A Matter of Honor [Mass Market Paperback]

Jeffrey Archer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

It seems innocent enough. A disgraced British colonel bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son. But the moment Adam Scott opens the yellowing envelope, he sets into motion a deadly chain of events that threatens to shake the very foundations of the free world.

Within days, Adam's lover is brutally murdered and he's running for his life through the great cities of Europe, pursued not only by the KGB, but by the CIA and his own countrymen as well. Their common intent is to kill him before the truth comes out. While powerful men in smoke-filled rooms plot ever more ingenious means of destroying him, Adam finds himself betrayed and abandoned even by those he holds most dear.

When at last he comes to understand what he is in possession of, he's even more determined to protect it, for it's more than a matter of life and death-it's a matter of honor.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1966, Adam Scott, an unemployed British ex-army officer with an uncertain future, attends the reading of his disgraced father's will. Part of his inheritance is a letter detailing the events of Hermann Goering's suicide and two unopened letters from the Nazi general giving him access to a Swiss bank vault and the valuable Russian icon it contains. However, a veritable state secret is concealed in the painting and the KGB and the CIA both want it before the expiry of a crucial deadline. Scott's perilous journey across Europe to the questionable safety of England is by plane, car, foot, bus, ambulance, van, and ferry as he stays one step ahead of death with the assistance of farmers, salesmen, racing cyclists, hoodlums, and an entire orchestra. An epic chase thriller tidily concluded with a series of neat twists. Highly recommended. Literary Guild main selection. John North, L.R.C., Ryerson Polytechnical Inst., Toronto
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Sizzles along at a pace that would peel the paint off a spaceship." -The New York Times Book Review

"Jeffrey Archer has written the equivalent of an Alfred Hitchcock movie." -Baltimore Sun

"A wild, no-hold-barred slam-bang, pell-mell international thriller." -Buffalo News

More Praise for Jeffrey Archer:
"A master at mixing power, politics, and profit into fiction" -Entertainment Weekly

"Archer is a master entertainer." -Time Magazine

"One of the top ten storytellers in the world" -Los Angeles Times

"Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages." -Boston Globe

"Cunning plots, silken style...Archer plays a cat-and-mouse game with the reader." -The New York Times

"A storyteller in the class of Alexander Dumas...Unsurpassed skill...making the reader wonder intensely what will happen next." -Washington Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312933541
• ISBN-13: 978-0312933548
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeffrey Archer was educated at Oxford University. He has served five years in Britain's House of Commons, fourteen years in the House of Lords and two in Her majesty's prisons, which spawned three volumes of highly acclaimed Prison Diaries. All of his novels and short story collections--including Kane and Abel, Sons of Fortune, and False Impression--have been international bestsellers. Archer is married with two children and lives in London and Cambridge.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A can't stop page turner with mounting suspense, September 6, 1999

By 

William E Hiller (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Matter of Honor (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first Jeffrey Archer book that I have read. I can assure you that it won't be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure-suspense nov el. From the time that Adam Scott opens a letter which was given to him as part of a bequest from his deceased father's will, he is placed on a perilous path between life and death with many unpredictable twists and turns along the way. His search for the Russian icon of St. George and the Dragon coincides with similar searches by the Russian KGB and the Americans. How he manages to locate the icon and to eventually outwit his adversaries makes for an exciting story. I found this book hard to put down once I started it.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spy novel reprises US fears of Russian domination, June 28, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Matter of Honor (Mass Market Paperback)

When his father dies, Capt. Adam Scott inherits an envelope. According to the terms of his father's will, he may choose not to open it but "should he decide to open the envelope, it must be on the condition that he will never divulge its contents to any other living person." Adam realizes that the envelope must contain the secret that led his WWII hero father into public disgrace and dishonor.

He opens the envelope and begins to unravel its secrets. Suddenly he's being pursued by the KGB. The defense strategy of the USA is in danger of becoming a pawn to Russia's plan to take over. An imaginative story, building suspense, surprising plot twists and lively writing make this a page-turner. If you like John Le Carre and Robert Ludlum's books, you should love this one.

Sunnye Tiedemann (aka Ruth F. Tiedemann)

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Greatest, June 16, 2000

By 

Craig Daniels (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Matter of Honor (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read extensively out of Jeffrey Archers repetoire and have found all of the books not only palatiable, but also intriguing reads.

I read this book 5 years ago, and make it a point to read it at least once a year if not more. This book was one of the best fiction books ever written as far as I am concerned.

It is so easy for the fiction author to fall into a trap and write the same old news, sometimes in a tired, but different way. These books are not interesting. Any author who can offer a breath of fresh air to the genre recieves my hats off, and this is due to jeffrey Archer.

This book isn't typical at all, the plot twists are entirely tough to predict,and even though the ending should have been a forgone conclustion (the hero winning) it was done in such a way that I was still very much interested.

The basis of the story is a guy named Adam who is led through many adventures because of an archaic note he got from his fathers will. This letter to his father was written in german, and in trying to get it translated the adventure begins.

His journey and escapes follow across most of Europe, and the action never stops. Somewhat like a James Bond flick, but 100 times better, and in book form is what I would compare this exciting read to.

Read this book, and when you are done, read all the rest of Archers books, you will enjoy each and every one of them.