This was the first book that I read with my newly started book club and I had never even heard of Ken Follett. Well, I must say he is an incredible writer and story-teller. Follett created a cast of unique characters that keeps you engaged in their every move. When you first meet Edward and Hugh Pilaster, and Mickey Miranda they are young and in boarding school together. You see Mickey and Edward as great friends with Edward being this innocent boy that does whatever Mickey does. Mickey comes off as a troublemaker or more of a dare devil. Hugh on the other hand you learn is always getting in trouble, but is also very quiet. Most of this changes by the end of the first couple chapters. Where you read about Edward and Mickey teaming up (but Edward doing most of the work) in killing this innocent school boy and Hugh is merely being picked on by them.
Throughout the novel Mickey Miranda's character comes off as dark, desperate, and so alluring. While Edward grows into this chubby, ignorant, dependent person on his mother, Augusta, and Mickey. Hugh after losing his father is propelled into the family banking industry where he and Edward battle for the top position. With Hugh being smarter and more capable than Edward, but Edward's manipulative mother on his side, the battle ensues throughout the whole novel. As I cannot begin to describe all the trouble the characters get into throughout the course of the novel. I can say that at the end of every chapter you had to immediately start the next to know what happens next.
The most interesting relationship, for me, in this novel was between Mickey and Augusta. They had a palpable sexual chemistry; that was completely forbidden to be acted upon with Augusta being married and Mickey so much younger than her. However, things still managed to happen... Neither Mikey or Augusta should ever be trusted, but that only leaves you wanting them to be together so much more. What intrigued me most about Mickey was how in all his attempts to not become like his barbaric, treacherous father he reasoned himself into doing just that. He would rationalize killing people by telling himself that it was the only choice he could make in order to please his father. In actuality, he never knew better. Augusta influenced Mickey in her ways of thinking that the only way to get to the top is to manipulate and trample people blocking your path. In the end, Mickey betrayed Augusta after her fall of power and desperate attempts to be with him. Mickey's death was almost ironic in the way she killed him.
Hugh Pilaster has, in my opinion, the saddest life of them all. He learned fight battles with honesty, but the end not much turned out in his favor. He did not get the love of his life due too poor timing, family interference, and in the end his strong-minded ethical standards of not breaking his duty to his broken family. In some cases I do understand that he had an obligation to the children in his marriage. His wife only was with him for his money and made that point perfectly clear to him. Hugh could have chosen to be happy with Maisie, but he chose to stay in an unhappy marriage which as a reader is so painful.
This book is so engrossing in a way that you will be thinking about it even when your not reading it. Your attachment to the characters grows in a way that it hurts to see them make all their terrible choices. What I have wrote about is only a little bit of all what happens, so much more could be said! My book club had a great discussion about everything, so if anyone else has feedback on A Dangerous Fortune I would love to read them!
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