Customer Reviews

Honor Among Thieves

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was our first exposure to Jeff Archer, who's skill with complex international plot development reminds one a little of Tom Clancy without the high tech stuff. The main theme is that shortly after Clinton replaces Bush, Saddam Hussein pays $100M to a mob-related group to steal the American Declaration of Independence. A Yale professor (and our hero) Scott Bradley, gets his desire for a field assignment with the CIA to get it back. Thereafter, most of the action is in Iraq, and before it's over Bradley teams up with an Israeli female spook (and falls in love while he's at it!), as well as some other American diehards from the CIA, who build a complex plan to steal back the precious parchment and avoid Hussein's planned humiliation of a Fourth of July burning on national TV. Does he succeed in time?

We suspect Archer stayed up nights scheming his double and triple crosses -- we totally lost track of the real document long before the whole story unfolded. Much of the horror of Suddam's regime is spelled out in gory detail, and not all the good guys escape horrid fates. Meanwhile, some decent Iraqi people risk their lives to help the American's cause.

Modest suspense, a few characters we wanted to win, good against evil, and even some humor along the way kept us entertained throughout. Archer's writing may not captivate everyone, but we were impressed enough to try another of his stories some day. This one trips the meter at "good but not great"!

This being Archer's first 'action thriller', I was skeptical when I picked up this book as I am used to reading his 'sagas'. However, I must say that all the doubts I had about the book were banished once I had read the first chapter. The book's villain is the inevitable Saddam Hussein, who, hiring an professional, plans to steal the American Declaration of Independence and burn it on international television, thus humilating the American people. The book's hero is the unlikely teacher at college, who teams up with a former agent of some sort who is bent on killing Saddam. Though not his most memorable or realistic novels, it still is a very entertaining ride. Perhaps if the plots had been made more plausible (eg.getting into the National Archives during a film shot), the book would make a more lasting impression on the minds of readers. However, despite the flawed storytelling, the book is one juicy slab of entertainment!

This book is the worst Archer book I've ever read. Unlike his other novels, with relatively unpredictable endings, this one was obvious from the start. Archer tried to make an action book and failed. The author should stick with plots involving rivalries (see First Among Equals, The Fourth Estate) with fewer characters. With so many characters, none could be developed fully, and Archer only attempts to make two of them more than one-dimensional. Yes, there was action, and lots of death, but little substance. While this book won't prevent me from reading more Archer, it won't be a book I'll ever read again.

Honour Amoung Thieves is such a poorly written piece of word processed trash I was driven to finish it with the same impetus that drives one to pick a painful scab or tounge a sore tooth. The plot is as ridiculous, contrived and full of holes as a 1930's movie serial yet completely lacking in charm, humour or grace. The characters are simple racial stereotypes strung together like cheap plastic beads on the frayed dental floss of the storyline. There are crafty, evil Arabs, an Irish drunk, gravel voiced Mafia dons, and resourceful, dedicated Israelis. The book is so poorly thought out it gives the impression of being poured out onto a computer screen with one take and barely enough time for a spell check. Archer must have had a past due child support payment and where was the editor

The year is 1993 and the Gulf War has only just terminated. Russia,Great Britain and the United States of America all have undergone a shift in political power and new presidents and prime ministers and leaders are endeavouring to usher in new ideas and conviction. But the sole survivor of all the adversaries is the indomitable despot Saddam Hussein,who stll commands power and authority in Iraq. And the Iraqi aupreme has conceived a devastating,crucial and unpredictable plan,a fair reflective of his own character relly,to force the new US President Bill Clinton lick the dust:steal the American Declaration of Independence and burn it in front of the world media on the fourth of July.

It's around this tense and harrowing theme that Jeffrey archer's sensational thriller "Honour Among Thieves" revolves and takes the reader on n edge-of-the-seat journey through an exquisitely executed theft at the National Gallery in washington DC,clandestine,nocturnal happenings on the streets of Paris,and dangerous,frightening and unkind towns,villages and deserts of Iraq. Essentially a novel based on the popular notions of a hero in a typically Hollywood archetype style plotting the demise of a highly regarded infamous villain along with his aide=de=camps,"Honour Among Thieves" is an adept attempt to canvas the geo-political tensions and apprehensions that were thretening the peace of the world at that time. And so invariably the convention amongst modern imaginative thriller writers keen to put forward a lone figure out to tame reality and outwit the master criminal,Jeffrey Archer's hero in this novel too is polite and relatively obscure man.

Scott Bradley is a young Professor at the Yale Law School in the States teaching Constitutional Law,a man always chased by a bitter parental history and forever willing to go beyond the reaches of his routine life. Bradley accomplishes a very diffrent sort of job too:he's a crucial teacher-cum-adviser to several CIA agents and other high officials. When he's sent to a dream field expedition to Paris to unravel te mystery behind the decision of the Israeli "Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks"---better known as Mossad---to post a captivating young woman at the Iraqi Interest Section of the Jordanian Embassy in Paris,little does Bradley realise that he would ultimately entangle himself in a web that threatens to submerge his nation as well as his heart. Scott Bradley's adventure changes colour:from an informer,the protagonist transcends to the saviour of the American history and prestige;Bradley's sole mision becomes to retrieve the Declaration of Independence from Saddam Hussein's own territory before time as well as opportunity runs out.

It would be a crime indeed to reveal the pattern any further and the intensity and vigour that the British author blends with the precision of language and enormous political insight are to be read to be felt. The novel is remarkable not only for the intrigue and passion it invokes but also for the subtle remarks of massive moralistic implications. That the greed of power and money outreaches patriotic sentiment in today's world is made obvious in these empathic words of Saddam to his political advisers:"You have already witnessed my ability to turn the greed of their(America's)own people into a wilingness to steal the most cherished document in their nation's history." And this from a man who withdraws himself into a secure but vain knowledge of the love of his people foe him. In Hannah Kopec's character,Archer sketches the vibrant picture of a beautiful,young woman burning with revenge and this individualistic dismay and resentment towards the Iraqi tyrant is continued into a mass indignation revealed by the inhabitants of the Khan Beni Saad village.

Garbed in a sensational thriller,"Honour Among Thieves" is a frightening revelation of the degree that crime can eat into one's soul. Jeffrey Archer's sorcery here lies,besides in keeping the reader firmly engaged,in providing a poignant commentary on the shrewd transactions that are carried out in the worlds of politics and crime. Throughout the book,there's always a resurgency of suspicion that these two worlds,namely those of politics and crime,are strangely interlinked and almost symbiotic. The magnificient staging ofb the theft of the American Declaration of Independence,the cool fashion of criminal discussions,the muted but all the more powerful self-assertion of Saddam Hussein and the gradual spreading of the storylines are stupendous indicators to the class and mastery of Jeffrey Archer. This novelist has developed over the years to become one of most dazzling storytellers in the modern era and in "Honour Among Thieves",he creates a very interesting tale using people greatly significant during the time and employing fractions of his own experiences in politics. Jeffrey archer is a brilliant connoisseur who doesn't disappoint even an iota in this book.

Saddam Hussein plans to mastermind a robbery of the Decleration of Independence by hiring the mafia, world's best forgery expert and one of Clinton's close aides with $100 million. Then he plans to embarrass US by burning the national treasure in front of the world media. This book is absolutely awesome, the plots, twists and story-line move like a ferrari. Once you start reading it, you won't be able to put it down. Archer's best book to date.

This turned out to be a very exciting book. Saddam Hussein(who
of course is the villain) decides to humiliate the American. Hussein pays an American mafia leader $100,000,000 to help him steal the Declaration of Independence. A Bill Clinton look alike
is hired to play the role of the new President. He steals the Declaration of Independance and hands it over to the agents of
Saddam Hussein. Saddam plans to burn the historical document on
national television in Iraq.An American CIA agent teams up with a Female Mossad agent to retrieve the document. They enter Iraq
and begin their hunt.There are many action sequences. This is a very exciting book that you will enjoy Buy it and read it.

If there is one Archer book that can be called his best, it must be Kane & Abel. But if asked for another, then it must be this. Honor Among Thieves is a true international thriller. No doubt, it became an instant international bestseller.

Saddam Hussain pays a hundred million dollars to a New York businessman to arrange for the stealing of the Declaration of Independence from the National Archives is Washington DC. At the same time, a Mossad team is set up to assassinate Saddam. How the Declaration gets stolen and how it is restored is the plot of the story.

So much for the plot, but many authors would have found it tough to convert that into a good, readable book. Archer belongs to a class of his own, and one will find that the action in this book is gripping - so much that one will be compelled to finish this book in one sitting, which was the case with me!

A truly great book!

Jeffrey Archer is by far the best storyteller I have read in this generation, but this book is sub-par in comparison to his other novels. A Matter of Honor blows it away in comparison of action thrillers. If someone is interested in reading a story with a comprable plot, they should read Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor, in which the American government and economy plays victim to a non-violent and yet devastating form of terrorism. Clancy, contrary to Archer in this specific novel, gives a story of economic sabotage that is so detailed and original, it will leave you in awe, especially as Clancy connects the various characters in an intrinsic web. Back to Archer and Honor Among Thieves, it was an enjoyable read, but as far as this being great for first time readers, NO WAY! Pick up Cane and Abel, or A Twist in the Tale, his collection of short stories, so you can first see what a marvelous storyteller he is. I especially recommend A Matter of Honor for the action/thriller genre. As for Archer fans, you'll know it's not his best but an enjoyable quick read none the less!

The premise of this book was SO interesting that I felt that I HAD to get it and read it...I did, and was blown away. From beginning to end it totally held my imagination, and twisted not just once or twice, but enough to make me want to read it again. Just what would be the result if Saddam Hussein, in his desperate and embarassed condition after the Gulf War, hatched a plot to steal THE actual Declaration of Independance right out from under the US Government, and on what would be considered OUR Holy Day, July 4th, burn it on live television...sounds like an interesting story, right? I am here to say it's all that and MORE. From the complicated plan to get the perfect someone to not only replicate it with such accuracy that when it's snatched, nobody will ever know until it's too late, to the double cross pulled on Saddam himself. It all translates into a VERY fun story--I just hope that Saddam doesn't read this book and start to get some ideas... Ever since reading Archer, I've tried to find something else of his that grabbed my interest, but to date have found nothing. 'Honor Among Thieves' truly IS great fiction, sorta what might happen if you combined Tom Clancy & Clive Cussler. Real good stuff! Enjoy the ride!