Customer Reviews

The Machiavelli Covenant

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

'The Machiavelli Covenant' is a loose sequel to Allan Folsom's previous book, 'The Exile', in that it features the same protagonist, Nicholas Marten. I haven't read 'The Exile', but that didn't affect my enjoyment of this book. Allan Folsom knows how to write an action-packed thriller, one that tears along at a rapid pace and keeps you turning the pages late into the night. While this book is nowhere near as good as his first, 'The Day After Tomorrow' (which bears no relation to the movie of the same name), it's still better than many in the same genre.

'The Machiavelli Covenant' opens with Marten sitting at the deathbed of his childhood sweetheart, Caroline. Before she dies she tells him that she was poisoned. Marten is determined to find out who was behind this, as well as the deaths of Caroline's husband and son. Thus begins a rollercoaster adventure that will take him from one end of Europe to the other and will have him joining forces with the President of the US in a bid to bring down a shadowy cabal of prominent business and political leaders.

It's easy to dismiss this book as a rip-off of 'The Da Vinci Code', but Folsom covered similar territory in his first book which pre-dated Da Vinci by several years. While ultimately the story does get a bit silly, this is still a fast-paced thriller that's hard to put down.

In some ways, Allan Folsom is a pretty remarkable writer. The first one hundred pages of his debut novel, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, are some of the most exciting pages of genre prose I have ever read in my life. The beginnings of all of his novels have a crazy momentum to them that is simply irresistible. There is little doubt in my mind that Dan Brown was heavily influenced by Folsom's lightning-fast plotting style when he wrote books like THE DA VINCI CODE.

Unfortunately, Folsom is the type of author who can never measure up to his great beginnings. His novels typically fall apart after the first 100-150 pages, as their storylines become more overblown and unrealistic. I've read three of his books now, and in each case I felt my intelligence being insulted further and further as I progressed through the book.

THE MACHIAVELLI COVENANT is an example of this flaw in Folsom's work. It has a very exciting beginning, but quickly disintegrates once Folsom reveals his far-flung conspiracy plot, a storyline that would make Oliver Stone blush with embarrassment. In this book, we have a President on the lam from his own cabinet, a plot to assassinate the Presidents of France and Germany, a scheme to annihalite the Middle East, and even some virgin sacrifice to boot.

All of this is dumb, dumb, dumb. It doesn't help that all of the novel's characters are essentially caricatures and that Folsom writes in a long-winded, expository, repetitive style. I found myself skipping a lot of pages just to finish this book, which is way too long for its own good.

I found THE MACHIAVELLI COVENANT frustrating, because I think Folsom has the raw talent to write a seriously good book. He came closest with the DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and I recommend giving that novel a try if you want to give his work a shot.

Whew! The fact that a book as wretched as this can receive favorable reviews from so many sources has given hope to my own literary aspirations!

I was a minor fan of Folsom's until I had to suffer through this latest endevor. Previous reviewers have this book nailed - the characters are wooden and completely unbelievable. The premise is ridiculous. We have the president of the USA running around with a former cop turned gardener who uncovers a major plot based on a few whispers from a dying friend.

The plot does not develop in a natural way, but is forced and amazingly contrived through countless repetitive discussions, memories, and deducements from the poorly drawn characters. The writing is lousy. If I have to read one more "conversation" between "Richard" and "Victor," I'll shoot myself.

Spare yourself this read - go get a root canal instead!

Folsom has taken a huge hit in my eyes. I have to say that I really enjoyed reading his first two books. 'Day after Tomorrow' is a classic light genre read. However since then he has taken the insanity of his plots further and further. This time around he takes up where his last book 'Exile' left off. 'Exile' started off great in my mind, but soon people were coming back from the dead and it just lost its wind.

I just couldn't get past the thought that this book was a small concept in Folsom's mind and he decided to turn it into a full blown novel. It felt like the first half was a big set up to place three mis-matched and 2-dimensional characters together in a Bourne Identity/Ludlum sort of way. You have Martin, the cop turned landscape designer who thwarted the biggest coup of the 21st century a couple of years ago on the run with the president of the USA who's entire cabinet wants him dead so that they can assassinate the leaders of France and Germany, and a mysterious writer who is trying to uncover the conspiracy because they used her sister as a virgin sacrifice. GAH!

This book is bad. And that is saying something due to how much I liked earlier Folsom and think that he could be a great writer. This is his worst book by far and you should steer clear of it.

This is one of the silliest books that I have ever read. The argument is weak (to say the least), the flow horrible and the characters' decisions plain dumb. There are numerous repetitions all over the book and a few times I thought that my bookmark was misplaced! This story could have been contained in 80 pages and still wouldn't be worthy to read.

It is also infuriating the lack of interest that the editors have shown on this book. I guess that the author may enjoy showing up how good he is in using language translators to put a few (simple) sentences in Spanish or French... but it's the editors' task to make sure that these sentences are correctly written and that they make sense!! Not to talk about the names of some secondary characters more Hispanic than Spaniard...

If you can get your money back when you buy a defective appliance I wonder why Forge Books shouldn't reimburse us for this very defective... novel?

This continuation of detective Marten's knack for hooking into trouble doesn't quite have the speed of Folsom's (previous) EXILE. There's less blood shed with lots more intellectual problem-solving, but it didn't keep me up late like EXILE did. Never-the-less, Folsom is good with words and obviously likes the brain twists that he inserts. I'm wondering though, (in the next book)will we really know who was knocking on Marten's door at 2:22 am or will it be left to dangle like who the hell found Marten on the beach and wrote on his car?!

Am I the only one who noticed (and was very annoyed) by his over use of the word "wholly"? It's like he attempted to jam this word in as many times as he could just because he liked the sound of it and it totally turned me off. Flat characters, ridiculous amount of repetition (really, the entire list of conspirators EACH AND EVERY TIME???) and dull scenes that were either totally preposterous or just plain stupid. 100 pages less and this book could have gotten two stars from me instead of just one.

That being said, I've been a huge fan of Folsom up to this point (The Day After Tomorrow is one of my favorites) so maybe he was just having an off day/year with this one. Don't be completely turned off by him until you've read The Day After Tomorrow...a much better read and truer to his style than this.

I have to agree with the reviewers who were less than happy with this book. I gave the book two stars instead of one because the idea was good - people in positions of high power run amok - but it was poorly executed. I think Mr. Folsom's editor didn't do him any favors. The book probably would have been good had it been pared down by about 150 pages or so, and the editing stinks. I finished the book, but only out of sheer will power. Spend your money elsewhere. For sure, wait for the paperback version.

Congressman Parsons and his son dies in a plane crash followed shortly afterward by the death of his wife Caroline from a strange infection. Before she dies, however, she informs her past lover, former Los Angeles police detective Nicholas Marten that they were killed because they uncovered an illegal deadly bio-weapons program headed by a South African scientist-terrorist. When he realizes the Feds are not following up, Nick, stunned by Caroline's death and the lack of government activity, begins his investigation into her allegations.

Meanwhile, American President John Henry Harris learns that someone inside the White House directed the assassinations of the German chancellor and the French President with plans to place in charge friendlier allies in order to launch a bio attack on the Middle East. He objects, but is told to obey orders or die; to make it clear to Harris who is in charge they strip him of his secret service protection. Harris flees, but soon meets up with Nick, as both are now targets of the White House.

This is a non-stop action thriller that never slows down for a moment as the unlikely allies (along with a third person, the required beautiful woman who happens to be a French reporter) are the mice escaping one harrowing attack by professionals after another. Though implausible as the odds of surviving one attempt is much greater than Douglas-Tyson (I know who won) yet multiples seem impossible. Still no one will care as the preemptive strike crowd take control of the White House and set in motion their plan to use biological weapons of mass destruction. For adrenalin rush junkies and the Cheney let them eat red meat supporters only.

Harriet Klausner

How anyone can give this book a four or five star rating is beyond me. The only reason I gave it a two is that it does have an occasional moment of compelling action and a conspiracy scenario that in other hands might have been made into something semi-reasonable from a plot perspective.

Even as fiction it is totally unbelievable, as are most of the characters. You alternately want to laugh or throw the book in a garbage heap. It really is a weird concoction of disjointed and ridiculous plot lines that all culminate in a rather predictable ending (which out of shear frustration I skipped ahead to read about half way through this way too long book).

In summary--not on my recommended reading list.