In Erdman's world, everybody is a wolf. There are big wolves and little wolves, all motivated by one thing only: the pursuit of money—big, big money, of course. Where "The Silver Bears" differs from "The Billion Dollar Sure Thing" is in its more relaxed manner…. Erdman can be quite funny, in a self-deprecating manner, about the money urge, and "The Silver Bears" has a few hilarious episodes about financial manipulation and the slavering greed of top financiers.

His relative inexperience as a novelist leads Erdman into one or two dull patches where, not knowing exactly how to weave explanations about high-level financial skullduggery into the action, he pauses to let a character run on like a lecturer at an investment seminar. This does not happen very often, however; and Erdman, who does have a ingenious mind, fulfills his duty as a novelist by keeping interest sustained and...