Customer Reviews

In High Places

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Our world as it might have been. The world stands at the brink of a nuclear showdown. Canada seeks survival in this uncertain time. This is the formula that makes for an unusually insightful and even profound story about ordinary people living against this extraordinary backdrop.

This novel features excellent character development, and is a wonderful story of political intrigue, calculation, human weakness and ultimately the power of the human spirit. In fact, I rank this novel easily as Hailey's best, and it also ranks as one of my all-time favorites.

I learned more about Canada and the Canadian government reading this novel than I did in a semester of "The Politics of Canada" at UCLA. No kidding--this is a fascinating novel that tells a great story while acquainting the American reader with much of interest about our neighbor to the north.

Arthur Hailey's In High Places is a political thriller with a touch of court room drama. The novel begins with some events that seem totally unrelated yet something binds them all...
The fear of a nuclear war....
A secret proposal from the President of the United States to the Prime Minister of Canada...
A pathetic and neglected refugee is refused to enter Canada from a rusty ship which was his home and prison for two years.
The politicians and officials who could foresee the threat and the hope that this worthless stowaway is about to unleash...
A courageous and principled young lawyer who is determined to stand for justice and freedom...
And a scrap of paper which has the power to enslave the men in high places...
All these events are connected to a grand scheme of destiny and each character are chosen to play their part. There are times you feels that In High Places is more than a political thriller and a court room drama. The Canadian Hailey is detailing his country with great elegance and narrating a fantastic plot with a quest for justice. The background of the novel is enormous...
The fear of a nuclear war and radioactive fallout is looming in the horizon....
There is a not so distant possibility of US missiles intercepting enemy missiles over Canadian territory and ensuing collision from the counter attack poisoning and devastating Canada's food producing areas...
Or the alternative, the Act of Union, total assumption of Canadian defense by the United States, disbandment of all Canadian armed forces and immediate re-recruitment under a joint Oath of Allegiance, abolition of boarder restrictions, customs union...
It may not be very patriotic but it seems to be the only possible solution for both Canada and America to survive in the face of a seemingly inevitable threat. The Act of Union upheld friendship, respect and honour. But is that all? No, there will be missile bases to the North, the movement of ICBMs and short-range missiles to Canadian North will give greater US striking power, early intercept with reduction of radioactive fallout over both countries...
Yet, merging the nationhood and sovereignty of Canada with the nationhood of America is not a pleasing proposal to many. Prime Minister James Howden must convince his colleagues and countrymen.
And why the stowaway of the ship Vastervik became such a tremendous tension to the members of the ruling party? How he fit into the plot? Why the young and determined lawyer Alan Maitland is bracing himself for a battle against the invincible?
These are some of the questions to which In High Places is the answer. An answer that might shock you, thrill you even puzzle you...
Honor, justice, truth and sacrifice are there so are backstabbing, bribery, bartering and black deals.
Hailey's writing is smooth and sinuous, though there are some diminutive cracks in the plot. Some of the twists and turns in the novel are implausible. Sometimes a serious reader may find that the story would stagger with far-fetched scenarios and unlikely confrontations. However, I find this book very entertaining and off the track of the conventional plots from the usual novels. In short, In High Places is one of Arthur Hailey's best novels. A thrill ride to the queer and sturdy world of politics, a glimpse of the mechanism of the law and legal administration, and a brilliant study of the radiant and dark creatures we called humans.