A FINE READ - NO JESTING! (The Jester - James Patterson)

Member Name: stuleg

Product:	The Jester - James Patterson
Date:	12/04/06 (167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A well researched historical story

Disadvantages: A break from Pattersons usual genre

Few writers are guaranteed to get me hooked on a book from the very first pages; luckily James Patterson is one of the few so I picked up one of his latest books, The Jester, with excited anticipation.

Eleventh Century France and Hugh De Luc seems to have it all, a loving wife and a thriving Inn situated in the small village of Veille du Pere. Yet Hugh is haunted by the atrocities being metered out to Christians by Turkish Pagans at Antioch, Hugh decides to join a rag tag army to try and rid Antioch of its pagan presence and restore Gods will. The journey is long and tough with the loss of many lives yet the army, now swollen to several thousand, arrive at the city of Antioch and storm the gates to the kingdom. Vicious fighting ensues in which several of Hugh’s friends and fellow villagers die but eventually the gates are breached and the rag tag army set about taking the city from the Pagans.

Hugh finds himself in the church where he discovers a priest being tortured by two Turks; Hugh fights off the torturers but not before they kill the priest and injure Hugh. A third Turk appears and with Hugh injured and despondent he raises his sword to kill him. Hugh, seeing that his death is imminent, simply looks his would be killer in the eye and starts to laugh, the Turk is confused and lowered his sword, something in the way Hugh has faced his own death with nothing more than a laugh touches the Turk and he lets Hugh live.

Seeing this as a sign, Hugh leaves the battle and Antioch to return to his small village in France and his wife Sophie. Unfortunately, in the time Hugh has been away, his village has been ransacked and his with abducted. Hugh thinks she is being held by the liege lord Baldwin but cannot find a way to get into the kingdom to save her, that is until he has the idea of passing himself off as a Jester to get into Baldwin’s inner circle and liberate his wife.

This book was a brave attempt at a new subject by James Patterson as his usual subject matter is of the crime / thriller genre and set in the modern day, and yet he pulls it off gloriously. From the outset the scene is set in delicious detail; simple village folk and their way of life is described perfectly and I found myself able to picture the setting easily.

You can actually feel the struggle as higher taxes are levied by the liege Lord Baldwin on humble village folk already struggling to survive. Chickens and pigs run free about the village streets as the miller or the blacksmith work hard to earn a living, children play freely while dressed in little more than rags and the woman folk raise babies and keep house.

There is an innocence about the whole situation, families sticking together with sons or daughters following in their Fathers footsteps into the family trade, most of the families struggling to make a living with the ever increasing tax levies placed on them, and yet they seem largely content with their lot, happy to put in a fair days work for a fair days pay. I must warn you however that this book is gory and full of violence, those that do not want that from a book should steer clear.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the action starts from the very first page and kept my attention throughout. The twists and turns as Hugh tries to locate his abducted wife are gloriously written and left me transfixed all of the time. Although I am no history expert, the eleventh century France that James Patterson describes seems both plausible and pleasant.

James Patterson has always had a habit in his books of writing very short chapters, usually about four pages long, and I have to say I enjoy the style immensely. I can read just one more chapter before bed and it does not take another twenty minutes, it also moves the action on at a pace and sets up multiple end of chapter cliff hangers.

It has to be the full five stars from me, James Patterson was brave to attempt this style of book so removed from his usual and highly successful subject matter. I actually hope he writes more in this style as he pulls it off with aplomb.

ISBN: - 0755300181
Hardback: - 448 Pages

Summary: Moves the action on at a pace and sets up multiple end of chapter cliff hangers