A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer.

                                   A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer.


"The simple beauty of the golds, reds and blues left them both speechless. Neither of them had expected the icon to be so breathtaking."

I loved this Archer classic and felt that I was following the trials and tribulations of 007 instead of Captain Adam Scott. The story begins interestingly with the discovery that the painting of St. George and the Dragon, displayed in the Winter Palace, Leningrad for more than 50 years under heavy guard, is a fake. The treasures inside the palace have been carbon-dated and it is now known that this painting in question was done 500 years after Rublev's original. Nicholas IInd, The Tsar's traditional silver crown was not attached to the back of the frame.
It was believed that the Tsar had secreted something valuable inside the icon, something so valuable that it would have guaranteed security for himself and his family. But it was hidden away for decades, undiscovered until 1966.

The protagonist, Adam Scott has resigned his army commission after an exemplary career in distinguishing himself. He was awarded the Sword of Honour and was hopeful to join the Foreign Office. Action begins in Appleshaw, U.K. with the reading of his father's will. A small, insignificant legacy is bequeathed to his mother, sister and Adam himself, expected but the biggest and strangest surprise comes with an envelope stipulating that should he decide to open the envelope it must be on the condition that he will never divulge its contents to any living person. How mysterious.
We discover that his father, Gerald had allegedly been a traitor. In his last posting he had responsibility for a number of senior ranking Nazis awaiting trial for war crimes: Hess, Doenitz, Speer and Goering. The night before Goering's execution the Nazi officer had requested a private meeting with Gerald where he handed him an envelope hoping that this would compensate him for being held responsible for future events such as treachery. He was told it was a masterpiece and not to underestimate its value.

Sadly, Gerald didn't open or destroy the envelope so he didn't benefit from Goering's gift. The Nazi died from cyanide poisoning immediately after this private meeting and naturally, Gerald was held responsible for the suicide and dishonoured. Adam inherited the apparent sins of the father, hence his resignation from the army.
Out of curiosity and with a sense of honour Adam opens the envelope hoping that his mother can benefit from the windfall. He discovers that Goering left his father the Tsar's icon of St. George and the Dragon which is now rightfully his and thus he begins a perilous journey to Geneva to claim what is rightfully his.

In true Archer style we meet the antagonist, a ruthless Russian KGB agent, capable of betraying his own father for his own advancement, lacking in moral scruples and extremely dangerous. He is given the commission of finding the original icon and returning it to its rightful owners-the Russians. It's not long before he crosses swords with Adam Scott. Adam is soon on the run when the newspaper headlines read: Englishman sought after German girl and Swiss taxi driver murdered." The Swiss police as well as English, Russian and American agents are on his tail, after his blood. Why is this icon so precious? All this espionage over a painting. Or is there more to it than meets the eye?

Adam comes to realise that there is something much more valuable hidden inside the icon that justifies espionage and murder but what is it? Why do the Americans as well as the Russians and the British want to get their hands on it? Adam comes to realise that he can't trust anyone and he has to face his adversary, Romanov, alone.
Can he survive and more importantly, can he prove his father's innocence in the death of Goering to restore his father's honour posthumously? Prove the hero?
Frank Marshall (Bourne and Indiana Jones fame) produced a movie based on Archer's book which is worth watching. If you enjoyed this you might like to look at the sequel: Honour Among Thieves.



Publisher: Pan.    ISBN:   978-14472-2639-0

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

Copyright 2014. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.

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