From Publishers Weekly
A rare, annotated draft of the U.S. Constitution is at the heart of Martin's entertaining third novel to feature antiquarian book dealer Peter Fallon. As in
Harvard Yard (2003), Martin tells two stories. The first chronicles the loss and recovery of the document at the time of the constitutional convention, where young Will Pike attends Massachusetts delegate Rufus King, and its passing through generations of the Pike family to the present. The second traces Fallon's search against deadly competition to find the draft. Throughout, Martin makes clear that people have always tried to use the Constitution for their own purposes, including right-wing Christian fanatics, survivalist gun nuts, liberal gun-banners and greedy entrepreneurs now seeking the lost draft. The Pike family motto: "In America, we get up in the morning, we go to work, and we solve our problems" serves as a unifying theme, and Martin also makes clear that the Constitution—drafts and all—was intended as a unifying agent. This is a good mystery, a better examination of constitutional issues and a superb paean to New England, its people, natural beauty and resources.
Author tour. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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From Booklist
Rare book dealer Peter Fallon and his travel reporter paramour, Evangeline Carrington, are back for a third treasure-hunting adventure in this gem of a series by Martin. The search is on for an original first draft of the Constitution marked up and annotated by the Founding Fathers that was stolen hours after it was written and lost ever since. Intermittent historical flashbacks tell the fascinating tale of how the document was smuggled, stolen, and sold over the past 220 years. Fast-forwarding to the present: after a major terrorist attack involving easily obtainable automatic weapons is thwarted, gun-control supporters in Congress are trying to get the Second Amendment repealed. The margin notes on the draft constitution could give surprising insights on what the Founders really intended regarding "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Villianous parties are determined to get their hands on the "lost Constitution" and will stop at nothing—not even murder—to get their greedy hands on it. Readers looking for another Da Vinci Code should find this a worthy successor. Gannon, Michael
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
