- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (Mar 7 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312353723
- ISBN-13: 978-0312353728
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 794 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #541,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Even though Archer (Sons of Fortune) grounds his international art-thievery thriller in the events of 9/11, this leisurely paced, tepid effort has a musty feel. It's September 10, 2001, and Lady Victoria Wentworth is sitting in spacious Wentworth Hall considering the sad state of family fortunes when a female intruder slips in, slashes her throat and cuts off her ear. The next day in New York, art expert Anna Petrescu heads to her job as art wrangler for wealthy magnate Bryce Fenston of Fenston Finance. The pair's offices are in the Twin Towers, and when disaster strikes, each sees the tragedy as an opportunity to manipulate a transaction scheduled to transfer ownership of a legendary Van Gogh painting, Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear, from the Wentworth estate to the larcenous Fenston. The initially intriguing character, hit-woman and ex-gymnast Olga Krantz, turns out to be too lightweight, both physically and fictionally, to garner strong interest in anything other than her deadly skills with a kitchen knife. Lord Archer has been busy for the past five years or so serving half of a four-year prison sentence for perjury and writing a series of books about his prison experience; his first novel in seven years disappoints. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
A no-holds-barred New York banker, a former Sotheby's art expert, a Japanese mogul, an FBI agent, the KGB, and a titled English lady all fight for a Van Gogh painting worth millions. The action ricochets from New York to Britain to Romania, where a copy is made, to Tokyo and back through Europe as the expert tries to stay one step ahead of her pursuers, who include an ultra-evil female assassin. Byron Jennings's reading complements the exciting pace, and he gets all the accents right, no small task. The plot pushes credibility, but the abridgment makes sense, so come along for the chase. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Latest work is better,
By
This review is from: False Impression (Mass Market Paperback)
I read two novels by J. Archer, the first one is " Sons of Fortune " followed immediately by the " False Impression" although both works shared some similar trait among their main characters e.g. athletic ( distance runner appeared on both ) passion for impressionism work, although in the former , the indulgence of impressionism pieces by one of its main characters Nat later proved to be irrelevant for later story development. However, in the" False Impression ", the characters involved were more intertwined , the background of where it happened are better suited for Archer to tell the story as a native British, the transition of a female gymnastic into a cold blood assassin was more than revealing. Over all , I think it quite entertaining, and i would not be surprised if any one would take it into an action movie.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great Story,
By
This review is from: False Impression (Mass Market Paperback)
In this thriller, the author brings his readers along with his protagonist Anna Petrescu on a chase around the world from New York during the tragic events of 9/11, to England, Romania, Hong Kong and Japan. The novel combines criminal conspiracy, a Van Gogh, a ruthless assassin, a Romanian art expert and Bryce Fenston an opportunistic and ruthless banker.
The story is quite exciting, slow at start but maintains a steady pace throughout. It opens with the prospective sale of an original Van Gogh and the timely murder of its owner, one of England's aristocrats Victoria Wentworth. At the same time, in New York, Bryce Fanston calmly awaits confirmation from his accomplice so he can foreclose on the assets of Victoria. Missing and presume dead after 9/11 Anna an art expert and former employee with damaging information on Bryce uses the event to escape America and avenge Victoria's death. The mystery unfolds when Anna's suspicions attract the FBI and Interpol. Working together they discover the links and motives between the Van Gogh and Victoria's murder. The novel gives us a bit of art history, also all kinds of twists and turns and heart stopping intrigues. Anna's ultimate determination had me riveted as I followed her to exotic locals around the world. Maybe the plot becomes implausible towards the end; Anna is way too clever and cool to be real, but she is smart and loveable. We have all the elements needed to make this a pager turner: vicious murders, a tab of romance, clever double crossing and a shocking ending. Mr Archer is a great storyteller; I find it surprising to see so many reviewers disappointed with this novel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
False Impression -- HUGE IMPRESSION,
By Sue (Oregon) - See all my reviews
This review is from: False Impression (Mass Market Paperback)
I've just finished reading the condensed version of this book (through Reader's Digest). I must say this is the first of many books I will read by Archer. I was glued to the pages from the moment I picked the story up until the end. Archer is a fantastic story teller.
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