Run, run, run!!(pant….., pant….)They’re out to get them! They got the paper, they got somebody’s spy but they are killing me. Me here is the reader, simply put.
The story is about a plot hatched by Saddam Hussein to humiliate the U.S by swapping the Declaration of Independence with a duplicate and burn the original on the day of American Independence, July 4, in front of the world audience. Humph, it’s getting hot already!
It is no simple task. An American Bad-boy agency, which has got quite queer but exciting ideas to get the end, is hired to do the mean job. Elsewhere, two friendly agencies have got off their spies in lieu of Saddam’s plans. One spy falls in love with a Jewish spy who is in the guise of an Arab woman, they bungle up the plot in their silly sensibilities and make the story knottier than a fisherman’s knot.
The engrossing part of the whole novel is the working of the agency, how they duplicate The Paper and the poor newly elected Billy boy Clinton.
The novel keeps you on the edge of your seat till the middle. After that you fall off the edge because you have dozed off .The chase through the desert, the rescue operations tax your brain and you realize its full extent and the meaning of the review’s title after you turn over the last page. The main leads have to survive; after all Hollywoodish sensibilities are akin to Bollywood. So don’t sweat the small stuff. The villain Saddam Hussein is the Amrish Puri of Nayak, anarchist and insensitive, but the only reason (besides that agency, I keep talking about) that widens your eyes.
The book is as bland as oatmeal porridge, and recommended for those who like Stallone movies, high on stunts, low on content. Best read instead would be Ken Follet’s spy novel” Die Nadel-The Needle’ which has nail-biting moments, passion, intrigue, deceptions and what not.
This was my first on Jeffery Archer and though not the last, prejudices unfortunately are going to tag along. If you have bought this book, I offer my review along with other contradictory reviews and my heartfelt condolences.
Enjoy your nightmare!!
Ta Ta ..