The Great Train Robbery
Published 2005-02-27
Book info
- Title The Great Train Robbery
- Author Michael Crichton
- Year 1975
- Genre Historical
In teeming Victorian London, where lavish wealth and appalling poverty live side by side, Edward Pierce charms the most prominent of the well-to-do as he cunningly orchestrates the crime of the century. Who would suspect that a gentleman of breeding could mastermind the daring theft of a fortune in gold? Who could predict the consequences of making the extraordinary robbery aboard the pride of England's industrial era, the mighty steam locomotive? Based on fact, as lively as legend, and studded with all the suspense and style of a modern fiction master, here is a classic caper novel set a decade before the age of dynamite - yet nonetheless explosive...
Thoughts
Set in Victorian London, this book tells the eponymous tale of an ambitious plan to rob a gold from a bank safe on a train. The story takes you from the initial planning, through to the problems and delays that occurred, through to the actual mission. There's also a quick note at the end about bringing the criminals to justice.
Mr Pierce is our main character, I am loathe to call him the hero of the story, given the nature of the crimes. He plans the whole affair, takes part in most of it, and is organised and calm under pressure. There's only one point where things don't go to plan, which is pretty impressive, and he manages to battle through. There are plenty of other characters involved, but they are all incidental to our train robber extraordinaire.
The writing felt different to any other book I have read before, but I don't know if it is a style known to crime stories. It's told as though you were relating the story to a friend, although with far more detail. Crichton is a master at setting the scene and giving enough background information to aid understanding but not so much you fall asleep.
There's a lot of Victorian "crime-speak" and whilst some of the sentences are translated for you, sometimes it's just left for you to get the drift of what's going on. Nevertheless, it's a great tale, told well, with characters as large as the crime itself.
Rating: 3 / 5
Revisited - Jul 2025
This feels like a slightly unusual topic for Michael Crichton to write about, given how his most famous works are technological and political thrillers. But I can see why it captivated him enough to put pen to paper - the story behind it is almost like a movie unfolding. The characters are intriguing, the plotting intricate, the pick-pocketing and preparations are excellent and the unfolding of the robbery beset with problems to overcome. Then there’s the trial and all that follows. It’s really a great story, even if the actual haul wasn’t necessarily worth all the effort! And the re-telling in this is great, written in a really engaging style with plenty of context given for why certain attitudes were taken at that time. Loved it.
Rating: 3 / 5
