The Brotherhood Of The Rose (1992) - Plot & Excerpts
”In Greek mythology, the god of love once offered a rose to the god of silence, as a bribe, to keep that god from disclosing the weaknesses of the other gods. In time, the rose became the symbol for silence and secrecy. In the Middle ages, a rose was customarily suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber. The members of the council pledged themselves not to reveal what they discussed in the room, sub rosa under the rose.”There once were two boys named Romulus and Remus, not the two founders of Rome, but two boys who found each other in an orphanage in Pennsylvania. They became closer than brothers. Isn’t that the case with many of us, finding our close friends to be more our brothers and sisters than our own flesh and blood? Saul (Romulus) is visited periodically by a gray faced man named Eliot who starts every visit by extending a Baby Ruth candy bar. In an orphanage you are more likely to find a bar of gold than a bar of chocolate. He takes Saul on backpacking trips and fishing trips. Soon Chris (Remus) joins them. As they grow up their foster father suggests certain activities for them such as Karate. When they are old enough he suggests they join the military. They are sent to Vietnam. Suggestions from Eliot are the same as commands. They don’t know it until later, but Eliot has several pairs of orphaned boys from various cities. Castor and Pollux, Cadmus and Cilix, Amphion and Zethus, Butes and Erectheus, and Atlas and Prometheus. They are all trained to be operatives for a shadowy sector of the CIA. The reverence they all show for Eliot borders on worship. Eliot is also part of a national coalition of spies that formed a system called the Abelard Sanctuary. "I had come there as a fugitive and, in the depths of my despair, was granted some comfort by the grace of God.” Peter Abélard (1079-1142) was a brilliant rising star of theology, philosophy, and logician who fell in love with the scholar of classical letters Héloïse. They are secretly married to appease her uncle, but when he announces the marriage publicly it is denied by the couple. The Uncle is sure that Abélard is up to no good so he hires some thugs to pay him a visit. They castrate him. The letters of longing between Abélard and Héloïse become some of the most famous love letters of all time and forever immortalized the couple among the most legendary of doomed lovers rivaled only by Shakespeare’s creation of Romeo and Juliet. Abélard becomes a monk, but has difficulties with the monastery system and eventually retires to a chapel at Paraclete. He went there seeking sanctuary. If he wished to remain anonymous or forgotten it did not work. Students appeared living in tents around the chapel and soon he is teaching once again. The coalition of spies from all over the world find that there are times when they need sanctuary. They reach an agreement to place these Abelard Sanctuaries strategically all over the world. For those that have seen the recent movie John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves, the hotel in the movie is based on the same concept as an Abelard Sanctuary. No one is allowed to kill within the walls of sanctuary. If someone breaks the truce all of the nations participating are forced by the rules of the contract to do their best to execute the killer. It is a place where enemies can mingle without fear. Everything is going fine until Saul is ordered to blow up a close friend of the President of the United States. The assassination was made to look like the Israelis for political reasons. When Saul goes to his designated safe house some men are there to try to kill him. He has been blacklisted. His first thought is to call his foster father, but that was the source of the safe house location. Is it possible that the person he revers most in the world could be wanting to kill him? Saul is forced on the run for his life. He meets up with Chris and between the two of them they come up with a plan of survival. Betrayals begat betrayals and soon all that they think they believe in is suddenly nothing more than an enigma of deception. To survive they will have to embrace revenge. The pacing of the novel is excellent. It is certainly a page turner. David Morrell is an old hand at deftly keeping the plot from faltering. The secrecy attributed to the rose becomes an obsession for many of the Abelard Sanctuary group. Many of them begin cultivating them as a hobby, all becoming as bewitched by their beauty as the Dutch were about tulips in the 17th century. Some reviewers have found the sanctuary concept, a truce between foes, to be verging on science fiction, but for me it makes sense. The men and women who work behind the cloak of secrecy have much more in common with each other than they do with the countries they call home. By the definition of their careers they are lonely people, cut off from their families and friends, and reluctant to form relationships that could in the end compromise them. Sometimes your enemy knows you best and with them there are no pretenses about the job. My favorite David Morrell so far is: Murder As a Fine Art a book about Thomas De Quincey the famous British Opium Eater. The second book with De Quincey is scheduled to release in March. Murder as a Fine Art Review
Having lost his father in WWII, many of David Morrell’s thrillers involve themes dealing with father-son relationships. In First Blood, it was the relationship between Vietnam veteran Rambo and Sheriff Teasle, a veteran of the Korean War. In Last Reveille, it was the relationship between a young recruit and an old veteran taking part in Gen. John Pershing’s Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in 1916.In his Cold War espionage thriller, Brotherhood of the Rose, Morrell again returns to this familial theme with a plot revolving around a father’s betrayal of his sons. Saul and Chris are orphans who meet in a military school, and are raised by a mysterious foster father named Elliot. A high-ranking CIA official, Elliot raises the boys to be highly skilled assassins. In turn, both sons are devoted to the only father either have ever known. But when Elliot sets up Saul to take the fall for the assassination of a friend of the U.S. president, he discovers the love his sons have for each other is greater than their love for him.Known for doing deep research for his novels, Morrell has written an excellent primer on Cold War spy craft. And while the novel is full of thrilling action, it is the relationship between Chris, Saul, and Elliot that drives the plot. When Chris joins forces with Saul, Elliot must send other assassins to kill them. When the foster brothers realize they have been nothing but tools for Elliot’s private spy game, they go to all extremes to wreak their revenge against the man they consider their father.Brotherhood of the Rose is another fine piece by the man many consider the father of the modern thriller.
What do You think about The Brotherhood Of The Rose (1992)?
This book drags me along like a little girl drags a rag doll down the street. The doll ain't getting away. Sometimes the girl shakes the doll or pulls it through the mud. Maybe a dog tries to wrench it away from her, but she wins the tug of war. Likewise, this book pulls me through a rocky adventure. I'm happy to be dragged along. If you crave adventure stories, you might also try The Golden Catch, a thriller/adventure novel where the action unfolds in the stormy Aleutian Islands. Roger Weston, author of The Golden Catch
—Roger Weston
Another excellent book by MorrellThis book was a real pioneer in the genre of espionage thrillers. It's smart, fast-paced, and just a great introduction to the character of Saul, The character the even today I believe would make a great hero for the big screen. David Morrell has done an interesting thing in the way it's in pairs then a violence with secret religious orders. There is a strong sense of grace in this book for even men that have committed unforgivable crimes. It's deeper than your average action story, giving you a lot to chew on beyond the story itself.
—Rick Lee James
So many commentators on the GR page for this book, seem to have absorbed the experience entirely wrong. Be in no doubt: 'Brotherhood of the Rose' is is one of the greatest modern spy thrillers. I'll tell you precisely why, in a moment.Just be aware first of all, that there was an interval in espionage publishing which had dragged on--just before this title appeared--in which nothing really excellent was being done. Nothing formidable had appeared for a while. Forsyth was quiet, Follett was quiet, LeCarre was quiet; Ludlum was static/predictable as always; and Alistair MacLean had jumped the shark...only Clive Cussler was around to (inadequately) supply the lack of gritty, tough, fast-moving, action-based reads. What does that say to you? It was a doldrum. If you look around now, yeah sure, with the friggin' internet and Amazon available to you...you have your choice of thousands of authors. All beating a path to your door. Do you think that is the norm? Its not. Plus, look at how 'copycat' all this new bounty is. You've got a glut of hacks angling for your attention now, but very few pioneers. Morrell was--is--a pioneer.This book emerged at the perfect moment for him to break through into the next level of his career. His very-solid writing skills were already established thanks to 'First Blood' but there was really nothing quite like this until he busted through the door. 'Rose' essentially revived the action/spy genre; all commando fiction got-a-new-lease-on-life; got started-back-off-on-the-right-foot. He breathed life back into the body. Its a milestone work. Its the equal of--and successor to--iconic titles like 'Eiger Sanction', 'Marathon Man', and 'Odessa File'.And here's why: the story doesn't rely on "whatever's going on in international politics" whenever you happen to pick it up and flip through it. The story is set in an abstract world of spies and assassins. Almost no specific agencies or countries are named. No real-world details or conditions are posed at the time of writing, which might later 'break'. If you read it at the time-of-release, or read it today, its still just as good. All these novels possess this quality: they're based on scenarios which can always work no matter the timeperiod.Its the same methodology William Goldman used with his invention of the hypothetical shadow-agency called 'the Division'; Forsyth explored with 'Die Spinne' and which Trevanian employed with his mysterious 'CII'. Saul and his brother (in this story) are 'on the run' from the global espionage community; they ricochet around the world of the (truly ingenious by Morrell) invention of a system of worldwide 'safe-houses' relied on by that community. It has nothing to do with what countries happen-to-be-playing-nice-with-each-other, lately.'Brotherhood of the Rose' works because every modern era since WWII has spies, commandos, assassins, espionage-and-counter-espionage agencies. This is a fact of modern life. As long as there are national boundaries, these types of entities and individuals will always be plausible in fiction; and they remain--as always--the great stand-bys of the action-genre.
—Feliks
