May 30, 2003 11:20 PM
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(Updated May 30, 2003 11:24 PM)
The question on the top of the page when I write my review says, ''What made you read this book?'' Hmmm... On other occasions when I had picked up a specific book after hearing about it from friends and alike I wouldn't have found the question worth answering. But this time, it's different! I sincerely don't know what made me read this book coz I just picked it off the shelf of the bookstore and started reading it and was nearly hooked on to it!! (I'll explain the nearly part later...)
Honour among thieves is a pseudo-spy novel based on the timeline after the Gulf War. Saddam, who has been humiliated by Bush is seeking revenge and finds a 'novel' way to do it. What better humiliation can America suffer than public destruction of their pride and joy? Wouldn't it be the greatest humiliation if the whole basis of American Independence were to be shaken? What if the document which laid that foundation were to be BURNT and tattered on National Television in front of the entire American Audience, who can do nothing but stand and gape with mouths open?
That Ergo cognito sum is Saddam's plan...
The story starts off in typical Archer style with three sub-plots being narrated in a serial fashion. For the first 40-odd pages, the plot seems to run astray and then slowly the pieces of the jigsaw begin to fall in place. And sooner than later, one realizes the core of the plot and thus starts an adventure which promises to be a thriller to the finish...
Mr. Archer does have a knack for story telling but unfortunately, he doesn't live upto it in this novel. Ideas run astray and so do emotions. Hannah Kopec (the heroine) and Scott Bradley a.k.a Simon Rosenthal (the hero) share some tender moments in the middle of the novel and bring the readers to the question, ''Was this piece written by Sidney?'' That, unfortunately remains unanswered as the novels pushes ahead to answer more vital questions like, how to get the Declaration back. The novel chugs its way rather sluggishly to the climax where you are expecting an adrenaline rush to hit you and swipe you off your feet. However, the adrenaline drops don't arrive, let alone a rush...
The characterizations are pretty okay. Hannah is left in the lurch for quite a while. Scott getting his first field job doesn't carry any importance for Mr. Archer though it does for the reader. Colonel Kratz is poorly sketched and so are the field agents in Iraq. The only person who has really received a thorough 'dressing' (not a dressing down!!) is Bill O'Reilly, the forger. It wouldn't surprise me if the novel were to be named ''The Forger''!!
There is an unwritten rule amongst thieves which says that even in thievery one has to be honest and non-corrupt. It is this principle which prompts Bill O'Reilly to comment, ''Is there no honor among thieves?'' when he learns the location of the stolen document which he helped forge.
BOTTOM LINE...
''Honor among Thieves'' saunters at a stately pace where as a novel of its (expected) caliber ought to be zipping and zooming along rough terrain. All in all, a book to be read only if you like Archer and can read any trash he doles out. Personally I would recommend you give it a miss and if you do want to read it wait until you retire and/or have lots of time to spare... CORRECTION... waste.
