The Coffee Trader whips up a delicious brew of intrigue

By David Hendricks
San Antonio Express-News

David Liss, the historical novelist, must like his coffee black. Not much sugar and cream dilute the caffeinated business thriller Liss serves his readers in The Coffee Trader.

Coffee was just starting to be consumed in Europe in the 1650s and, in 1659, it became a traded commodity in Europe's most advanced exchange in Amsterdam. Liss sets his story there, amid Amsterdam's stew of cultures, which includes Jews escaping the Spanish Inquisition.

Miguel Lienzo, the central character, is a swashbuckling Jewish commodities trader who came to Amsterdam after his youth of pretending to be Catholic in the Iberian peninsula.

(Robert's Note: I know I have plugged this book before, but I just finished reading it, and I really enjoyed it. It makes you feel you are living in Amsterdam in the 1650's. You feel you are part of this strange new drink, coffee. Buy it and read it! If you like coffee and mysteries, you will enjoy it. I promise.)

Buy THE COFFEE TRADER from Amazon.com

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