One million Dollars – that’s what this delightful book is all about. Hey! before you start jumping to wrong conclusions, let me clarify that it certainly does not deal about how to go about earning that kind of money.
One million dollars - that’s the figure that Harvey Metcalfe, lifelong king of shady deals has pulled off with empty promises of an oil bonanza and instant riches from four unsuspecting investors. Metcalfe is a street- smart self-made businessman who floats a bogus oil company and puts out eye-catching articles in the newspapers that his company has struck oil. This leads to a virtual “Gold Rush” and his company’s shares are lapped up by thousands of stars-in-the-eyes investors. Overnight, four men, the heir to an earldom, a doctor, an art dealer and an Oxford don, find themselves penniless, thanks to Metcalfe’s business acumen.
The four losers, previously unknown to each other, conspire to steal every dollar back - Not a penny more, Not a penny less (net of all expenses, of course!) from the man who stole it from them in the first place. Metcalfe has made a career out of swindling people all his life but this time he has swindled the wrong men. Our four heroes band together and shadow him from the casinos of Monte Carlo to the high-stakes windows at Ascot trying to recover all their savings and to beat the swindler at his own game.
Each of the four gentlemen in question has a particular art or talent which, incidentally are also the hobbies of our venerable conman. Using their talents as Metcalfe’s weaknesses, they hatch separate schemes, plan them out to the last detail and together succeed in getting the better of Metcalfe every time without arousing his suspicion.
Do they manage to recover back all the money that they’ve lost? I’m not telling you that, for the ending is magically woven, charmingly narrated and deserves to be read oneself.
The book was Archer’s first and (in my opinion) the best that he’s ever written...later on he gradually begun stereo-typing himself by spinning all those family sagas set amidst the backdrop of personal vendettas and high business stakes. This book is delightfully witty and devoid of unnecessary deviations and characters and that is what made it so popular the world over.
One Million Dollars – this book is worth every penny of that amount, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less!