Customer Reviews

THE EXILE

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

There was a lot of buzz when Mr. Folsom's first book, The Day After Tomorrow, was published some years ago. Though Mr. Folsom's work has never had the success of Dan Brown's, he works a lot of the same territory--thrillers with a "conspiracy theory" subtext. The Exile is another good example of the genre.

This novel, however, will unlikely have the success of The DaVinci Code. In some ways Mr. Folsom is a better writer. He certainly writes a better chase sequence--the opening 60 pages of this novel are as exciting as any I've read with an excellent red herring, slight-of-hand result. But successful novels like this are often helped by controversy and Mr. Folsom isn't likely to generate much here.

Though I find The Exile to be in many ways as controversial as The DaVinci Code, the choice of target makes all the difference. Mr. Brown has religion and the Catholic Church, whose adherents were quick to jump at the publication of the novel. It is the LAPD that receives the biggest slap from Mr. Folsom--incompetence and killing squads anyone?--but it is unlikely that anyone will feel it important to stand up for the police. In some ways, I think that's too bad; and telling about the state of the American psyche.

And, of course, there is the fact that Mr. Folsom's conspiracy centers around a surviving Romanov dynasty trying to come back to power in Russia. Something that's not like to generate that much interest to an American reader despite the fact that the Romanov's seem "hot" right now.

Still, all in all, The Exile is a good read. Mr. Folsom is an excellent writer who does generate a lot of excitement and a pair of excellent characters in John Barron & Raymond Thorne. Yes, the later parts of the book do get a bit predictable and he dips into the chase scene well a little too often and, in my opinion, he would have a better novel if he would have ended the novel halfway down page 701 instead of wrapping it up rather tritely. These are small complaints, however. Readers who enjoy thrillers will enjoy this one.

This novel is a page turner until the very last word on page 702.
John Barron, the main character is a police officer with an elite branch of the LAPD called the '5-2'. Once a member, a member for life or more appropriately, till death do us part. The 5-2 is a vigilante unit and John Barron isn't quite the vigilante type.

Enter Raymond Thorpe who kills all across the country and then ends up on a train and in LA. He is captured, then escapes, kills a bunch of people and all the while, the wonder is "who is Raymond Thorpe and what does he want". The 5-2 squad finally captures Thorpe and Barron helps him escape his ultimate "capture" by the 5-2. Unfortunately, Thorpe is captured again and is ultimately killed..or was he.

Barron must leave the country, obtain a new identity (enter John Barron aka Nicholas Marten) and start anew in Europe. After all, the LAPD doesn't forgive and sure isn't about to forget. Life in Europe progresses nicely for a moment but John just can't let go of the Raymond thing. Murders start to happen in Europe which are eeirly familiar. John's best friend is murdered and John begins to think.."is Raymond really dead?"

The balance of the story involves politics, a constitutional monarchy, a madman with a royal bloodline, a scorned woman seeking revenge and the future of a country.

This is truly a gripping, page turning, incredibly well written novel which WILL NOT disappoint.

On a train heading from Barstow to Los Angeles, a vicious killer named Raymond Thorne notices several plainclothes cops in his passenger car. Have they somehow caught up with him? No, because coincidentally, there is another killer on the same train, and when the police converge on him, Raymond winds up being a hostage. Although not the original target of the police, he soon becomes entangled with them and will need to go on a homicidal rampage to escape their grasp.

One of the cops on the train is John Barron, newest member of the elite 5-2 Squad, which he will soon find out is actually an execution squad, bypassing the judicial system to execute the worst criminals. Barron is not pleased to find out that this is the squad's purpose, but he is locked in, dealing with the moral dilemmas even as he helps pursue Thorne.

The first part of The Exile is almost nonstop action. Things don't start to slow down until the middle third of the book, at which time we start learning about Thorne's agenda. He is no ordinary psychopath, but is acting on a plan that could lead him to a position of real power. For Barron, he is nothing less than an obsession, and there will come a point where he is willing to endanger himself, his family and his friends to stop Thorne.

With plenty of action and suspense, The Exile makes a fast-paced and entertaining read, but it also has enough clear weaknesses to rate more than a high three-stars. In particular, the plot is far too contrived and driven by too many coincidences. The motivations of the main characters are also questionable: it's hard to tell what makes Barron so perilously obsessed with Thorne. For Thorne's part, it seems implausible that - given his critical role in making the conspiracy succeed - that he would be allowed to be so "hands-on." It's like allowing a boxer to engage in a few street fights right before he has a championship bout, unnecessarily risking the big payout.

I suppose in the post-Ludlum era, we need another writer to provide grand novels of international intrigue, chock full of conspiracy and action. Folsom fills the niche satisfactorily, with many of the same pluses and minuses that Ludlum offered. Of course, he's not prolific enough to really please fans of the genre (only three books in over a decade, around five years between books), but Folsom delivers adequately, if not superbly.

The Exile is a rather big departure it would seem from his first two novels, but do not make the mistake of letting that keep you away from picking up this large adventure-laced, conspiracy-filled yarn. The Exile is going to be absolutely HATED by the vast number of law enforcement members in the country, but taken simply as fictional entertainment, this book DELIVERS.

While not quite as good his his first scorching read (The Day After Tomorrow, still one of my favorites) I would place it way AHEAD of his 2nd novel (Day of Confession). Even though this book is quite different from the other novels, it DOES share one major theme: Conspiracy...and plenty of it. This time the conspiracy comes at the expense of the Los Angeles Police Department. Is there a secret band of Officers who quietly kill perps instead of arresting them? Do they painstakingly arrange for all the deaths to look justifiable under the circumstances? Before he even realizes what has happened, young LAPD Detective John Barron finds himself waist-deep into the Brotherhood. A conspiracy that he realizes there is NO escape from. The ONLY way out of the Brotherhood is through Death. Everyone involved, including some of his early career heroes, firmly believes in what they are doing. Saving the system millions by eliminating violent scum before some attempt to bankrupt the California Justice System or through some lucky twist of fate, get off scott-free due to some crazy fluke or technicality. On the surface, John can see the logic behind it all, but it doesn't take long before he realizes how being involved violates all he holds sacred.

Before long John himself is fleeing from the same men he used to look up to and moves to Europe only to find himself knee-deep into another facet of the same conspiracy which forced him out originally. How is it all tied together? Good question, but I won't spoil it (as some others find it fun to do) by revealing too much. Just suffice it to say that whether or not you believe some of the reviews written here, the best measure of any novel is to read it for yourself. I personally found the story, although complicated and almost to the point of being convoluted, all made sense and was well worth the journey for me. Great storytelling by someone who you can tell took a LONG time piecing together this novel to make it as fun and all-out entertaining as possible. I would recommend it whole-heartedly.

It's a good read. Very entertaining. Well written if a bit hard to believe at times. The characters are great, though. Suspend your belief a little and settle into this thick book that reads very fast.

I am a big fan of Folsom's writing and story telling. Few authors today come close to both the immediacy and the over all sweep of a Folsom story. After the first part of this story came to a close and two-thirds of the book was left, I was ready to say that this was a thriller masterpiece. I mean that the first pages were just so good and such massive possibilities were founded that my mind was ablaze with what could be coming. However, Folsom took his work and pounds it into a very formulaic and silly premise.

I don't want to give away the plot here and in order to get into what is so wrong, I'd have to give away strains that don't become apparent for hundreds of pages. Also, this work is still good enough to give it a try, Folsom is such a commanding writer that he is worth reading anytime. I just wish that he had been more daring and had really broken some ground the way that an author by the name of Kennedy did with his plot in the book 'The Big Picture' several years ago. Folsom could have had two or more parts that fed each other instead of becoming ludicrous.

Allan Folsom's "The Exile" is a hefty tome but well worth the read. The intermingled tales of John Barron and Raymond Thorne take us from the streets of LA to the museums of St. Petersburg, from a special squad of the LAPD which tries, convicts and assassinates killers, to murder and mayhem around the world by an heir to the throne unwillingly vacated by the Tsars of Russia. Although seemingly implausible, Folsom weaves the multiple plots and subplots together in a convincing manner which maintains the reader's interest. The writing is taut and the author maintains the pace until the last page. One false note: the last three paragraphs detract from the ending.

I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, the plot's riddled with an overabundance of incredulous moments, bordering on sheer stupidity. It's too bad Folsom chose to pattern his bland cast of characters after (poorly written) tv characters. Fast pace indeed, but I found even the start of the novel to drag a bit. Later on, Folsom's habit of writing excessive exposition brings the snail's pace to a dead halt in many parts.

***Here be Spoilers***
However, where explanation is necessary, he gives none. For example, it'd be nice if we knew just how Raymond so easily slipped out of his handcuffs. David Blaine could learn a thing or two from this guy.

His remedy for past mistakes and blunders is a quick bullet to the head of everyone in his path. It gets old, real fast. I realize villains are supposed to commit horrible acts, like murder innocent folk. But, it felt like a been-there-done-that moment by the time Raymond kills the German exchange student, Jacket guy, New Jersey guy, and baggage handlers after pulling the shock n' awe at the LA Courthouse.

Contrivances and cliches abound by the time Barron/Marten arrives in London. I found myself guessing at many things that weren't properly explained. His new identity is quickly addressed with the help of Dan Ford and another 'lucky break'. But, I was confused about Rebecca's identity. I guess they found someone named Rebecca Marten who expired without a death certificate, too. And what about Marten's enrollment in college...I can't remember, but did the real Nicholas Marten take those elective courses in landscape architecture, or even graduate from college? Perhaps I'm nitpicking here. But, Lady Clem's potty mouthed sex kitten masquerading as some dowdy matron with a penchant for stuffy, oversized suits made me snicker more than once. You know the type, all she has to do is undress and miraculously she's a saucy minx the likes of Angelina Jolie. Rebecca's character had the most potential, but got the bumwrap. By the time she started parlez vous-ing, I could care less what happened to her.

I've read all of Folsom's books and I have enjoyed them immensely. His latest however is not up to snuff. It starts out great with non stop action. It is kind of like the TV show 24; great action as long as you are willing to suspend your belief in reality and are just there for the ride. But then the book slows down like a car crash. The author goes off on tangents that have no relevance to the story. The plot is so weak that there are no surprises or true suspense after the fist 200 pages. At the end you are like a marathon runner just wanting to finish. The author could have done away with a lot of unnecessary detail and in so doing cutting the size of the book from 700 to maybe 350 pages. He could have thrown in a few twists and maybe developed the characters a little better. He is a very talented writer, but this where a good editor should have stepped in and done his job.

Allan Folsom has written a giant of a book, both in size and scope that turned out to be the perfect companion for me on a recent trip to Chicago. The protaganist of the story is John Barron, a new member of the elite 5-2 squad of the LAPD. The antagonist is Raymond Thorne, an international killer with a vast plan of conspiracy and conquest that is revealed slowly as the pages turn. The story moves from California to England to France and to Russia and as it does so the story unfolds in a series of dramatic encounters which not only changes John Barron's life forever, but the lives of those around him. I thought Folsom's first novel, The Day After Tomorrow, was one of the best I had ever read. This may not be quite that good, but it will certainly do. You will have difficulty putting this one down.