A Dangerous Fortune
by Ken Follett
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Book Reviews of A Dangerous Fortune
Book Review: Good plot, but not Follett's best
Summary: 4 Stars
"A dangerous fortune" is a typical Follett book: set in a historical context, a plot involving murder and money, with many characters, usually divided between the good ones and the bad ones. The bad ones are more interesting, they have power, they have money, and the good ones, though poor, are always correct and faithful to their traditional beliefs. Between "The pillars of Earth" and "Night over water" this formula suited Follett's plots very well, and he gathererd many constant readers around the world. "A dangerous fortune" is one formulaic book, though it doesn't mean it is bad. On the contrary, it's the usual Follett, thrilling, well written and full of good moments. But it's far from the author's best.
The center of the story is the Pillaster family, traditional bankers - but not yet noble - of the London society at the second half of the nineteenth century. Hugh is the talented young Pillaster, but he's sort of a black sheep of the family. Edward and his mother Augusta, the book's arch-villain, spend the whole book trying to get control of the family bank, while Edward's friend Micky Miranda, a south-american from a ficticious country very similar to Colombia is always trying to make Edward lend him the bank's money in order to achieve a coup d'etat at home. And Hugh must prevent all of that from happening, of course. Throw in lots of love interests, four or five murders, a couple of sex-scenes - also usual in Follett's books - and you begin to get an initial idea of what this book is about.
As I've already said, "A dangerous fortune" is not a bad book, far from that. If you are kew to Follett's work, don't be afraid to try this one: it's not a flopper like "The third twin" or "Hammer of Edden". But for Follett's long-time readers this one will bring nothing new. It seems like a compilation of what the author had already put in his previous books. Even so, it's an above-average thriller.
Grade 8.2/10
Book Review: Very Entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
In my opinion, Ken Follett is one of the better writers working currently, and A DANGEROUS FORTUNE is one of his best books to date. I liked his EYE OF THE NEEDLE and PILLARS OF THE EARTH very much, too, and while I don't think FORTUNE is quite that good, it is still one of the most entertaining books I've read recently. The story is set in England in the latter half of the 19th century, and revolves around the wealthy Pilaster family. The Pilasters are bankers and control the large and powerful Pilaster Bank. As schoolboys, both Edward Pilaster and his cousin Hugh, son of the family black sheep, are involved in the death by drowning of a fellow student. That event is the beginning of 25 years of intrigue, corruption and murder as the fortunes of the Pilasters and those close to them play out. Follett weaves an intricate and fast-paced, if not always surprising, plot around his characters that carries the reader from the mansions of London's rich and powerful, through seedy bordellos, to vile gambling dens.This is contemporary pulp fiction at its best. The characters have depth and believability and Follett seems to do a good job of evoking the look and feel of the period. The pages roll by quickly and the book is hard to put down. But, if it's so good, why didn't I give it five stars? Generally, I reserve five-star status for books of what I regard to be classic status. Caesar, Tolkien, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter (yeah, I do think Harry Potter will be around for a long time). Maybe Harry Bosch, although I may have gotten carried away, there. This is, after all, pulp fiction and it just doesn't have the depth of the above. It is very entertaining, though, and I think most readers will enjoy it very much. Consider it a strong four plus and give it a look.
Book Review: This is a solid entertaining read
Summary: 3 Stars
I have read a few of Folletts books now. Dangerous Fortune is not the worst Follett that I have read, but neither does it come close to supplanting "Pillars in the Earth" from what I would consider the best of his work.
The story here is about a banking family, the Pilasters, and a lifetime of events that stem from a drowning when all of the protagonists are children in school. The reason I am only giving this book three stars is that the entire arc of the story follows a predictable and weary plot line. Follett introduces his evil side of the family lorded over by the contemptable Augusta Pilaster and never gives the reader a single instance in which to understand their motives. Follett builds up Augusta, her son, and others as idiots and shallow and you know that they will bring ruin on the family somewhere down the line. On the other hand, Hugh Pilaster and his side of the family are set up as puritan saints. The whole book is very black and white, good and bad.
Other than the lack of other than a superficial development in the clash between sides of the family, Follett does not flesh out his characters very well. If you were to read a Russo book like Nobodies Fool and then were to pick up Dangerous Fortune the characters would relate to each other like the garden of Eden against the Mojave Desert.
I have been slaming this book pretty hard. I think that it deserves it too. Follett was sort of phoning this one in. I would not ever recomend it to anyone, though I would with his book 'Pillars...' All of that aside it was not a total disaster and managed to keep me entertained for quite a while. So you wont be unsatisfied with 'Fortune' if you are a Follett fan.
Book Review: Wonderful Despite Shortcomings
Summary: 4 Stars
Ken Follett is wonderful.
When was the last time you read a novel that made you feel a gripping, tightening sensation near your heart?
Who was the last author you read who made you feel anger and range?
When was the last time you wanted to reach through the pages and strangle a character?
For me, this generally only happens when I read Ken Follett, or Jeffrey Archer.
Ken knows his craft and in just a few paragraphs is capable of sending the reader on an emotional rollercoaster ride.
However, this is just a thought - not sure if characters are under an obligation to undergo a change during the novel, but most of the great novels have this very key similarity.
For example, if you see a shooting on the corner, surely you will tell someone about it. And you'll probably never be the same again.
BUT, if you felt the shooting was as mundane as watching an Out-of-Service bus go by, you would never mention the occurrence.
When reading a 500+ page novel, trust me, whatever you're telling me that takes that many pages to get the point across, let's just say, it had better change the lives of the people I'm reading about. If not, why waste my time?
This novel, for all its emotional ups and downs, is WONDERFUL in so many other ways. But it could have been great had the main characters left the pages of this book differently than when they entered it.
Book Review: Follett has a Formula!
Summary: 3 Stars
I've read three of Follett's non-mystery novels, and all have similar formula's. In each, there is an almost unbelievably selfish, powerful, scheming mother who will stop at nothing to advance herself, her family, and especially her son. In "Pillars of the Earth" it was Regan. In "World Without End" it was Petranilla. In "Dangerous Fortune" it's Augusta. Each of these three is really the same woman. Each of the books also has a villain who is so completely evil and does such relentlessly evil deeds that he is almost a joke: William in Pillars, Ralph in WWE and Mickey in Dangerous Fortune. And, to make the formula complete, each book has a talented and put-upon hero who is not only kept from his rightful recognition throughout most of the book, he is also kept from his lady-love for not years but decades, and ends up marrying someone else during the agonizing separation (who is disposed of by the author in some fashion as to render the hero blameless).
That said, each of books is a damned good read for the simple reason that Follett knows how to tell a story. He knows how to keep you turning the page to see what happens next. His characters may be only two dimensional, but they have really fascinating adventures, and it's fun to hate the villain and know that in the end the good guy will triumph.