The Jester Author:James Patterson, Andrew Gross The title character is, when introduced in 1096, an unassuming innkeeper in a French village oppressed by the local nobleman. To earn his freedom, Hugh de Luc joins the Crusades for a torturous, bloody march toward Jerusalem that occupies the book's first third and ends with him escaping the madness around him by deserting back to France, in... more » possession of some minor treasures - or so he thinks.
Back home, he finds that his beloved wife has been taken captive by the odious nobleman, and his infant son slain. Seeking his wife and revenge, Hugh adopts the guise of a jester in order to enter to the nobleman's castle, where he begins to fall in love with a young noblewoman, and she with him. In time, Hugh finds his wife, only to experience tragedy, and learns that the nobleman is searching for him, as he is believed to have carried back from the Crusades the greatest holy relic of all.
Returning to his village, which has been destroyed during the nobleman's hunt for him, Hugh persuades his townspeople, then surrounding towns, to rise up in revolt against the corrupt nobleman and his henchmen.« less
One of my favorites - set in the medival times and the Crusades. Great character development - great plot with twists and turns to keep you on your toes. GREAT.
I was plesently surprised to find that this was NOT just another cookie cutter book by James Patterson and one of his numerous co-writers. Although not a "great" book, it is a well written story and an easy read.
Taking place in the eleventh century with the dark side of the Crusades as background Hugh de Luc, the Jester, fights for such timely issues of rightness, morality, justice, freedom, and, of course, love. Above all, it is a book of hope. The phrase "That may be, but it will not always be" repeated throughout the story gives hope to what seems impossible then and now.
I found this book quite entertaining. The jokes that the Jester comes up were quite entertaining. If you want a book that is historically correct and fact ridden this is not the book for you, but if you are reading to be entertained this is not a bad read. The characters are well developed and believable which mad the book a pleasure to read.
This is a very poorly written book. if you write a book that takes place long ago, you can't use language that wouldn't take place during that time. I can't recommend this book at all.
If you're a fan of Mr. Patterson's Alex Cross, Lindsay Boxer, Michael Bennett and others of the same genre, be prepared to forget that type of story!
Written with author Andrew Gross, I can't help but wonder if most, if not all, of the book was written by Mr. Gross & Mr. Patterson just put his name on it!
I had a bit of trouble getting into the story at first, due to being used to Mr. Patterson's crime thrillers. However, once I figured out this wasn't one of them, it didn't take long to get interested.
This is a really good story, urging the reader to just keep reading to find out what will happen!
I highly recommend this book. If for no other reason, because it is quite a ride, and very different from all the other Patterson books I've read.
Well-told story, lots of action & intrigue. An innkeeper returns home from the first Crusade to find that his son has been killed and his wife abducted. He poses as a jester to infiltrate the court where she's being held. The reader's voice and diction are a good match for the setting of this novel.
Tale of good and evil set in the time of the first crusade. Similar to Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.The story is character driven. You can guess most of the plot before itis handed to you. I put it in the car and listened to it from Greenville, SC to Salina, Ks. It suited my purposes in that regard very well.
I love this audio book. I bought it on audio book because I found the pronunciation of so much of the written book was difficult, hearing it read by a professional allowed me to enjoy the story much more.
For those of you not familiar with audio books, the are read by talented actors and so well directed they have really come a long way since being read into a tape recorder by some basement dweller. I find them great to listen to at my desk while I am doing something monotonous, it really makes those boring jobs fly by.
This is richly drawn historic novel full of action, suspense and romance. I loved the book and I grew to care about the main characters. The writing was good, although without any great literary pretensions.
That is not to say it was without faults. If anything, it leaned too heavily on the romance angle and I half expected to hear some over-baked "Harlequin" type hyberbole along with the sometimes graphic (though never vulgar) sex scenes. And the protagonist was SO good and SO lucky (I mean, would anyone really be able to survive everything from the Crusades to a wild boar attack????) that I thought he should be addressed as Saint Hugh.
In the audio version, there were two additional weaknesses. One was the use of strong Welsh and British accents for the main characters who are, after all, French. I am glad they didn't opt for phoney French accents, but it was disconcerting nonetheless.
The other, albeit even more minor, distraction was that the narractor called off each chapter number and, given that there were more than 140-something chapters (some very very short) this quickly became annoying.
Still, when the only faults you can find in a book are such minor ones, that says a great deal about the book!
James Patterson and Andrew Gross
4 cassettes/6 hours Read by Cary Elwes
Classic tale of good against evil and the search for love
great adventure set during the times of kings and jesters
Even my husband enjoyed listening to this one.
