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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780060191504
ISBN: 0060191503
Label: HarperCollins
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 368
Publication Date: 1998-06-12
Publisher: HarperCollins
Product Release Date: 1998-06-03
Studio: HarperCollins

Connor Fitzgerald is a professional's professional. Holder of the Medal of Honor. Devoted family man. Servant of his country. But for the past twenty-eight years, Fitzgerald has been leading a double life as the CIA's most deadly assassin. And only days before his retirement from the CIA, he comes across an enemy who, for the first time, even he cannot handle. The enemy is his own boss - Helen Dexter - the director of the CIA. Dexter's stranglehold on the agency is threatened by one decision, and her only hope of survival is to destroy Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a formidable new foe is threatening the United States: a ruthless hard-line Russian president, who is determined to force a new military confrontation between the two superpowers.

From emergency meetings in the Oval Office to a Russian mafya boss's luxurious hideaway outside St. Petersburg, The Eleventh Commandment sweeps readers off their feet from the first paragraph. As in Jeffrey Archer's previous bestsellers, The Eleventh Commandment features enough plot-twisting ingenuity, exotic characterization, and narrative surprise to take the art of thriller writing to a new level. In his latest novel, Jeffrey Archer is at the peak of his page-turning powers.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: AWESOME BOOK!! My Favorite one.
Review: I just loved this book, i've read it more then once and each time I read it I cry at the same parts, I get mad at the same parts... Connor Fitzgerald is able to captivate you each time you read it... Excellent Book... I highly recommend it!

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Terrific Plot. Wished Archer would have...
Review: Having read dozens of political/espionage thrillers, I was reluctant to pick up Archer's "Eleventh Commandment" because of the cliched title and the rather drab synopsis of the plot on the back cover. I was relieved to find that Archer's work moved at a pace much faster than the ordinary Tom Clancy or Vince Flynn. Rather than wasting pages on trivial bureaucratic details, Archer keeps the characters on a steady sequence of events whose progress rivals the best works of Robert Ludlum.

The one drawback of the story is the lack of character development, especially with the protagonist. Archer does give us adequate information on the background of Connor Fitzgerald but does little to endear us to him. While Fitzgerald is likeable, he doesn't have the panache that most literary spies regale the reader with. I suppose this is done intentionally considering most real CIA operatives/assassins are probably less demonstrative than the ones we're used to reading about.

All things considered, Archer's book is uniquely entertaining. With a plot that's unusually thoughtful and clever, the author forces us to recognize and appreciate the precarious situations of each character. Towards the end, you'll find yourself pulling tremendously for the main character.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Absolutely Enthralling
Review: I'm a 16 year old Australian reader and this being the first Jeffery Archer book that I have read I found it totally entertaining. Since then I have purchased A Matter Of Honner and As The Crow Flies, I found them just as thrilling as The Eleventh Commandment. I have also had all of my Jeffery Archer books signed by Jeffery.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Global Politics at It's Best
Review: Connor Fitzgerald is a hit-man for the CIA. After icing a (drug lord) prospective presidential candidate in Columbia he is detailed to Russia for another mission.

Does the president know about this mission or is this a plan by the director of the CIA to get ahead (I won't spoil the plot).

This is a great book. It will keep you in suspense from the word go. I read this book in one afternoon while relaxing with my kids by the pool.

This book is a must read. If you havn't read anything by Mr. Archer (This was my first), let me recommend this title as your first.

If you like authors such as Tom Clancy, you will like this book.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Very average spy thriller
Review: There is nothing remotely new about the premise of this spy thriller - hero becomes outcast, must defeat powerful CIA head and nationalist neo-communist Russian head of state to save life and country. It is a quick read (large print and few pages) but ultimately has a very routine ending made unsatisfying by numerous plot errors.

First of all, the idea that a war hero who was awarded the Medal of Honor before the whole nation could become a top clandestine agent of a super secret section of the CIA is just absurd: such fame and notoriety would be an unacceptable characteristic for an intelligence agent. Next, the book did not seem like it was well researched, but, (as was the case) appeared to have been written by a non-American. A CIA director who couldn't be removed by the president - again, how absurd. CIA agents given the choice of retirement or transfer to the Cleveland or Milwaukee offices - Archer has his American intelligence agencies confused and is perhaps thinking of the FBI; the CIA does not maintain stations throughout the country, as it is prohibited by law from operating domestically.

The plot involving the junior Romanov (don't all spy thrillers involving Russia try to introduce a character who is a descendant of the czars?) colluding with the Russian president, then trying to betray the president, was just implausible. Ditto with the forced resignation of the rogue CIA director - certainly she would have been prosecuted,not sent free to run for the Senate. Finally, why was Fitzgerald using as a new identity the name of his wife's ex-college boyfriend (who was presumably still alive)? I wonder how large publishers can employ such obtuse editors who cannot even recognize and remedy such obvious flaws in a book.

There are dozens of late 1990's spy thrillers out there that have the same plot revolving around an ultranationalist coming to power in Russia and this one is just a stereotype of this genre. It makes fast reading, but this book is more of a 300 page cliche than a respectable work of fiction.

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