This book starts terribly. The first section is a chore – you couldn’t care less about the characters. But then once Part One ends and you get into the war – it gets better. Much more interesting. And from Part 3 onwards the book is excellent. I won’t give away the twist because it blew me away.

The only book I can think of that had a linear improvement throughout.

Give it a go – but don’t be afraid to speedread the first 100 or so pages.

disclaimr: I only read the first 70 pages…
Pretty much Mr. Faulks read “The Red and the Black” by Stendahl, and decided to copy the entire plot of the book, nix all the social, moral and political commentary that made Stendahl’s book great, and replace it with trashy romance scenes that only a male who has no idea what women are thinking could create, such as when he tells us that the female lead orgasms by having her breasts groped. (This being just one detail that was so rediculous I couldn’t beleive he wrote it. There are other more explicit details that are equally rediculous such as the novel’s heroine getting off on feeling cum run down her legs hours after having an affair with a man 10 years her junior.) Right Mr. Faulks, you wish. If you’re in the mood for something good, just read the Red and the Black. If you’re in the mood for some trashy romance, then opt for chick lit, as the sex scenes are at least believable and not imbarrasingly ignorant on the part of the author