THE fight against international terrorism has moved on to the balance sheet.

As the world fights terrorists by attempting to deny them the cash they need to operate, a number of writers have turned to this theme.

Christopher Reich has based a number of books on international finance and obviously knows his stuff.

However, poring over balance sheets and computer printouts is not exciting so Reich needs to have his bespectacled expert shot at and blown up as well.

Add some treachery -- but who from? I certainly did not guess -- and a nail-biting finish, and this book is well up there with the best of the genre.

Adam Chapel was forced into becoming a millionaire stockbroker by his father, (I, unsurprisingly, couldn't sympathise!) until he finally resigned and went to work for the CIA, hunting down the terrorist money and freezing bank accounts. When he discovers something really big he finds that he can't trust the people he has worked with for years and strikes up an uneasy alliance with a beautiful but deadly British agent.

Meanwhile, a plot striking at the very heart of the Middle East is unfolding, and only these two can stop it.

This story starts slowly, and is somewhat confusing until the characters become fleshed out, before turning into a can't-put-down final few chapters.

The Devil's Banker by Christopher Reich (Headline, £6.99, softback)