"Theoretically, let's stipulate, for argument's sake, that there are a lot of powerful people at a university like this who believe things that aren't, strictly speaking, true.""Leftists, you mean.""Let's just call them people. Powerful people.""All right.""These powerful people believe things like: One culture is as good as another. Or, there's no such thing as good and evil. Therefore, if America is at odds or at war with someone, it must be America's fault. You only have to think about those statements for two minutes to see that they can't possibly be true. But these people think they should be true and they think they'll seem to be true if no one is allowed to say they're not true. So they attack anyone who says that they're not true. They call him names. Racist, sexist, phobic, offensive, whatever. They demand apologies from him. They make his life a misery, so no one wants to speak up.""So it's like the emperor's new clothes.""Right. Except instead of clothes, it's all the emperor's lies. And in an Empire of Lies, only a crazy man would speak the truth." - Excerpt from Empire of Lies by Andrew KlavanTaking a faux break from election politics, I picked up a copy of Andrew Klavan's novel, Empire of Lies. This is probably destined to become a cult thriller that trundles along in the conservative underground. Like Kaylene Johnson's biography of Sarah Palin, the book has many parallels to contemporary happenings in politics that are eerie, although this is surely deliberate from Klavan. He writes against a left-dominated media that is driven by narrative over truth (sounds familiar already?), and in this post election period, it's an oddly comforting read for those who did not imbibe the Obama Kool-Aid. It conforms to the same logic that likely led to the rejection of the Obama brand, at the very least, a love of dissent over mindlessness. This is a very manly book and makes no apologies or pretense at being anything but a man's novel. Without wanting to sound too PC, which sort of misses the point of the book, I do have to object to the treatment of women in this novel. They are either there for the sex (rape if the main character doesn't like them), or there to tend to the homefires. It's not that Klavan doesn't have decent female characters, it just struck me that his view of them ended up being fairly two-dimensional. But overall, this is just a quibble, albeit one I feel I have to register. That out of the way, Empire of Lies follows the story of Jason Harrow, a 40 something man who has it all, loving wife, loving children, nice house in a nice neighborhood, good job. He's found God and tries to live a Christian life, which dovetails with his rightwing politics. In his youth he had been more nihilistic, left wing, and hedonistic, believing in a triumvirate of power, sex and money as defined by Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx, with sex being his primary focus. This led him into the S&M scene and an old girlfriend, Lauren, whose out-of-the-blue call some 17 years later seeking help regarding her wayward daughter sets the story in motion. His personal adventure happens amidst contemporary politics, cynically described as left pitted against truth, dissent stamped out at every opportunity, the narrative being more important than reality. The backdrop for this is Islamic fanatics versus Western Culture, perpetrated by an alliance between Islamic militants and radical leftists who have a shared agenda: [...:] a strange coalition, these Students for Justice on the one hand, radical leftists who believed in atheistic socialism, multiculturalism, and gender neutrality; on the other hand, radical Muslims who believe in theocracy, sharia law, and bagging their women in burquas. You wouldn't think they could agree on anything, would you? Well, you'd be wrong. They were together in this at least: They hated the Jews. Oh, and they hated America, too. Oh, yeah, and they were absolutely certain the one secretly controlled the other. Along the way we meet Doppelgängers for Jennifer Aniston (a character who also has a Princess Di moment), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, (given her own, lesser, Britney Spears moment), all engaged in their own public love triangle that gets woven into the story, and a Doppelgänger for William Shatner, who ends up with a pivotal role in the tangled conspiracy. The distinction between people who watch the projection on the screen and the characters who are projected from the screen gets blurred in the intersection of reality and fantasy.Throw in also a mix of hereditary paranoia and you have quite a doozey. When reading this book you can't help but think it would make a good movie, and given that two of Klavan's books in the past have made it to the screen, there's a good chance this one will too. If it is already in the works for production, the timing of it may not be better. If it comes out about 2 or 3 years into Obama's first (and only?) term, at least 50% of the country is already disposed towards its themes. Depending on how Obama's term goes, the rest of the country may be ready for this sort of scathing critique of where the left has gone wrong with America. If anything, the hatred of the mainstream media will carry this someways if it does get made into a movie, and is one reason that will make the book a cult favorite regardless.
Andrew Klavan made quite a stir in the media a few years back, claiming that his traditional Christian values are hurting his career as writer of high-octane books and movie thrillers. But when you read this book, you find out very quickly that this writer really has the stuff. Lightning fast action scenes, incredible tension, and a plot so intricate and terrifying that it keeps you racing till the very end.Jason Harrow is a middle aged, wealthy American who has worked hard to build a good life for himself. But a chance meeting with a child he might have fathered years ago plunges him into an underworld of dangerous terrorist conspiracies and brutal violence. Stop reading here if you don't want to hear about the details of the explosive climax!THIS IS WHERE I START REVEALING PLOT SPOILERS.I loved the early chapters of the book, where Jason is introduced, we meet his family, see the scorching sins of his shameful past, and so forth. I raced through the whole book in about three days, which is very fast for me. But when it was over, I found there were a lot of plot holes and gaping flaws, which somewhat reduced my enjoyment of the genuinely powerful story. Most of the problems centered around characterization of the villains and the actual terrorist plot.JAMAL is depicted as nothing more than a teenage punk, a cheap hood who fights with guns and drives a Cadillac. It was impossible to believe that this dime store hood was involved in, let alone the mastermind, of a deadly bomb plot involving huge logistics and security problems. We never find out if Jamal is American born, foreign born, where he comes from, how he was recruited, or anything. Klavans obviously thinks it's weak-willed and cowardly to "know your enemy" but as a writer he needs to work a lot harder on making his villains credible and dangerous.PROFESSOR RASHID is an even more extreme example of this. There's nothing wrong with having a smug, elitist professor as a bad guy. The propaganda war is an important front in the War on Terror. But who would believe this elegant, pampered professor would be "in" on all the nitty gritty details -- where the bombs are planted, how to disarm them, etc. This is just not believable. The "interrogation" scene where Jason gets medieval on his behind is meant to be shocking and disturbing, but to me it was just silly. When you want a demolitions expert, you don't hire an English professor. It's almost like Klavans is afraid to create a villain strong enough to challenge his hero. This problem effects the good characters, too.PATRICK PIERSALL is a dreadfully embarrassing character. He's clearly modeled on a much loved and respected TV Starship captain, (no, not the bald freak, the REAL captain of the Enterprise.) Yet Klavans can't make up his mind whether the guy is a stumblebum drunk or a hero. The story would have been so much better if Piersall had been shown as a hero from the beginning, and if he had left out all the silly cheap shots at aging movie actors.This points up the real conflict in EMPIRE OF LIES. Klavan can't decide which he hates more -- Islamic fundamentalism or America freedom. He claims to love "freedom" but his loathing for even the most wholesome and innocent forms of celebrity culture (I'm! A Captain! Of A Starship! Where All Races! Live! Like Brothers!) combined with a screeching, shivering terror of female sexuality (Why can't they stop tempting me?) and teenagers (Why do they talk back all the time?) make Jason Harrow seem, paradoxically, like the ideal recruit for Al Qaeda. He's a better Muslim than the Muslims we're supposed to believe he really hates.None of this means that EMPIRE OF LIES isn't a thrilling, fast paced read. But once you've read it over you see a lot of flaws and inconsistencies that a more seasoned writer would have addressed. Hopefully Andrew Klavan's next book will be even better!
What do You think about Empire Of Lies (2008)?
If you are of a mind to scoff at a hero who is open about his Christian faith, and whose faith plays a role in the story, or if you are so sensitive to political correctness that you cannot stand anything negative about Islam, then this is not the book for you.As neither of those things were problems for me; on the contrary, they were both plusses, I enjoyed Empire of Lies immensely. Klavan's prose is stellar and his plot gripping and plausible. The protagonist, though openly a Christian, is not any kind of saint or prude--on the contrary, he is absolutely human and very appealing. Islamic terrorists and their apologists in the West are the villains, and Klavan skewers the unholy trinity of Hollywood, News Media, and the Universities with glee and precision, but never polemic. A most refreshing and engaging book.
—Frank Roberts
This is not the sort of book I usually read, but because I enjoy watching the Klavan on the Culture (or is it Kulture?) segments on PJTV, when I found out Mr. Klavan was an author, I thought I would enjoy reading one of his books and found this one at the library.Sometimes, without even trying, I could hear Mr. Klavan's voice narrating the story. Other times I was so caught up in the story I did not have time to spare listening to his voice inside my head.It is, or course, an exciting story, one that mixes laugh-out-loud funny segments with ugly and horrific scenes. What I appreciated most about the story was the internal voice of the narrator, Jason Harrow, and the struggles he has with who he was and who he is and what he needs to do and how his relationship with God impacts that and is impacted by that. It was not a point of view I would have expected in this type of book and I was pleasantly surprised by it.This is still not a go-to genre of book for me, but I do look forward to reading more books by this author.
—JoAnn
I will preface this review by saying this: I only paid four dollars for this book. However, I think even that may have been too high of a price. Reading the description on the back, I thought this would be an interesting story. It was not. There's also a glowing review on the front from none other than Stephen King. But, I found out that review is from they other book that Klaven wrote. The book True Crime. I haven't read that bit I might. But I digress, this book is awful. It's only barely readable and the pace plods along. It's never taken me this long to read a book that's barely 400 pages. I'm just appalled that people actually like this story. It's awful. It's been done numerous times. And it's boring
—Austin
