Product Description

"A nineteenth-century version of THE STING...Crichton fascinates us."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
In teeming Victorian London, where lavish wealth and appalling poverty live side by side, Edward Pierce charms the most prominent of the well-to-do as he cunningly orchestrates the crime of the century. Who would suspect that a gentleman of breeding could mastermind the daring theft of a fortune in gold? Who could predict the consequences of making the extraordinary robbery aboard the pride of England's industrial era, the mighty steam locomotive? Based on fact, as lively as legend, and studded with all the suspense and style of a modern fiction master, here is a classic caper novel set a decade before the age of dynamite--yet nonetheless explosive....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #846584 in Books
• Published on: 1994-07-02
• Released on: 1994-07-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 304 pages

From AudioFile
One of the finest of contemporary pop novelists here presents a suspenseful and fascinating account of a true-life Victorian caper, far richer and more absorbing than the excellent film version of 1979. Simon Prebble plays less for drama than for clarity and euphony. His measured tones give us only a hint of character and ignore the author's expert manipulation of tension. Yet there is not a false or ugly note anywhere. Indeed, through some subtle actor's magic, he simultaneously puts himself into the background and the story into the foreground. Thus, though sounding unprepossessing and remote, he grips the listener and holds him fascinated until the last word of the last chapter. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
"A nineteenth-century version of The Sting...Crichton fascinates us."-- The New, York Times Book Review

Inside Flap Copy
"A nineteenth-century version of THE STING...Crichton fascinates us."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
In teeming Victorian London, where lavish wealth and appalling poverty live side by side, Edward Pierce charms the most prominent of the well-to-do as he cunningly orchestrates the crime of the century. Who would suspect that a gentleman of breeding could mastermind the daring theft of a fortune in gold? Who could predict the consequences of making the extraordinary robbery aboard the pride of England's industrial era, the mighty steam locomotive? Based on fact, as lively as legend, and studded with all the suspense and style of a modern fiction master, here is a classic caper novel set a decade before the age of dynamite--yet nonetheless explosive....

Customer Reviews

Classic Crichton
This book is great for history buffs and the more run of the mill fiction fans. Michael Crichton has veered away from his normal science fiction formula, but he has stayed with his classic fast paced action combined with intelligent dialog that his fans love. If you like Michael Crichton books then you should check it out. If you are a fan of historical fictions then you might enjoy this book even if his usual science fiction isn't for you. The only complaint is that there are a lot of era specific words being used that slow down the dialog at times. But, he usually does a good job of explaining them as he goes without too much distraction. Overall good book, I couldn't put it down.

Probably Crichton's best
In telling the true story of a major mid-nineteenth century crime, Crichton brings his novelist's sensibility to selecting the details that make the tale seem simultaneously real, and larger-than-life. His prose is straightforward and competent, and also evocative without being flowery.

At the same time, he manages fairly well as a historian, offering some biting social critiques of the time in question, but also putting events in their proper historical context and filling modern audiences in on the necessary background (although he does fall short in this regard a couple of times when he attempts economic analysis).

Despite the fact that the key figure, Pierce, is a contemptible blackguard, one has to admire his sheer daring and his incredibly intelligent cunning. It is almost as though he even planned his arrest and trial so that he would have an opportunity to tell his story on the record, and to make known his utter contempt for everything conventional (including the peers of the kingdom). If one could take this as a purely fictional novel, you could almost abstract these admirable elements of Pierce's character from the criminal specifics of his actions and consider him a sort of heroic character.

Crichton concludes the narrative rather abruptly, ending with a sentence or two about the fate of each of the key figures when it's known. Perhaps this is Crichton's way of prompting us to draw our own conclusions, or of suggesting that we simply take this story for what it is--a remarkable criminal caper.

Robbers Win
Action, adventure, intrigue, romance, and social history are a fantastic combination. The little essays into the fabric of Victorian life ring like either Dickens or Victor Hugo. THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY is a fictionalized account of a famous heist where the perpetrators were never caught. Michael Crichton has you cheering for them as they plan and execute the audacious caper.
Takes time to read but it is worth every minute spent pouring over the pages.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS and QUALIFYING LAPS.