This is one of Ken Follett’s early works
(1976), first published under the splendid pen name of Zachary Stone, and it
resembles his more well-known blockbusters in neither content nor volume. The length is a mere 300 pages and the
setting is London of its day.
The action takes place over a single day in
the capital, narrated from multiple points of view, the key players being a
politician, a hoodlum, a social climbing entrepreneur, a businessman in
trouble, and his wife who is also mistress to another. Their activities seem unconnected, but not
for long.
Their stories are pulled together by some
ingenious plotting, which the reader can see better than a Fleet Street
reporter and editor who try to juggle incoming fragmented reports of the same
events – a curious hi-jack, a hospitalised MP, a company takeover and a
potential bank failure. At first these
compete for the front page but eventually the dots start to join up into a
potential major scoop.
In addition to the half dozen main movers
there are as many in support – thieves, tarts, a radio ham, security guards,
bankers and brokers – so many that each can only get a thumbnail sketch of
character, just sufficient for their bit part roles.
It is fast and fluently written, and if the
characters are stock the construction isn‘t.
Neither is the plot - that’s convoluted but clearly expounded and
perfectly feasible with an unconventional ending.
For this reader an enjoyable introduction to
Ken Follett and nothing here to put me off trying one of those blockbuster
trilogies.
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