Lord's Day [Paperback]

Michael Dobbs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2008

The boundaries of parental love and filial devotion are explored to their breaking point in this unique and breathtaking thriller. Once a year, the Queen, the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the judges, the bishops, leaders spiritual and temporal, assemble in the House of Lords for the State Opening of Parliament. On this day, the Lords' Day, the gathering is still more impressive, for sitting beside his mother is the heir to the throne and up in the galleries are the sons of both the US President and the British Prime Minister. But they are all about to be taken hostage. The siege will lead some to selfless sacrifice, others to lose the respect of those they love most dearly...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Dobbs was born in the same hour as Prince Charles. It doesn't seem to have done him too much harm. In the years since then he has become a doctor of philosophy, a senior adviser to both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, a Deputy Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, a regular presenter of BBC TV's Despatch Box and a columnist for the Mail on Sunday. He has written books ranging from the bestselling House of Cards trilogy that became a hugely popular TV series to his recent brilliant series of historical novels about the life of Winston Churchill. He tries to live quietly with his wife and four sons in Wiltshire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Review (June 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755326881
• ISBN-13: 978-0755326884
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,703,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent thriller, November 24, 2007

By 

Gavin Bradshaw (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lords' Day (Hardcover)

Michael Dobbs portrays the ultimate terrorist hostage drama which unfolds during the State opening of Parliament. The Queen and leading British politicians are held prisoner. Dobbs displays his knowledge of Westminster and its political animals - the retired politicians elevated to the House of Lords who become unlikely heroes and the maverick MP (who is, conveniently, a former member of the SAS) are very convincing. I was less convinced by the US ambassador and the hysterical female president. A good book to read on the plane.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read., November 7, 2007

By 

BookworkUK "BookwormUK" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lords' Day (Hardcover)

The Lords' Day is a chillingly realistic thriller. The characters are multifaceted and human, faced with life and death choices and conflicting obligations. The book is an exciting mystery thriller in the tradition of the Da Vinci Code, but deals with the real and often obscure workings of the British government. A must read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sons, August 20, 2009

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lord's Day (Paperback)

THE LORDS' DAY by Michael Dobbs is a riveting novel that compels completion in one sitting. If I hadn't had to waste time by going to my pesky job plus performing tedious domestic chores, I would've done just that.

The plot takes place sometime in the near, imaginary future. Britain's House of Lords is hijacked by eight armed Afghanis during the ceremony marking the State Opening of Parliament. The hostages taken include Queen Elizabeth II, her Prime Minister, the Cabinet, the U.S. Ambassador, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a host of others including assorted bishops, judges and foreign dignitaries. The occupiers have only one non-negotiable demand.

A thread that runs through the entire book is one of sons. Among the hostages are the Queen's eldest, Prince Charles, and the sons of the Prime Minister and the American President. The American Ambassador mourns the recent loss of his only son to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. And the leader of the attackers, Masood, is himself the son of a notorious terrorist mastermind.

The hero of the piece is Harry Jones, a Member of Parliament. Jones is also a former member of the SAS, a fact that makes him lethal like so many other Tough Guys of contemporary British fiction from the same background. (How is it that those that save the day for the Western democracies within the pages of innumerable thrillers don't come from the Royal Corps of Signals or the motorpool of the Coldstream Guards?)

I particularly liked the author's attempt to delve inside the relationship existing between the only two real-life characters of the novel, the Queen and Prince Charles. Of course, one outside the family can only imagine, but as Dobbs depicts it, it must be, um, complicated.

The only false note was perhaps struck by the plot twist at the end, which struck me as an effect disproportionate to the cause and somewhat implausible. However, that minor quibble isn't enough for me to knock off a star from an otherwise totally absorbing potboiler.