Jeffrey Archer
0312944094
Jeffrey Archer's Prisoner of Birth is anything but your run of the mill thriller. In a typical thriller, action scenes overshadow the characters, who are often flat and somewhat underdeveloped. By contrast, thrilling though it is, Prisoner lacks the action scenes - it's thrills are exclusively the product of some of the deepest, most well-rounded characters you will find in a fiction book.
Prisoner is a modern day re-telling of Alexander Dumas' phenomenal epic, The Count of Monte Cristo. Usually such rewrites fail to achieve their lofty goal - imitation without duplication. Doubtless, Prisoner accomplishes just that, updating the classic tale of revenge for a whole new generation of readers.
What most recommends Prisoner, though, is its vivid portrayal of human emotions and motivations. The lines between good and evil, right and wrong are blurred as Danny Cartwright - the story's Edmond Dantes'-like protagonist - bends rules and laws in an effort to seek vengeance on those who robbed him of his freedom. Even more poignant is the contrast between Cartwright and the other protagonists, especially his fiancee Beth Wilson. While Cartwright works outside the law and is willing to go to all ends to accomplish his revenge, Wilson is a paragon of innocence, clinging to her claim of Danny's innocence and fighting within the law to clear his name.
In my last review, I commented that the book in question was not likely to be read in high school English classes. A Prisoner of Birth, on the other hand, could very well make its way into some classrooms. The truth is, though no rewriting of a classic like The Count of Monte Cristo can ever completely live up to the original, Prisoner does an admirable job - and is more than capable of standing on its own as a quality work of literature.
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