Jeffrey Archer
Lord Archer hits the bulls eye.. again. Loosely resembling the classic ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’, this book belongs to the league of his earlier works ‘Kane and Abel’, ‘As the Crow Flies’ etc. Watch out for the awesomely written court room scenes in the climax. I really wish this would be made into a film. The character of Nick Moncrieff makes me wonder about its inspiration. Other than the brilliant twists and turns that usually characterises his work, I also liked the showcasing of an old world charm in this book – Mr.Munro, Sir Matthew Redmayne, Mr.Arnold Pearson, characters who believe in fairness, who respect not just the law, but the spirit of the law. An excellent read, and yes, there is a sweet twist in the tail. 🙂
Spoiler Alert- Please read only after you’ve finished the book. While i have said ‘loosely resembling The Count of Monte Cristo, notice the subtle reworking of the plot. While the original plot was based on the love for the central female character, in this one the plot is set in motion by Spencer’s lust for Beth. While Edmond Dantes escapes from prison by replacing a dead body, whose secret he uses to find the treasure, in this case Danny uses his physical resemblance with Nick to switch identities and escape, and then uses Nick’s inheritance.