Perhaps the best thriller that I read in the last few years has been The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell. It is deftly-plotted and fast-paced, with many of the favourite scenarios that one can encounter in the standardfare Robert Ludlum, but none of the predictability. A super-villain with his tentacles within all the major governments in the world; secret agents who are in what seems a hopeless mission and are overwhelmingly outmatched, treachery and betrayal, a super-tough, super-awesome lady, some action scenes that seem to literally jump out of the pages, and two excellent lead characters.
Saul and Chris are orphan boys who met each other at an orphanage in Pennsylvania, and became the best of friends, indeed as close as brothers. Growing up, Chris is visited often by a mysterious man, who is kind to him. He is known to Chris only as Eliot. When Chris is a little older, Eliot would take him to backpacking tours and fishing trips. When Eliot came to know of Saul, he is invited to the trips too. Orphans, looking out for love and caring, they see Eliot as the father they never had, and Eliot too mentions that he considers himself a foster father to the boys.
As they grow older, Eliot encourages them to train in the martial arts, and eventually join the military. They are sent to Vietnam, and as they return as war heroes, Eliot recommends them to become assassins for the government. Saul and Chris readily agree, Eliot’s suggestions are the final word to them. They are now given the names Romulus and Remus — after the historical twins who founded Rome.
Unknown to them, Eliot is perhaps the highest-ranked spymaster for the US government. He is also a leader of a shadowy coalition of secret agents across the world, known as the Abelard Sanctuary — amongst other secret activities; they run hotels and guest houses across the world that act as sanctuaries for spies on the run, who are part of the Abelard network. Within these sanctuaries, they cannot be killed or harmed in any way.
Coming back to our protagonists, Saul / Romulus is given the task of bombing a building that is hosting an associate of the US President. He executes the plan to perfection, and while making his escape, he realises that the bombing has been made to look like a handiwork of the Israeli Mossad. Saul is on the run, and makes the call to his foster father. Eliot recommends him to check into one of the Abelard Sanctuaries. In the sanctuary, contravening the rules of the Abelard network, an attempt is made on Saul’s life. He escapes, but is surprised. How did anyone know that he was there in the sanctuary? The only person who has this information was Eliot. Romulus realises that his foster father is trying to kill him. He makes his next call then — to Remus. To Chris, his brother. Soon, the brothers are hunted across the world, while they try to untangle the truth behind all of this mayhem.
Most puritan detective fiction readers see the thriller as essentially the down market cousin to the pure detective fiction. More often than not, it is for reasons of aesthetics — the mystery thriller supplements the ‘art’ of detection with the action, the ‘thrills’. Cheap thrills? Let me not judge, but instead recommend this excellent novel to you.
David Morrell’s most famous work, First Blood, was an exploration of the post-Vietnam trauma of a war veteran, which was changed into an action-packed support-the-underdog franchise by Hollywood. He is a fine writer; definitely one of the best within the ambit of the thriller genre. The Brotherhood of the Rose is, in my opinion, his best piece. For any lover of the thriller, this will be a satisfying read.
(The writer is a financial architect in Bengaluru)
