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The Last Testament | 
 enlarge | Author: Sam Bourne
Publisher: Harper, London
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy Used: £0.01
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Avg. Customer Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 1860
Media: Paperback
Pages: 567
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 0007203330
EAN: 9780007203338
ASIN: 0007203330
Publication Date: July 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...
 Did I read the same book as everyone else? October 27, 2008
The Last Testament was a highly enjoyable read and I could not put the book down until finished. The political and historical threads running through the book were accurate and informative,the central story addictive and the major characters believable. In my opinion, this is Sam Bourne's strongest book, with Righteous Men, although good, being a little too far fetched. I do not think that Sam Bourne and Dan Brown's works are comparable and if you are seeking replicas of Brown's work look eleswhere; trying to compare does an injustice to both.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem October 22, 2008
Sam Bourne is the pseudonym of the Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland who in 2002 chaired the meetings between some prominent Israelis and Palestinians who eventually produced the 2003 Geneva Accord, which was repudiated by the Israeli government and by militant Palestinians. He therefore knows something about the skills needed by mediators and is thoroughly familiar with the complexities of the region. That experience has stood him in good stead. The central character is an American-appointed mediator Maggie Costello; and although the author rightly claims that his book is `entirely a work of fiction', the historical background of the events until shortly before his story starts is wholly accurate, (and I beg to doubt his other disclaimer, that any resemblance to `localities' is entirely coincidental. A small example among many: he has two characters meeting at the Restobar Cafe, which was known as the Moment Cafe before it was bombed in 2002. He shows that he knows his Israeli `localities'.)
The book begins with a superb account of the looting of Baghdad's National Museum of Antiquities (2003), into which the author has introduced one of his fictional characters; and antiquities are the theme that forms the backbone of the novel. In the context of the Arab-Israeli dispute, arguments between Arabs and Israelis about who were the earliest inhabitants of the land play an important part, and every archaeological discovery is therefore loaded with politics.
Against this credible background Bourne invents a fast-paced and intricately plotted story, of people who want the peace process to succeed and others who want it to fail, of double-dealings, of computer wizardry, and of murders, with the action spilling beyond the borders of Israel-Palestine - to the United States, Britain, Switzerland, Iraq, Jordan - all in the best tradition of thrillers: short chapters, almost all ending with something dramatic. One of these ancient artefacts in particular acts like a fatal curse on practically everyone - Arab or Israeli - who has, however remotely, had anything to do with it. Each murder brings the peace process closer to total break-down; so Maggie, charged with preventing this from happening, thinks she has to discover what has linked all these murders together. Needless to say, her role as detective puts her, more than once, in terrible danger, too.
The ending has hope triumphing over experience, alas - at least so far!
 A bit disappointing, to be honest. September 28, 2008
I read Sam Bourne's 'The Righteous Men' and then 'The Final Reckoning' and was captivated by both and had high expectations for 'The Last Testament' but sadly, these expectations were not met.
The plot was a little too predictable and was filled with some useless points to the plot - I won't give anything away. Let's say I wasn't as hooked as I have been with previous books of Bourne's. I'd rate this as the worst of his books... But if you need something to read on a plane/train or on a long car journey, I wouldn't disregard it completely.
Very Good September 7, 2008
A good read. Believeable characters and a plot, while slightly unbeleiveable, that keeps you gripped until the end.
 Too much suspension of disbelief required... August 20, 2008
Setting "Sam Bourne" up as a sort of Dan Brown for Judaism is rather a clever publishing idea and he has a deserved reputation for spinning a good yarn. However the central premise of The Last Testament is risible. It's difficult to explain how wrong this supposition is without including a great deal of spoilers, but a decent equivalent would be to write a story about a protagonist planning a trip from London to Liverpool using a rudimentary Roman map. The outcome is too preposterous for words.
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