Customer Reviews
Tedious tedious tedious - By: , 29 Jul 1999 
There is so much boring detail that I could hardly finish this book. Ever since Lathen turned John Thatcher into a minor characterin this series, the books have been dull.
As terrific as always - By: , 26 Nov 1997 
An environmental disaster has struck Germany^Rs Kiel Canal whena fog causes numerous collisions & oil spills. Due to the accident & the high degree of shipping through the canal, the German government is thinking of taking out a loan to rebuild & widen the canal. The myriad of insurance claims that follow the aftermath & the potential German project are both being handled through the Baltic Area Development Association (BADA). Wall Street, ever interestedin a good deal, dispatches John Putnam Thatcher to Gdansk, Poland to learn whether it pays to investin the canal renovation deal.
However, the simple business transaction takes a nasty turn when a BADA official claims to have uncovered fraud within the organization. Immediately after the announcement, the official^Rs battered corpse is found & the murder of his lover shortly follows. The Polish police officer Oblonski turns to Thatcher to help him muddle through the world of international finance to uncover the identity of a fiscal murderer.
A SHARK OUT OF WATER is the twenty-third bookin the Thatcher series & surprisingly with all of those novels, the current story is a refreshing tale. Thatcher is a great character & the story line is filled with self deprecating irony as Emma Lathen laughs at the slapstick efforts of governments & international corporations capitalization of the former Soviet Union. The who-done-it is well written, but it is the intricate glimpses into the wacky, weird, almost mystical, world of international finance that turns this into another great Thatcher novel. Harriet Klausner
