Book : False Impression by Jeffrey Archer

False Impression: Vintage Archer, Limited Impact

Before proceeding ahead, I must confess: I am not a big fan of the genre of thrillers/mystery fiction comprising of authors like Ludlum, Cook, Grisham et al. Most of these books have about half a hundred (alliteration courtesy: Lord Tennyson) characters and layers and layers of plots and sub-plots: a literary lasagna beyond the digestive capabilities of my simpleton mind. Archer, however, is the one author that can still spring a surprise without confusing me with un-necessary red herrings (no pun intended). In my opinion, he is the modern master of the “twist in the tail/tale”, a title which has had worthy bearers like O. Henry and H.H Munro (Saki).  

False Impression, his latest novel, is vintage Archer. The racy script, sharp unexpected turn of events, slickly defined characters are masterfully painted in the backdrop of the 9/11 disaster. The ending is somewhat predictable; which is why I feel this is not top-drawer stuff from the master. The plot in brief is as follows: Bryce Fenston runs away from Romania and settles in New York after the government of the military leader for whom he used to work is overthrown.  In NY, the resilient Romanian establishes Fenston Finance, a bank which operates on a unique business model. It gives loans to rich families in financial trouble using as collateral paintings primarily from the Impressionist era. However, Fenston is actually a crafty swindler who gets his clients murdered and then takes control not only over their money but also their rare art collection. His next client/victim is the Wentworth family of England. Victoria Wentworth has run up significant debts from Fenston Finance in order to service the debts taken by her father. Fenston has his eyes set on a rare painting in the Wentworth’s Impressionist collection: ‘Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear’ by the Dutch master Vincent Van Gogh. He knows the only way Anna can repay the debt is by forfeiting the painting to Fenston’s private collection. However, Dr. Anna Petrescu, another runaway Romanian who is an art connoisseur and is hired by Fenston to value clients’ art collections after she is fired from Sotheby’s, spills the beans on Fenston by advising Victoria to sell her painting to a Japanese collector for a price that will allow her to repay all debt to Fenston Finance. Unfortunately, Victoria is mysteriously murdered with her left ear chopped off. Jack Delaney, an FBI agent, is trying to investigate the misgivings of Bryce Fenston for a long time and is on the lookout for incriminating evidence to nail Fenston and Petrescu, whom he believes is Fenston’s aide. Anna, however, is fired on the morning of 9/11 on flimsy charges, minutes before the ill-fated American Airlines flight crashes into the North Tower of WTC, where Fenston Finance’s office is located. Anna manages to escape from the WTC only to realize the vicious plot that Fenston has been hatching. She takes upon herself the responsibility to avenge Victoria’s death and helping Victoria’s sister Arabella save the Wentworth Estate and the Van Gogh from the hands of the unscrupulous Fenston. What follows is an intriguing adventure that takes Anna from NY to Canada to England to Romania to Tokyo and back: her situation is not helped at all by the fact that she is not only being trailed by Fenston’s mysterious murderer but also by FBI agent, Jack.

Overall, the novel is a good fast read. It is a must-read for all Archer fans. However, if you are the kinds who can arouse yourself to orgasmic heights at the mention of Art or Paintings, this novel is not to be missed.

Readability Rating: 3.5/5