The Eleventh Commandment

The Eleventh Commandment

  - Jeffrey Archer

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I had read it long time back, and the only thing I remember is that I just loved it. So at a used book sale I went to recently, when I saw a hardcover edition of this, I couldn't resist the chance to buy it.
I just read it again, perhaps after a gap of 18-20 years, and now, my more world-weary mind does not find it as extraordinary as I did the first time - in this while I have read more of spy thrillers, and watched a few movies in a similar vein.

Early on in the book (as well as in the blurb on the paperback edition), we are told that the protagonist Connor Fitzerald is a CIA assassin, and his boss Helen Dexter is an unscrupulous director of the CIA. This formula of betrayal is leveraged in several books and movies, making the story arc predictable. But what keeps one hooked is how it all pans out - all the twists and turns, treachery and loyalty, offensives and counter-offensives, and of course, our protagonist always keeping one step ahead of his enemies. This is the kind of 'clean' thrillers that I love, a pity they don't write more of these any more.

It reminded me why I love Archer once upon a time, until a couple of his more recent story collections broke the spell. It is a good one time thoroughly entertaining read, though if you are looking for matter of substance or enlightenment, this isn't a right choice. Lowering my earlier 4.5 rating to 3.5.