The Great Train Robbery

Customer Reviews

• The Cleverest Caper of Them All!  Nov 25, 2002 (37 of 40 found this helpful)

  This true story set in Victorian London in 1855 is a beauty of a read. With Michael Crichton weaving his magic over the scene and Edward Pierce, mastermind and protagonist, we have an unbeatable combination. The author does wonders describing authentic period scenes and showing us the huge divide between the English middle class and the wretched poor in Victorian times.

  Edward Pierce wants 12,000 pounds sterling that will be sent by rail to fund the Crimean War. The obstacles are huge. It takes four keys to get to and unlock the safe. This was before the days of nitroglycerine, so the safe could not be blown, and it was too heavy to carry away. All four keys are held by separate persons and must be found and copied. The thieves have to get the payload unseen off of a moving train. Mr. Pierce has a hazy background, presents himself as a wealthy traveling businessman with a fine home in London, a well-dressed gentleman with an appreciation of the finer things. As we get to know him better, we learn he has nerves of steel, a quick and clever wit, and is relentless planner with infinite patience. He is blessed with a mysterious mistress, Miriam, whose acting abilities could put Meryl Streep to shame. The suspense and tension as Pierce and his accomplice, Robert Algar, work for a solid year on their plan is riveting. Naturally, when the heist takes place, even the most careful plans have to change with unforeseen circumstances. Will they get away with it? Read it and see.

  The author puts us in the skins of Victorian people of the time. For instance, the police department is only 25 years old. London citizens were accustomed to being very hands-on when a crime is committed. Not like today when one's first thought is to call the police. If a criminal was observed picking a pocket, there would likely be a great hue and cry by the nearest citizens and all would chase the thief until they caught him. Only then, would they call the police. A married woman was the "property" of her husband. This of course, is abominable for her human rights, but if she is caught say counterfeiting money, her husband goes to jail, not her. After all, he is responsible for his property.

  "The Great Train Robbery" was made into a movie in the late '70s with Sean Connery as Mr. Pierce. One way or another, I am going to see it. This is a great read and a well-done social history of one of the most fascinating men of the age. Highly recommended.
  -sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

• Non stop intrigue and suspense  Mar 6, 2000 (25 of 26 found this helpful)

  In Victorian England, where the police are a recent innovation, and nothing is as it seems, one gentleman has a plan: rob a moving train of 12,000 pounds in gold. This man is Edward Pierce, and Michael Crichton proves his versatility by taking the reader into the dark, criminal underworld of London. The story of Pierce's planning and execution of the robbery is packed with vivid descriptions and fascinating historical facts about the period. The characters have both depth and appeal, and the plot is never dull for a moment. Written with the robber as the protagonist, the reader finds himself sympathizing with the criminals and despising the police who are out to catch Pierce. Readers of Crichton's sci-fi thrillers may be disoriented by the change of scenery, but The Great Train Robbery is an excellent novel that should appeal to anyone looking for a fast, exciting read.

• Wow  Feb 13, 2007 (10 of 10 found this helpful)

  Crichton's writing skills are truly amazing. After you read other books written by this famous author, you will not believe that this book has been written by him. The reason that I say this, is because when I started reading the first few pages, I thought I had ordered the wrong book. With an old English writing style, you will be amazed at how he can use various different writing styles, and still produce a fantastic book.
  
  The story is exciting in its own right, but Crichton takes it to a whole new level.

• More textbook than novel  May 6, 2005 (10 of 11 found this helpful)

  Michael Crichton's account of the Great Train Robbery of 1855 reads more like a sociology textbook than a novel. He expounds at great length on many aspects of Victorian society. These mini-essays become tiresome after a while, and one begins to wonder about the scholarliness of Crichton's theories. From the standpoint of a novel, or at least historical fiction, the pacing is slow, the characters are one-dimensional, and the dialogue (featuring supposedly authentic Victorian speech and dialect) is often unintelligible. Cricton employs the tactic of introducing an unfamiliar word in a brief scene and then going into textbook mode to explain the word's historical and societal implications. By then end of the book, I had come to resent Crichton's tone, which comes across as lecturing and talking down to the reader.
  
  I have enjoyed all of Crichton's purely fictional writings, but "The Great Train Robbery" was not of interest to me.

• A pleasure to read  Apr 14, 2007 (7 of 7 found this helpful)

  Edward Pierce is a gentleman rogue, a man perfectly suited to Queen Victoria's England. He's as clever as Sherlock Holmes, but he puts his wits to work at committing crimes instead of solving them. In this time and place where railway travel is relatively new, he targets a London bank's regular shipments of gold bullion - by rail, and by sea - to Paris, and sets about planning and arranging a heist that will give him fabulous wealth for the rest of his days.
  
  Michael Crichton's technothrillers, as much as I enjoy them, often suffer from wooden characters. This book most definitely does not. Pierce, the surprisingly (sometimes infuriatingly) engaging hero/villian, is beautifully written; and the cast of characters surrounding him comes colorfully alive, even for those who play relatively minor roles. The dialog written in dialect and the wealth of historical and cultural detail add texture, and the plot works well; but it's the characters that make this story such a pleasure to read.