A Prisoner of Birth (original: 2008; edição: 2008)

[b:The Count of Monte Cristo|7126|The Count of Monte Cristo|Alexandre Dumas|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309203605s/7126.jpg|391568] but less good in every way. ( )

An odd story, in at least one respect.

Danny Cartwright proposes to Beth Wilson, and to celebrate the two go to a bar. They meet Beth's brother Bernie, who is Danny's best friend, there. There are just four others in the bar, all friends, and one of them makes lascivious comments to Beth. When these fail to arouse any response, he insults Danny. Danny, Beth, and Bernie leave by the back door.

Before they get too far, however, the insulter has blocked the alley, spoiling for a fight. Their return to the bar is blocked by the friends. The upshot is that the insulter, Spencer Craig, picks a fight with Danny, Bernie tries to intervene, and Beth takes off to call a cab. When she returns Danny is on the ground kneeling over his best friend, who is dying from a knife wound.

The four drunk friends who goaded Danny into the fight are successful businessmen and a well known actor. Danny, an under-educated street kid, doesn't stand much of a chance.

Danny goes to prison for the murder of his best friend.

While in prison for a long term, Danny becomes friends with his cellmates. From one, Nicholas Moncrieff, he learns how to read, then even starts to learn how to behave more like a "gentleman". This training puts him in a position to take advantage of a situation that arises in prison, and leads to a complex series of steps.

It's a complex plot that had me wondering. **Warning**I had doubts about several aspects of it - stop reading here, because I'm going to discuss plot twists that reveal too much, unless you've already read the book.

Danny takes on Nicholas's identity because he looks enough like him. My first question: how do you fool so many people? His voice was not the same, even if he affected the same accent. He was hardly identical in features. Some of the encounters were believable enough, but this is a huge leap.

I was disturbed that he would deceive Beth, even though I can understand that he wanted to spare her more grief. The whole idea of taking on a new identity and not tying up the old life seems like it would involve a lot more stress and worry, and the idea that he led his family and friends to believe he was dead would also be deeply disturbing. I just wonder if a right-thinking person could truly do it. Of course I am always looking for reality in fiction that is never really meant to be real. Still, some authors do consider these kinds of things.

The other thing. Yes, Spencer Craig was drunk when he goaded the friends. But grabbing a knife and killing one of them? For no reason? I had a great deal of difficulty with this. I felt like it was probably part of a plan, that he wanted to do it to see if he could get away with it, but there is no indication that this is the case. It just seemed off to me. ( )

تقييمي للكتاب ف بداياته كان بيقول اني مش هاديله اكتر من انه عجبني !
بس ف نهايته لقيته دخل دماغي ، التفاصيل و الاحداث و قوة الترابط ما بينها كويس اوي هل هي احسن من كاين و آيبل - الاخوة الاعداء - نو وآي ، ماعتقدش انه قدر يتخطى نفسه ف الرواية دي و تكون احسن من الاخوة الاعداء لكن من غير مقارنتها بالرواية التانية الرواية كويسه جدًا ( )

One of the best reads ever.
This book encapsulates what every reader of fiction ever wants. It is like the baby of John Grisham, David Baldacci and James Patterson wrote this Ming boogling best seller.
READ THIS.
READ THIS.
READ THIS.
READ THIS. ( )

A real rip off from The Count of Monte Cristo, which the author lacks the taste in mentioning himself. Intelligent readers don't need to be reminded of literary similarities. ( )