Title: The Great Train Robbery
Author: Michael Crichton
Reviewer: Navin Sigamany

Victorian London, a place bustling with activity, a town bursting at its seams trying to keep up with fast-growing industry and even faster-growing population. Where abject poverty and genteel luxury co-exist. And in this place is set one of the most daring crimes of the century. Michael Crichton brings the characters in this true-life incident vivdly alive in his 1975 novel, The Great Train Robbery.

Edward Pierce, the protagonist, is the perfect Victorian gentleman. Well known in society circles and close to many prominent Londoners, he also has a dark side to him. And it is this dark side that plans and executes the Great Train Robbery.

Michael Crichton's thoroughgoing research and attention to the minute details of the narrative make it both lively and interesting. At once, we are able to see the man - Edward Pierce, and the world he lives and operates in - both sides of Victorian London. Apart from the detail, the portrayal of the characters and the relationships they have with each other is brutally honest, yet captivating. And finally, that famous Crichton trick, leaving the reader guessing as to where the fact ends and fiction begins, is alive and well in this book.