Very much known for his science-fiction writings, Mr. Crichton displays a completely different side of his right side of the brain. He is as successful in exploiting each of his characters as he is the the culture and traditions of the nineteenth century. He can literally make you smile and admire the craft of Edward Pierce, the central character, in planning, handling all the difficulties and hurdles that arise even minutes before the start of the execution of the plan and finally executing it so well that he, two of his acquaintances and the money acquired from the robbery couldn't be found till the end of the book. A serious plot which could have become quite morbid is put down in a light-hearted manner but not losing its lustre of nail-biting moments providing a gush of adrenaline rush.
Here is the summary of the novel taken from wikipedia.
Plot:
In 1854, Edward Pierce, a charismatic and affluent "cracksman" or master thief, makes plans to steal a shipment of gold worth more than twelve thousand pounds being transported monthly from London to the Crimean War front. Unfortunately, he faces enormous obstacles as the bank has taken strict precautions, including locking the gold in two heavy safes, each of which has two locks and thus requiring a total of four keys to open. He then recruits Robert Agar, a "screwsman" or specialist in copying keys, as an accomplice.
To ensure the success of his bold plan, Pierce spends more than a year in preparation as well as dealing with various unexpected developments; his first steps are fairly easy as he uses his wealth and social contacts to procure information on the security measures and locations of the keys: the bank's executives Mr. Henry Fowler and Mr. Edgar Trent each have a key in their possession while the other two are locked in a cabinet at the offices of the South Eastern Railway at the London Bridge train station. Much of the action during the story develops simultaneously although told in different order.
Pierce's first target is the key held by Edgar Trent. The attempt to take Mr. Trent's key is difficult as the man is a total stranger and Pierce has no clues or prior information on his habits. Through painstaking surveillance, conversations with bank employees and a deliberately bungled pickpocketing attempt, Pierce deduces that Mr. Trent's key is kept at his mansion but is still unable to learn the exact location. Finally, after learning that Trent is keen on ratting (a blood sport involving the betting on dogs killing rats), Pierce succeeds in becoming acquainted with the man and visiting the Trent mansion feigns romantic interest in Elizabeth Trent, Mr. Trent's twenty-nine year old daughter who has had few suitors. Edward then begins to court Elizabeth and manages to learn that the key is most likely located in the house's basement wine cellar. With the assistance of his mistress Miriam and cab driver Barlow, Pierce and Agar successfully break into Mr. Trent's home at night and make a wax copy of the key after much painstaking searching.
Henry Fowler develops syphilis and, being unwilling to seek medical attention out of embarrassment, decides to seek a remedy through sleeping with a virgin (similar to superstitions about HIV) and asks Pierce for assistance. After charging Fowler an exorbitant price of one hundred guineas for a night of pleasure with a twelve year old (twelve being the legal age of consent), Pierce and Agar take advantage of the opportunity to make a copy of Fowler's key (which he always carried with him around his neck but took off left on the bedside table during the assignation).
The most difficult keys to copy are the two keys at the train station which Pierce plans to procure and copy by night; the presence of "crushers" (policeman) forces him to recruit a "snakesman" (burglar able to slip inside buildings through small and cramped spaces) nicknamed Clean Willy who is currently incarcerated in the high security Newgate Prison. He sends a message through Willy's former mistress and assists him in escaping from Newgate while the public is distracted by an execution. After nursing Willy back to health from injuries received during the escape, the criminals succeed in making wax copies of the two keys at the railway station, completing the task with only seconds to spare before detection.
Now possessing all four copies of the necessary keys, Pierce loses no time in bribing Burgess, the poorly paid guard on the train who rides in the baggage van containing the safes. Agar is then able to perform a dry run of the theft on February 17, 1855, making sure that the copied keys work perfectly.
Everything appears to be moving along smoothly (despite some minor setbacks that cause delays) and the actual theft is planned for May 22nd when the would-be thieves find themselves seriously compromised: Clean Willy turns informant to the police (presumably, although the book does not specify the reason, as a result of being picked up for an unknown crime). Luckily Pierce manages to have Willy murdered before he could reveal the most crucial information, although their plans are now greatly compromised by law enforcement agents who correctly fear that a major robbery is at hand. Through careful manipulation of a "nose" (informant), the criminals manage to divert the police's attention to an alleged robbery in Greenwich, leaving them free and clear to finally strike.
On the eve of the Great Train Robbery, another unexpected development occurs as a new railway policy requires the train doors to be locked from the outside. Unwilling to further delay their plans, Pierce manages to smuggle Agar into the baggage van (in spite of new security precautions) inside a coffin and then risks his life by climbing across the roof of the train during their journey and unlocking the door from the outside, thus allowing them to drop off the gold at a pre-arranged point. By the next day, much of England is in an uproar upon the discovery of the robbery with every organization involved in the gold shipment blaming each other, and there are few leads towards the true culprits who have largely vanished from the public eye.
Although their daring exploits appear to have succeeded, Pierce, Agar and Burgess are ultimately apprehended after Agar's mistress, who has been arrested for robbing a drunk, becomes a police informant to escape imprisonment and Agar confesses after being threatened with transportation to Australia by Scotland Yard official Edward Harranby. Pierce and Burgess are arrested at a prize-fighting event in Manchester, and at the conclusion of the book all three are convicted. Pierce is sentenced to a long prison term but successfully manages to escape while being transported from the court and disappears, though reports indicate he, Miriam and Barlow spend much of the rest of their lives living in luxury at various foreign cities such as New York and Paris. The train guard Burgess dies of cholera during his short prison term while Agar is indeed transported to Australia but actually manages to prosper and pass away a wealthy man. Edgar Trent dies from a chest ailment in 1857, while Henry Fowler dies from "unknown causes" (presumably from the syphilis he had contracted) in 1858. The gold from the Great Train Robbery is never recovered.
Characters:
Edward Pierce: A professional burglar who poses as a gentleman amongst his upper class acquaintances in Victorian England. Pierce is arguably one of the most mysterious characters found in Crichton's works as almost nothing is known about his background; indeed even his name is likely false as others also refer to him as "John Simms" along with other titles. Nonetheless, his actions and thoughts in the book consistently demonstrate a sharp intelligence and broad knowledge which far outstrips that of his fellow criminals; perhaps his greatest asset is an ability to easily navigate through both the British underworld and the aristocracy. Throughout the planning and the execution of the Great Train Robbery, Pierce is always cautious, never truly trusting anyone--this caution is eventually justified as it is Agar, his closest accomplice who finally sells him out.
Robert Agar: A twenty six year old screwsman (criminal who is skilled with copying keys and picking locks) at the beginning of the novel, Agar is pivotal to the eventual success of the Great Train Robbery, though he is also largely responsible for the culprits' eventual capture. He is apparently very well acquainted with many criminals and helped Pierce identify many persons of interest including the informant Chokee Bill as well as the snakesman Clean Willy. Though he became a police informant at the end of the book in hopes of avoiding transportation to Australia, the judge sends him there anyway and he dies a wealthy man. Ironically, Michael Crichton depicts Robert Agar as Pierce's lackey with limited intelligence though his real life counterpart actually masterminded much of the robbery and got away with minor punishments.
Clean Willy: Generally acknowledged to be the best snakesman available in London although his skills were apparently inadequate to prevent arrest and incarceration (which occurred at least twice before and during the story). Edward Pierce went to great expense to help Willy escape imprisonment at a high security prison for the sole purpose of enlisting the snakesman's aid in the train robbery. After successfully completing his tasks, Willy is paid off by Pierce and disappears for some time from the narrative before resurfacing as a police informant, almost jeopardizing the entire scheme. Ultimately he is garroted by Barlow in a boardinghouse.
Barlow: A violent thug and murderer who served Edward Pierce loyally as a cabby although his services were also employed for other purposes such as the death of Clean Willy. He and Ms. Miriam managed to elude capture by the authorities, eventually rescuing him from the authorities before the trio completely disappeared.
Ms. Miriam: Edward Pierce's mistress who is generally regarded as highly attractive by other characters in the book. She is also a talented actress and plays rather brief though important roles in the execution of the train robbery such as pretending Agar was her dead brother and distracting Mr. Fowler while Pierce unlocked the cargo train. In many ways, she and Pierce are very similar and well suited for each other: both are resourceful and possess the ability to mix with men and women of all classes.
Historical Deviations:
The story is a fictionalized representation of the historical events that happened, although the setting can be considered quite accurate. The character names are mixed up in the novel, for example, the main protagonist William Pierce is changed to Edward Pierce, and Edward Agar to Robert Agar.
Make sure you read the book on a Friday or Saturday night, you don't want to be sleeping at work the next day, do you?!!
