The Eleventh Commandment: A Novel - Hardcover

Archer, Jeffrey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060191503 ISBN 13: 9780060191504

Publisher: Harper, 1998

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

As a member of the British House of Lords and as former member of Parliament, Jeffrey Archer knows some of the most powerful people in the world. Indeed, the acknowledgements of this closely plotted thriller include current and former members of the American CIA, FBI, NSA, Secret Service, and a former U.S. attorney general. From this background, Archer weaves a tale that follows his hero, CIA assassin Connor Fitzgerald, while simultaneously shadowing his bosses in Washington.

The opening chapters feature unrelenting action as Connor tracks and kills a Colombian presidential candidate and starts a chain of events that could lead to a new Cold War. But, despite his ruthless background, Connor is not a cold and hollow plot device. He's an American Medal of Honor winner who is committed to his country, but also to his spiritual home, Ireland. Archer even pauses briefly to flesh out Connor's family life and the tensions of living with secrets that his wife and beloved daughter suspect but will never know. This character work pays off as the reader follows Connor through several nations and nearly as many identities. Gradually, Connor is caught in Russia between two power brokers: CIA director Helen Dexter and President Tom Lawrence. Dexter needs her 28-year veteran agent dead or "disappeared" in a Russian prison. But President Lawrence also needs Connor so he can finally rid himself of Dexter's tacit control of U.S. foreign policy.

In the end, Connor must rely on old friends and native intelligence if he is to make it to his retirement alive. Fans of political intrigue, James Bond, and Tom Clancy will be drawn inexorably along for the ride. --Patrick O'Kelley

From the Back Cover:

Love and war, politics and crime, and a pulse-poundingadventure that spans the globe―it's all here in this tour de force from international bestselling author

JEFFREY ARCHER

Connor Fitzgerald has an impressive resume. Military hero. Devoted family man. Servant of his country―as an assassin. Just as he's about to put his twenty-eight-year career at the CIA behind him, he comes up against the most dangerous enemy he's ever faced: His own boss, Helen Dexter.

"FIRST RATE...ARCHER DELIVERS."―Denver Post

As Director of the CIA, Dexter has always been the one to hold the strings. But when her status is threatened by a greater power, her only hope for survival is to destroy Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, the country braces itself as tensions with a new Russian leader reach the boiling point...and it's up to Fitzgerald to pull off his most daring mission yet: To save the world. Even if that means risking everything―including his own life―in the process.

"A NONSTOP, ROCKETING RIDE."―Publishers Weekly

"Entertaining suspense."―Chicago Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0060191503
• ISBN 13: 9780060191504
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368