Customer Reviews

The Gemini Contenders

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought I had read everything Ludlum had ever written, but came across this in a backpacker hostel. What a find! This book made me remember what it was I loved about Ludlum's writing, and reminded me that his older writings are better than all this stuff they're finding now that he's gone.
Vittorio Fontini-Cristi is the eldest son of a wealthy Italian industrialist. His father's involvement in the hiding of a vault containing powerful religious documents leads to Vittorio's becoming enmeshed in events he doesn't fully understand. With World War II as a backdrop, he is hunted by many who want the vault's contents and protected by some who believe he will lead them to the vault as his life is transformed. He is never to escape this legacy, and before he dies, must pass it on to his twin sons--the Geminis who have both become involved in wars of their own. One son is career army with a Vietnam background, the other a peace loving war protester. They must cast aside their mutual dislike to once and for all solve the mystery that has always been part of their heritage.
The book leads you through twists and turns, and the plot is classic Ludlum. He doesn't keep the story moving with useless dialogue and the characters are believable. The power contained within the hidden vault motivates many to devote their lives to it's discovery. You've got to wonder what it could possibly contain to drive people this way.
This book is Ludlum at his best, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller.

Robert Ludlum proves that his capacity for plot creation is stellar. This novel rocks you with its pace and twists. After a hundred or so pages you ask, "What could happen next?" Ludlum keeps you on a fast paced run to find out what in the world is in the vault, and you sometimes wish it would slow down so you can make sure you don't miss anything. This book is wonderfully researched and I found myself turning back a few pages regularly in order to not miss anything. One of his very best plots indeed! Read it.

Vittorio Fontini-Christi is the head of a highly regarded Italian family who harbours a deadly secret. When a vault from a religious order called Xenope is transported from Greece to Switzerland and Italy, his secret could alter the course of World War 2 - a secret which could shake the foundations of religion itself. From 1939 and on up to 1973(when this book was written, I should imagine), the feuding offspring of Vittorio - one a US Army soldier hardened by Vietnam, the other a radical peace campaigner, struggle to get their hands on the vault - but for what cause? Read on and you will be hooked. The action sweeps across well-researched European locations which I have visited and could relate to quite well, especially Rome and Milan. The action never stops and builds up to an awesome climax in the Alps. Unlike some of Ludlum's other books, the ending here builds up at the right pace - not too quickly and it certainly isn't an anti-climax - the last page will leave you breathless. A must read, and a Ludlum classic.

The Gemini Contenders is a novel that will frustrate those looking for a good action filled story. The action is frenetic, the plot starts and stops like a backfiring jalopy and the language is melodramatic. Still the pacing is excellent and Mr. Ludlum keeps the plot moving in a style reminiscent of the 1940 cliffhanger thrillers I remember seeing on Saturday morning TV.

The problem here is the book is unbalanced. The first half which takes place during WWII is a thoroughly enjoyable, fleshed out thriller concerning Vincent Fontine, formerly Vittorio Fontini Cristi (jawbreaker name)and his quest to revenge his murdered father and family and to discover the secret of a hidden trove of papers that will threaten to destroy a vital belief that man has held for two millenia.

Fontine is chased, tortured, rescued and assists in the destruction of the Nazi war machine without having any clue of this secret that his father was involved with. There are doublecrosses and subterfuge aplenty in this half which makes it a cracking good espionage/war novel.

The second half of the novel is a letdown because Mr. Ludlum seems clueless on how to progress. The action is fast forwarded three decades and the reader is suddenly introduced to two new characters (The Geminis) who are expected to carry the novel to the conclusion. There is no character development and the plot soons becomes outlandish to the point of buffoonery before the over the top climax of the novel almost makes the leader chuckle, thinking that Mr. Ludlum was writing a comedy all this time.

The book is redeemed somewhat in the last ten pages in which the secret revealed proves to be worth the time reading over 400 pages. I don't really know how to rate this, if you enjoy Ludlum, as I do, you will enjoy this work despite it's warts. If you are a new fan of Ludlum, I would recommend starting with "The Parsifal Mosaic" or "The Matarese Circle", two of his best thrillers.

The Gemini Contenders by Robert Ludlum was a great novel that kept the pages turning. It was a story about a man by the name of Vittorio Fontini-Christi who is part of an influential Italian family. He is involved in concealing a religious artifact that could tear the Christian world apart at its seams,but he doesn't know it. He is smuggled out of Italy by a British spy agency, and is sent throughout Europe to disrupt business interactions. All the while he is trying to figure out how he was involved in an event that he had never heard of. Meanwhile the British spy agency is in touch with him trying desperately to find where the artifact was hidden. They know that in the wrong hands, namely those of the Nazi's, it could be used as a weapon against the allied forces. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a novel that is going to challenge their minds and think through this maze of spy tactics and seemingly unrelated events. Being a teenager that typically does not enjoy reading, I could not put this book down. The detail in the book was so amazing that I felt that I was with the characters sneaking around the shores of Italy, and sitting with a group of high commanders in a secret room in London. I highly recommend this book. People from their teenage years to those who want a good book to latch onto their imagination and let it run wild, all will enjoy it.

Mixing fact with fiction, Ludlum created the read of my life with The Gemini Contenders. From the first pages to the final chapter, the reader is thrown into the suspensful, and often overly realistic scenario of which the plot is based. Trust me on this choice!--Randy

Not as good as the Bourne Identity, which was the last Ludlum I read. It's a good page turner, but the multiple time lines of the plot cause the book to be less focused than some of his other work. The character of the father is much more interesting and layered so the first half of the book is better than the end which stars the more obvious characters of the sons. The style of writing is classic Ludlum and there's plenty of the complex intrigue fans expect. A good book to take on a trip as you won't mind abandoning it after you've read it.

If you want to read a masterful spy/war book set across multiple timelines, read Neal Stephenson's 'Cryptonomicon'.

This has to be one of the top Robert Ludlum books that I have ever read. This book tells about an order of monks transporting a vault to a secret hiding place out of the reach of the Nazis. The head of the Fontini-Christi family,Savarone is actually the one who hides the vault with it's secrets. Ludlum's book tells of Savarone's son's trials and tribulations that he has to face as a result of the hidden vault.This book also shows the vault's influences on the lives of Savarone's grandsons. This book is an interesting fiction history of the secret vault. The ending of this book is also exceptional. Read this book. It is easily one of Ludlum's finest writings ever.

ISBN 0440128595 - Long before The DaVinci Code there were The Gemini Contenders - proving that fictional thrillers and religion have a long history of making good books together.

Savarone Fontini-Cristi has a 2000 year old secret. It's been in safe hands for a long time, but Hitler is leaving very few places safe enough for a secret like this one. To keep it hidden, the monks of The Order of Xenope turn to Savarone, who is among the first of many who die to protect it, or just because of it's existence. His son Vittorio spends a lifetime not knowing, or even caring all that much, about this secret - but many men, for many reasons, believe he knows more than he realizes or admits and are determined to find where Savarone has it hidden, at any cost. Only shortly before his death does Vittorio - now living in America as Victor Fontine - decide that the vault that disappeared thirty years before must be found. Knowing his death is near, he turns the secret over to his sons, the Geminis, twins who could not possibly be more different from one another. The future of the Christian world hinges on the right twin finding it.

There are a few things that bothered me about this book. For one thing, a review of it is hard to do in just a few short paragraphs, because it does span thirty years and gets a bit convoluted. Apparently, in the 1970s, black people were Black people, which was just distracting. Deaths were frequent and sudden, but I wrote that off as part of WWII and, later in the book, as necessary to the story. It would have seemed bizarre if the story had had a completely peaceful ending, considering all the death leading up to it. Still, the characters I came to care most about died without fanfare and the twins of the title weren't developed much at all. The story itself outweighs the nitpicking, however, and I'd definitely recommend it!

- AnnaLovesBooks

Somehow Ludlum manages to add to his normally high tension and intrigue by throwing religion into the mix. Most of his books offer scenarios that would be frightening if true, but The Gemini Contenders would be horrifying and then some. By delving into the spiritual relm, Ludlum reminds us that the secrets of a lifetime are nothing compared to the secrets of an eternity.