Book Review: False Impression

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

[4.5 stars]

False Impression Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Jeffrey Archer
Class/Genre: Mystery Thriller
St. Martin’s Press, $37.95 hardcover, 384 pages

On the morning of 11 September 2001 , Dr. Anna Petrescu, fine arts expert, is fired from her position with Fenston Finance by chairman Bryce Fenston for suggesting that Lady Victoria Wentworth should sell her Van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, to clear her debts with the bank. Anna has come to the conclusion that Fenston doesn’t want his debt-ridden clients to pay what they owe; he merely wants their art collections.

When the first plane crashes into the World Trade Center, Anna sees a way of escaping Fenston and warning Lady Victoria. Listed as “missing, presumed dead,” she flees to London, where she learns that Lady Victoria has been brutally murdered, her throat slit and her left ear removed. Anna begins a desperate race against time and an assassin that will take her from New York to Tokyo and destinations in between. Meanwhile, FBI agent Jack Delaney has Fenston and Anna in his sights as he investigates three similar slayings.

Jeffery Archer is one of those authors most people don’t admit to reading, like Maeve Binchy or Jackie Collins. Unlike those two, however, Archer can spin a tale and keep the plot moving, all with decent skill. He brings to life the terrifying hours and days after 9/11; I don’t know how he manages, but he conveys a believable sense of what it must have been like to be in the WTC when the planes hit.

My only problem—and it’s a minor one—is that despite all the research that clearly went into the book, Archer can’t divest himself of his Englishness. American characters invariably speak as Englishmen, though Archer does a creditable job with his Japanese and Romanian characters.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM

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