There are a few pivotal moments in everyone's life. Moments where a decision must be made, and the results of that decision will be the springboard towards the good and the bad in the rest of your life. Soviet citizen Alexander Karpenko and his mother are at such a point. It appears that his âfriendâ Vladmir has betrayed Karpenko's father and his unionization plans, so the KGB has eliminated the man in a port âaccidentâ. Mother and son MUST flee the Soviet Union, and in the port of Leningrad, they allow a coin flip to determine if they will board a ship bound for London, or one for America. Which way does the coin land?
In âHeads, You Winâ, author Jeffrey Archer gives the reader a look at life for Karpenko when âHeadsâ sends him to New York AND when âTailsâ sends him to London. In both lives, we see that Karpenko's brains, personality, and ambition help him rise in life, albeit through different paths. We see that the lives have many parallels and many differences, but that the driving force towards success is a constant.
The book has a small weakness â Mr. Archer attempts to have the two lives touch, albeit tangentially. However, since the âtwo menâ, now called Alex in America and Sasha in England, are actually the same person in two different âtimelinesâ (as this isn't a science fiction story, I hesitate to use such a term), the hint that people from Alex's life might encounter Sasha and potentially confuse the two men â and vice verse â puts a strain on the story that the author is trying to tell, at least for this reviewer.
Then, the last paragraph â indeed, the last sentence â caused me to mutter âHoly !â aloud. I will always award bonus points to an author that can take my breath away at the end of his or her story with an event, scene, development, or revelation.
RATING: Four and 1/2 Stars, rounded up to Five Stars where 1/2 stars are not permitted.
In âHeads, You Winâ, author Jeffrey Archer gives the reader a look at life for Karpenko when âHeadsâ sends him to New York AND when âTailsâ sends him to London. In both lives, we see that Karpenko's brains, personality, and ambition help him rise in life, albeit through different paths. We see that the lives have many parallels and many differences, but that the driving force towards success is a constant.
The book has a small weakness â Mr. Archer attempts to have the two lives touch, albeit tangentially. However, since the âtwo menâ, now called Alex in America and Sasha in England, are actually the same person in two different âtimelinesâ (as this isn't a science fiction story, I hesitate to use such a term), the hint that people from Alex's life might encounter Sasha and potentially confuse the two men â and vice verse â puts a strain on the story that the author is trying to tell, at least for this reviewer.
Then, the last paragraph â indeed, the last sentence â caused me to mutter âHoly !â aloud. I will always award bonus points to an author that can take my breath away at the end of his or her story with an event, scene, development, or revelation.
RATING: Four and 1/2 Stars, rounded up to Five Stars where 1/2 stars are not permitted.
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