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hagore's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
shaambhavipathak's review against another edition
3.0
Although I outgrew Archer's novels several years ago, I still pick up a book now and then, mostly ones that I did not read during my teen years - just for the fast-paced chase sequences they offer. I find them at thrift stores for less than a buck, so they are an excellent bargain.
What Archer's stories lack in character development and closing in loopholes, they make up for well-crafted storylines against historical backgrounds/important events around the world. This one's no different.
From KGB to MI to CIA, there's nothing that's missing in this novel. Murder, political motivation, spying, army, and top-class, Jason Bourne level fight scenes - you name it, you got it. It's a good book if you're looking for some light entertainment on a flight or want to a break from heavy reading, but certainly doesn't deserve the credit for any groundbreaking work.
What Archer's stories lack in character development and closing in loopholes, they make up for well-crafted storylines against historical backgrounds/important events around the world. This one's no different.
From KGB to MI to CIA, there's nothing that's missing in this novel. Murder, political motivation, spying, army, and top-class, Jason Bourne level fight scenes - you name it, you got it. It's a good book if you're looking for some light entertainment on a flight or want to a break from heavy reading, but certainly doesn't deserve the credit for any groundbreaking work.
bookofcinz's review against another edition
5.0
I literally could not put this book down and if I did I kept thinking when I would pick it up back to finish it. Archer over delivered, this book is what you call a thriller. It is fast paced, exciting, dramatic and filled with suspense. Truly an exciting read, had my heart pumping while flipping pages to get to the end as soon as possible. If you like thrillers and suspense novels you will not be disappointed. I Recommend It!
theeditorreads's review against another edition
4.0
Synopsis:
Adam Scott, a British civilian, has been left a letter with specific instructions in his father's will. Thinking it to be some sort of inheritance, he is eager to receive this bequest which he has to retrieve from a Swiss bank.
On the other side of the world, the Russians are after an icon, said to be the famous Tsar's icon, which contains an important document. If found within the specified time, it would change the course of history. And Alex Romanov has been assigned to the task of retrieving it.
What happens when their paths cross?
Review:
Divided into four parts, this is another riveting thriller by the celebrated author Jeffrey Archer.
Part One starts in May of 1966 in The Kremlin, Moscow. General Secretary Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev is commanding the KGB Chairman Comrade Yuri Efimovich Zaborski to search for an original Rublev after carbon dating reveals that the one in their possession since before the Revolution at the Winter Palace is a fake. Assuming that Tsar Nicholas II may have hidden an important document in what they call 'the icon' which is presumably in the painting, to save his family from execution, is what leads Brezhnev to immediately put the State Security on the issue. Because it is a much bigger issue. Seeing that only a month is left as per the late Tsar's testimony in order to make the US a mere pawn on the Russian chessboard.
In Appleshaw, England, Captain Adam Scott is with his sister and their mother at their solicitor's, to get to know the contents of his father's will. It is now June 1966. And there's a surprise, a yellowed envelope, containing a letter mentioning a gift that has been placed in a Swiss bank in 1938. The same envelope that held the whispers of treachery by his father which he had to endure while growing up.
Part Two starts in 10 Downing Street, London on June 17, 1966, and Part Three is based in The White House, Washington DC on the same date. While Part Four has us returning to The Kremlin, Moscow, but it is now June 19, 1966. Once Adam is in possession of the icon, the story takes place within three days, spanning Russia, England, America, and a couple of European countries.
Initially, the chapters alternate between Russia and England. Then they start intermingling. I loved the character descriptions that Archer provides just after one of the main characters is introduced. About one to two pages long, there's nothing by then that you don't know about them. I don't know why but I was very surprised to see the subtle shades of humour all throughout the story. Maybe because I am coming back to thrillers after a long time and have quite forgotten how they exactly work. I had read this one some six-ten years back when my father got a copy from the office library, but I don't even remember anything about it!
The first few chapters build up the story after which the action starts, with a few deaths of course. (How will it be a thriller otherwise, huh?) There are layers and layers of mystery. Initially, it was a bit amusing to see Adam's unawareness about the situation, a man who's on the run for his life without even knowing why. What he thinks of as inheriting a mere painting to be auctioned off and earned money from, unknown to him is actually a worldwide political drama, where no one is to be trusted.
I had quite forgotten what a thrill it is to read thrillers. Oof... Waiting with bated breath for the next move, sometimes even forgetting to breathe till being sure about the safe passage of the protagonist. How exhilarating it all is! It certainly is impressive how intelligence works. It was really interesting to see the cat and mouse game between Romanov and Scott. While the former thinks the latter's not as good at escaping as he looks to be, the latter is so resourceful that even as a reader I couldn't have imagined at first. Adam does keep getting help along with some great advice from unexpected quarters but here I have to agree with some of the reviews that I have read on Goodreads. It seemed pretty convenient at one point about taking innocent people for a ride and for them to believe in what he says and helping him on top of that. Also, some things didn't add up, even after I went back and forth trying to find the links.
This is Archer's sixth novel, and I couldn't quite agree with the views of Belfast Telegraph about the novel (yep, I read every single page of a book, including the scores of views and reviews):
"Jeffrey Archer has style … a rollicking good yarn … turns the clock back to the days when books were for curling up with, not for churning our stomachs with a surfeit of violence and sex"
Okay, so this book didn't have sex, at least not the graphic kind. But then again, this is hardly a romance novel 'for curling up with'! Because yes, it has violence, and of the kind that will churn your stomach. So, read at your own peril!
Nevertheless, a tale of the East vs the West of powers that be, it was a thrilling ride from the get-go. There was also talks about a movie being made, I wonder when it would materialise.
P.S. I don't exactly remember but I have read this book sometime back in 2010. Maybe during the summer holidays when I was in twelfth standard, my father had got a different edition from the library.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
Adam Scott, a British civilian, has been left a letter with specific instructions in his father's will. Thinking it to be some sort of inheritance, he is eager to receive this bequest which he has to retrieve from a Swiss bank.
On the other side of the world, the Russians are after an icon, said to be the famous Tsar's icon, which contains an important document. If found within the specified time, it would change the course of history. And Alex Romanov has been assigned to the task of retrieving it.
What happens when their paths cross?
Review:
Divided into four parts, this is another riveting thriller by the celebrated author Jeffrey Archer.
Part One starts in May of 1966 in The Kremlin, Moscow. General Secretary Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev is commanding the KGB Chairman Comrade Yuri Efimovich Zaborski to search for an original Rublev after carbon dating reveals that the one in their possession since before the Revolution at the Winter Palace is a fake. Assuming that Tsar Nicholas II may have hidden an important document in what they call 'the icon' which is presumably in the painting, to save his family from execution, is what leads Brezhnev to immediately put the State Security on the issue. Because it is a much bigger issue. Seeing that only a month is left as per the late Tsar's testimony in order to make the US a mere pawn on the Russian chessboard.
In Appleshaw, England, Captain Adam Scott is with his sister and their mother at their solicitor's, to get to know the contents of his father's will. It is now June 1966. And there's a surprise, a yellowed envelope, containing a letter mentioning a gift that has been placed in a Swiss bank in 1938. The same envelope that held the whispers of treachery by his father which he had to endure while growing up.
Part Two starts in 10 Downing Street, London on June 17, 1966, and Part Three is based in The White House, Washington DC on the same date. While Part Four has us returning to The Kremlin, Moscow, but it is now June 19, 1966. Once Adam is in possession of the icon, the story takes place within three days, spanning Russia, England, America, and a couple of European countries.
Initially, the chapters alternate between Russia and England. Then they start intermingling. I loved the character descriptions that Archer provides just after one of the main characters is introduced. About one to two pages long, there's nothing by then that you don't know about them. I don't know why but I was very surprised to see the subtle shades of humour all throughout the story. Maybe because I am coming back to thrillers after a long time and have quite forgotten how they exactly work. I had read this one some six-ten years back when my father got a copy from the office library, but I don't even remember anything about it!
The first few chapters build up the story after which the action starts, with a few deaths of course. (How will it be a thriller otherwise, huh?) There are layers and layers of mystery. Initially, it was a bit amusing to see Adam's unawareness about the situation, a man who's on the run for his life without even knowing why. What he thinks of as inheriting a mere painting to be auctioned off and earned money from, unknown to him is actually a worldwide political drama, where no one is to be trusted.
I had quite forgotten what a thrill it is to read thrillers. Oof... Waiting with bated breath for the next move, sometimes even forgetting to breathe till being sure about the safe passage of the protagonist. How exhilarating it all is! It certainly is impressive how intelligence works. It was really interesting to see the cat and mouse game between Romanov and Scott. While the former thinks the latter's not as good at escaping as he looks to be, the latter is so resourceful that even as a reader I couldn't have imagined at first. Adam does keep getting help along with some great advice from unexpected quarters but here I have to agree with some of the reviews that I have read on Goodreads. It seemed pretty convenient at one point about taking innocent people for a ride and for them to believe in what he says and helping him on top of that. Also, some things didn't add up, even after I went back and forth trying to find the links.
This is Archer's sixth novel, and I couldn't quite agree with the views of Belfast Telegraph about the novel (yep, I read every single page of a book, including the scores of views and reviews):
"Jeffrey Archer has style … a rollicking good yarn … turns the clock back to the days when books were for curling up with, not for churning our stomachs with a surfeit of violence and sex"
Okay, so this book didn't have sex, at least not the graphic kind. But then again, this is hardly a romance novel 'for curling up with'! Because yes, it has violence, and of the kind that will churn your stomach. So, read at your own peril!
Nevertheless, a tale of the East vs the West of powers that be, it was a thrilling ride from the get-go. There was also talks about a movie being made, I wonder when it would materialise.
P.S. I don't exactly remember but I have read this book sometime back in 2010. Maybe during the summer holidays when I was in twelfth standard, my father had got a different edition from the library.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
ja_hopkins's review against another edition
4.0
I read this many years ago in abridged form, and when I saw it on offer, decided to revisit. Set in the mid-1960's, when Adam Scott's father dies, the reading of the will brings to light a letter that dates back to the farthers time in the Army during the Nurembourg trials. When Scott reads the letter, it leads to him being dragged into an international conspiracy pitting Russia against the United States, with Scott in the middle.
The feel of the sixties is well portrayed, and Scitt's character is well developed. Romanov feels like a standard Russian supervillain, but the other characters are pretty good, and there is enough political intrigue to make you doubt who is on whose side.
Well worth a read, whatever your thoughts about the author, his politics or his past.
The feel of the sixties is well portrayed, and Scitt's character is well developed. Romanov feels like a standard Russian supervillain, but the other characters are pretty good, and there is enough political intrigue to make you doubt who is on whose side.
Well worth a read, whatever your thoughts about the author, his politics or his past.
agneshenriksson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
3.0
Finished reading: October 21st 2014
“Adam took one hand off the handlebars and fingered the envelope in his inside pocket like a schoolboy the day before his birthday feeling the shape of a present in the hope of discovering some clue as to its contents.”
Spoiler
This book was recommended to me by a friend who knows I like historical fiction and the thriller/mystery genre. And he was right: I always enjoy reading books set in the Europe of the last century, especially when they are related to WWI, WWII or the Cold War. In this case, A Matter of Honour is set during the Cold War and tells us about a lost Soviet treasure that can possibly give the Soviets the right to claim back one of the US states. Jeffrey Archer takes us on a journey through various European countries where the Soviets chase the man that supposedly is in the possession of the painting that holds the document. An interesting read and recommended to those who enjoy historical fiction and spy thrillers in general.
When the Soviets find out the original painting wasn't destroyed in a plane crash, all hell breaks loose. The document that is hidden inside that painting can force the Americans to sell one of their states, but the document is only valid for one more month... And they start a frantic search in order to find the painting that has been considered 'lost' since the Revolution. In the mean time in the UK, Adam Scott inherited an old envelope from his father. Inside, he finds a letter from the German Goering, promising his father something that has been deposited in a Swiss bank for him to pick up. As you can guess, it involves the exact same painting the Russians are looking for. As soon as he picks up his package, the KGB murder his girlfriend and start a manhunt to catch Adam... And soon everybody is looking for him in order to obtain the precious painting. Will Adam be able to escape death and finally restore his father's honor?
Even though it was an interesting read, I felt there was something missing to consider it as a pageturner. It was hard to stay focused at some points in the story and not every plot detail was as convincing as I would have hoped... The fact that Adam was able to continue the way he did, and that he had a lot of 'luck' in meeting just the right people seemed a bit unbelievable to me. Still, it is a nice read and I will try to read more of Archer's work in the future.
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
ciska's review against another edition
4.0
Can you go wrong with Archer? There are probably people out there who are not a fan but I like his books. Yes, they are predictable, follow a pattern, and touch a lot of the same subjects, but I like the speed and way of telling.
An exciting book with a "now" and "past" switch. The now is exciting and you hope Adam will manage to stay out of trouble and will get what he deserves in the end.
The past was interesting. How the inheritance came to Adam, which people were involved. A lot of big historical names. All the security agencies involved and how they worked added some extra tension.
I liked Robin, she was very feisty and I am sad she was not in the story more often.
An exciting book with a "now" and "past" switch. The now is exciting and you hope Adam will manage to stay out of trouble and will get what he deserves in the end.
The past was interesting. How the inheritance came to Adam, which people were involved. A lot of big historical names. All the security agencies involved and how they worked added some extra tension.
I liked Robin, she was very feisty and I am sad she was not in the story more often.
fijumanka0311's review against another edition
5.0
Prisjetila sam se kako mi je Archer odličan pisac političkih trilera, tako filigranski precizno plete mrežu oko Britanaca, Amerikanaca, Rusa, špijuna, ubaci nekoliko ubojstava i to je to. S njim mi nikad nije dosadno i njegove se knjige doslovno "gutaju".
tbr_the_unconquered's review against another edition
4.0
This was one of those chase books that kept the pages turning during my school time...