of the deal, and from that point he has to deal with a new situation, and does he ever ! No review that I have read explicitly mentions the industrial treason on the part of a US manufacturer who can fulfill the contract for the gyroscope only by arranging this trade, but it is an important part of the story.

I would agree with some critics that, in broad outline, there is a sameness to all of Ludlum's works, but this is his genre - he writes spy novels. In this particular one, the plot is very interesting, the characters are distinguishable one from the other and are interesting as well, and they are believable.

From beginning to end, and throughout the middle, as well, it is a fast-paced, gripping tale, and a good read indeed.