A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A Dangerous Fortune
Book Review: AWESOME BEYOND WORDS!
Summary: 5 Stars
I HATE novels, but Ken Follett is the only modern author I read other than the great classic writers. No other book has captivated me quite like this one, and I never wanted the story to end. Don't let the size scare you...I savored every word of it. Screw Shakespeare, if you only read one book in your lifetime-- read this one.Ken Follett, if you ever happen to read this (haha)-- Thank you for writing such an amazing story! You are totally awesome!
Book Review: Absolutely Incredible
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my second book by the author, after "Night Over Water," and I was not disappointed. The two books are not similar at all, except in their quality of writing and very engaging plot. Characters are well developed and a reader can relate. "A Dangerous Fortune" has to do with English upper-class society, intrigues, banking system, inheritance issues, love, lust, deception, and more deception. A fantastic read. Highly recommend.Book Review: Accurately plotted, well written, entertaining!
Summary: 5 Stars
My first attempt at a Follett book. And not one I regretted. It was accurate in the way it was written and thoroughly enjoyable. Well done Mr. Follett!Book Review: Amazing piece of work!
Summary: 5 Stars
I simply loved this book! It is absolutly true that you just can't put down this book. First I started reading it on the subway. Then it got so interesting that I stayed up late and read the whole book through in a few days. This is the best thriller book I have ever read. The characters are so alive and I could even identify with Hugh Pilaster and the way he felt. The author does an incredible job describing what each character goes through. And you want to keep reading because you want to find out the end of the story. It keeps you guessing, but you never know what to expect next.I think anyone who enjoys an intellectual thriller won't be able to put this book down.
Book Review: Ambition And Corruption Beneath A Well-Mannered Social Facade
Summary: 4 Stars
In the late-1980's as the Cold War was nearing its end (go, capitalism!) and the once red-hot market for espionage fiction was entering a downturn that is still in evidence today, British spy-thriller writer Ken Follett had the good luck to feel his muse taking his novels in another direction: toward the historical genre. First there was The Pillars of the Earth, an all-time great book set in Medieval England, and next came this one, an equally well-received if slightly lesser tale of dueling factions within a great banking house.
Set in mid-Victorian times in and around the financial district of the City of London, this novel begins with a questionably accidental and hauntingly consequential drowning at an exclusive public (aka boarding) school and wraps around a large cast of characters whose conflicting efforts to control the destiny of a great fortune make up Follett's storyline. The hero of A Dangerous Fortune is Hugh Pilaster, born into the "lesser" side of the Pilaster clan, nephew of the corrupt Augusta Pilaster, a woman who has grown used to her role as the true power behind the Pilaster family. By all rights Hugh's honesty, sharp intellect and enterprising nature should place him as logical choice to head the family bank after the death of the elder Pilaster who held that position for many years, but Augusta seeks to maintain her control by placing her own wastrel son in that role, and will use any means necessary to see that this happens, even if it means destroying Hugh and anyone else who stands in her way. Hugh also has a vulnerability Aunt Augusta is more than pleased to exploit. Hugh loves a young woman unacceptable to his social milieu and it is the subplotted tragedy of this love that cannot be that underpins Follett's commentary on the emotional suffocation Victorian morality often imposed on those who lived through it.
In its nearly 600 pages, A Dangerous Fortune introduces readers to murderous social climbers, fallen women, the privileged and lordly, and those who, though worthy of fullest recognition, dwell below the fullest heights of standing, owing to birth-status, religion, or gender. (Queen Victoria's was a flawed world of mandatory inequities and inescapable caste status.)
One thing that is satisfying about Ken Follett is his ability to make everything right as he wraps up a long book. With few exceptions, from The Eye of the Needle to his current works, in the end every character in his tales basically gets what he or she deserves. Although I won't give it away, I will note that nowhere in Follett's output has the ending to a despicable villain ever been more cringe-inducing or deserved than the awful fate he reserves here for one in particular.
A Dangerous Fortune is not a great novel, it's true, but it is a satisfying one that delivers the story it promises, and does not disappoint.