Okay book. | False Impression

Not a masterpiece, but still a favorable 'Impression'. | False Impression | Jeffrey Archer

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	• False Impression Jeffrey Archer St. Martin's Press, 2006 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 64 reviews view larger image
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Misdirection, but compelling plot

By definition, a thriller is supposed to take the reader by surprise, plotting suspense with conflict. Archer achieves these objectives with aplomb, detailing the world of art auction and intrigue. The twists, however, aren't completely unexpected if you've seen art heist films like "To Catch a Thief" or "Legal Eagles." "False Impression" is compelling, notching up the stakes with every twist. However, some of the details seemed mis-directions, like the timing of the novel beginning on 9/10/2001, and misleadingly pivoting at the World Trade Towers on the day of the terrorist attacks. That it ends up being merely incidental to the plot leaves a false impression.

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Okay book.

I have the paperback and on the front cover there is a quote saying' "A worthy successor to the Da Vinci Code." So im thinking, 'hey this should be pretty interesting to see how he uses Van Gogh.' The more into the book however, the more I began to notice it is nothing at all like the Da Vinci code, which is fine by me but the book is pretty bland. There is no killer motive behind the crime besides the fact that Fenston, the villain, likes artwork, and there are no real twists that keep you hanging when you put down the book until the morning. In fact, I felt more or less halfway through the book that finishing it is more of a chore. In all it is not a bad book, and there are some pretty intense chapters, but overall does not grab you in my opinion.

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Not a masterpiece, but still a favorable 'Impression'.

Archer mixes intrigue in the art world with the aftermath of 9/11 in this caper. The main plot is interesting, although pacing and character development, two of Archer's trademarks, aren't quite what they have been in previous works. The Romanian background of the main characters makes for a bit of a change from more typical Russian or German characters in stories like this. However, as noted, many of the characters are a bit superficial, and the 'Romanian gymnast' angle seems outdated.
The romance between Anna and Jack, like many others in these 'thrillers', is forced, and, worst of all, too much of the book is taken up with the 'cat and mouse chase' through airports on several continents. This would probably look better on screen than it read on the printed page.
There aren't enough 'digressions' to wreck the story, but they do tend to show up in odd places.

Once the story shifts back to England, the 'twists' are satisfactory, and the plot reaches an agreeable conclusion. The book gets us from point A to point B with visits to just about all points in between.

Good enough to staisfy Archer's fans, or at least anyone who's read him at least once before. Maybe not the best place to start if you're new to his work...try the 'Collected Short Stories' first.

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Fair At Best

I was hoping for a little more from Jeffrey Archer after the long layoff. He's written a few of my favorite novels, but I was kind of indifferent to this one. The pacing is a little slow and it never really pulled me in.

There's nothing wrong it, but it is definitely not in the same category as K&A or The Fourth Estate.

No stone left unturned in this thriller

This is a superb classic thriller that offers unsurpassed insight as well as foresight in human passions and foibles in this jittery post 9/11 era. His description of bad acts and bad thoughts are so real, palpable and gripping albeit a bit unreadable at times and yet his noble spirit of statesmanship shines through as I read passages like [he] is straight from "the Bronx to ... Brooks Brothers" attire and room "blazing with light" and finally at the end of the story in a banter where the conversation lends itself to a possibility of disagreement he says, "You are not Irish."

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Why was an elegant lady brutally murdered the night before 9/11?

Why was a successful New York banker not surprised to receive a woman?s left ear in the morning mail?

Why did a top Manhattan lawyer work only for one client, but never charge a fee?

Why did a young woman with a bright career steal a priceless Van Gogh painting?
Why was an Olympic gymnast paid a million dollars an assignment when she didn?t have a bank account?

Why was an honors graduate working as a temporary secretary after inheriting a fortune?

Why was an English Countess ready to kill the banker, the lawyer and the gymnast even if it meant spending the rest of her life in jail?

Why was a Japanese steel magnate happy to hand over $50,000,000 to a woman he had only met once?

Why was a senior FBI agent trying to work out the connection between these eight apparently innocent individuals?

All these questions are answered in Jeffrey Archer?s latest novel, False Impression, but not before a breathtaking journey of twists and turns that will take readers from New York to London to Bucharest and on to Tokyo, and finally a sleepy English village, where the mystery of Van Gogh?s last painting will finally be resolved.

And only then will readers discover that Van Gogh?s Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear has a secret of its own that acts as the final twist in this unforgettable yarn.

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