Ingredients= one Harvard educated whiz-kid lawyer, one disgraced and disgruntled (read: crazy as a loon) Army General, one dwindling disenfranchised Indian tribe, one top secret 150 year old treaty deeding Omaha to said Indian tribe and one non nome amicus curaie filed with the United States Supreme Court to turn Omaha and all if it’s land improvements over to the tribe. What could possibly go wrong? Just about anything and everything.After General MacKenzie Hawkins (the Hawk) uncovers a long buried treaty between the United States government and the Wopotami tribe deeding Omaha to the Wopotamis – the current location of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command global headquarters – the Hawk becomes Chief Thunder Head of the Wopotamis and then drafts and submits the amicus brief to the Supreme Court to enforce the treaty. With such a brief guaranteed to cause a major stir in Washing politics, the Hawk uses his prior escapades with legal whiz-kid Samuel Devereaux to convince (read: blackmail) Sam into representing the Wopotami before the Supreme Court. Along the way, the Hawk and Sam recruit the equally brilliant legal minds of Sam’s boss, Aaron Pinkus and tribal member/legal advisor Jennifer Sunrise Redwing to bring justice to the Wopotami tribe. As one can imagine, many in Washington – or Dizzy City, as the Hawk affectionately refers to the nation’s capital – will stop at nothing to prevent Omaha from passing back into the hands of the Wopotami. The Dizzy City movers and shakers may even send in teams of covert military and government assassins to permanently silence the legal team. Can the legal team outsmart the government teams and make it to their pre-argument meeting with the justices of the Supreme Court?Robert Ludlum, author of the Jason Bourne series, has carted a hilariously irreverent misadventure into the complex legal, political and intelligence institutions of the United Sates. “The Road to Omaha’ is not your average spy novel. Ludlum uses a quick conversational dialogue style that gives the impression of busy, impatient people talking over one another. Most often this occurs as Ludlum is portraying our head of state and industry – giving the impression hat these men are self involved inattentive idiots who cannot be bothered to stop to listen to a voice which is not his own.The conversational style shows the characters speaking and acting much as they would if they were sitting next to you – foreign accents, mispronunciations and lisps included. No character is safe from a hilariously insulting speech pattern – the mafia wise-guys, Japanese businessmen and Spanish- speaking mercenaries are all written so that you can easily hear the individual voices and accents as you read.The book reads as one might expect a major Hollywood blockbuster comedy screenplay ought to (if this hasn’t been slated for production on the silver screen then perhaps it should be). Ludlum’s characters are eccentric to the point that they are boarder line unbelievable. For example, the Director of Central Intelligence is a ‘former’ mafia boss known on the streets as Vinnie the Bam-Bam. Another is the team of elite counterintelligence agents from within the US Army Rangers nicknamed the “Suicidal Six”. The team is reknowned for accomplishing extraordinary feats and is universally feared by everyone within the military and government. Though the scary truth is that the Suicidal Six is actually comprised of actors who have never killed a soul in the execution of their duty. Equally bizarre are the President and Vice-President of the United States, neither of whom allow cursing or coarse language of any sort, somewhat in contradiction to what we all have come to know and expect (at least in a fictional world) from top military folds behind closed doors.The relationship between the Hawk and Sam might be better understood – along with a number of their inside jokes – if one has previously read Ludlum’s “The Road to Gandolfo” where the pair encounter their first legal misadventure involving the voluntary kidnapping and ransoming of the Pope. Despite – or perhaps because of – the quirky characters, “The Road to Omaha" is a quick, light and enjoyable read.
By Robert Ludlum. Grade: ARobert Ludlum is a figure in the literary world who needs no introduction. His legendary novels include many of the modern world classics like The Bourne series (which has been made into a series of successful feature films). The Road to Omaha is a sequel to Robert Ludlum’s The Road to Gandolfo which is another bestseller from the annals of Robert Ludlum.The plot follows the return of military legend General Mackenzie Hawkins who is a hero and a rogue at the same time. Having hatched a plan once (in The Road to Gandolfo, the prequel), the Hawk is now back and shows no sign of retiring from the world of intrigue and adventure that has so naturally become his lifeblood. Irrepressibly maddening, worshipped by the men he once led into battle, he is now into his sixties and he’s planning a $500 million caper, a scheme to right an old wrong, and to wreak vengeance on those who drummed him out of the military.The story begins with the reminiscences of the past in Sam Deveraux, the brilliant ex-Harvard lawyer touted as the best legal skull of the time. He unfortunately had his share of misfortunes with the Hawk and is now averse even to the name. But the Hawk has something else in mind. He is now Thunder Head, the chief of Wopotamis, an ancient native Indian tribe with a devious strategy to take the down the big names and offices in America with nothing but a hatchet. The crux of the matter is that the land on which the Strategic Air Command (the defense lifeline of America) is built upon, is actually the property of the Wopotami tribe and has not been under their custody.The Hawk, as the chief Thunder Head of this very tribe, has decided to take matters into his own hands and get the land back for the tribe (notwithstanding his personal intentions) and to do so, he files a petition in the Supreme Court. The implications of this act would be catastrophic. If this petition is upheld, the property would go back to the Wopotamis, thus crippling the entire nation’s defense system. So, the Secretary of State, in association with his cartel of defense industrialists (who stand to lose everything if this petition goes through) decides to do anything to stop the Hawk from getting to the Supreme Court.Aiding the Hawk this time is Sam Deveraux, the unfortunate lawyer, unfortunate enough to be mixed up with the Hawk in his devious scheme once and unfortunate enough to be embroiled once again in the Hawk’s plan. Along with him is Aaron Pinkus, Sam’s employer and the biggest name in the legal circles and Jennifer Redwing, the young and beautiful lawyer (who later becomes Sam’s lady love). Together, they carry out their plan with amazing alacrity, dealing with every unaccounted-for situation with unbelievable adaptability. Whether or not they are successful in their endeavour is the quest of this novel.The fundamental question that the author poses 200-odd pages into the novel is that whether the quest carried out by these people is right or wrong, justified or not and more basically good or bad.This intriguing dilemma that the reader comes face to face with is the strength of the plot. That and the utter simplicity with which the judgement can be made. The valour and utter bravery with which these protagonists take on the system is a treat to read. Each and every twist in the tale is well accounted for. The complete ingenuity of General Mackenzie coupled with the sporadic but complete vulnerability of Sam Deveraux is extremely indulging.The only shortcoming is that at times the internal conflict that the characters face is a little overbearing on the external action. Had there been a little more action in place of the internal conflict, it would have been a classic without any doubt.For any reader irrespective of the genre of choice, The Road to Omaha offers a complete set of thrill, action, drama and suspense. A must-read for everyone.Originally reviewed at : www.the-vault.co.cc
What do You think about The Road To Omaha (1993)?
CZvc
—Mutlu
Since this weekend was too cold to go out, I figured I'd pick some old books to re-read.The Road to Omaha is not intellectual. It's not innovative. It's not literary, or philosophical, or life-changing, but heck, it was fun. It's a story about a radical hero, General MacKenzie Hawkins, who is out for revenge. Along the way, he tangles with the usual bogeyman in American thrillers, aka the CIA, the White House, etc. You'd think it'd get boring by now, but Ludlum pulls it off, yet again.Turn off your brain and disbelief for this one, folks, and enjoy the ride...
—Williamsburger
On the road again...! Okay, after offering my opinion and rememberance of THE ROAD TO GANDOLFO, I can bring you my thoughts about the late, great Robert Ludlum's follow up to that truly incorrect epic, the bitingly satirical, over-the-top adventure that is THE ROAD TO OMAHA! And where the 'Road' movies had Hope and Crosby, this sequel features the trimphant return of MacKenzie Hawkins and his not-exactly-by-his-choice lawyer, Sam Deveraux. Fantastic circumstances bring them back together again, and Sam again finds himself a reluctant partner in a new scam of world-shaking proportions as devised by the Hawk!It's been over 15 years since the madcap romp that was THE ROAD TO GANDOLFO. Samuel Lansing Devereaux is somewhat securely where he wants to be working in the Boston law firm of his brilliant mentor, Aaron Pinkus, but the (relatively) young lawyer has been secretly troubled, even prone to drinking because he still remembers his misadventures with a certain military maniac quite vividly! In the meantime MacKenzie Hawkins, long burning for the chance to get even with the 'lace-pants' in Washington, D.C. who sold him out for political convenience, has begun the final stages of a much more intricate yet thoroughly absurd plan to get his revenge. This man hasn't gotten older...he's become more dangerous with the passage of time! With some deft maneuvering and -- ahem -- a lot of bribes, he's become Chief Thunder Head, the leader of the Wopotamis, a nation of Native Americans.You must be asking why, so here's the completely crazy reason: to sue the federal government before the United States Supreme Court itself for the lands the Wopotamis lost, which happens to be most of Nebraska, which happens to be home to the headquarters and mega-expensive facilities of America's Strategic Air Command!And here's the even CRAZIER part: there's a chance Hawk might win his case...but to succeed, he needs the services of a certain lawyer again...!The outrageous adventures of Mac and Sam lapse completely but comfortably into the realm of satire in a ludicrous epic that's smarter and even funnier than THE ROAD TO GANDOLFO...it's also twice as thick pages-wise! We're also introduced to the beautiful and idealistic -- but at the same time pragmatic -- Sunrise Jennifer Redwing. Jennifer is a lawyer who happens to be part of the Wopotami tribe, and for the sake of her brothers and sisters, she's at first inclined to do everything she can to make sure Mac *loses* his case! But like Sam years ago, she's going to find that dealing with the Hawk is much more complex and zanier than anyone can possibly prepare for! It doesn't help that romance might be in the air between Jennifer and Sam... And she's not all. Brother, this story's supporting cast is one for the ages! Besides finally meeting Aaron Pinkus, who was referred to more than once in the previous novel, we get to know Desi Uno and Desi Dos, a couple of Hispanic thieves of indeterminate national origin the Hawk recruits to become his adjutants...CIA Director Vinnie 'The Bam-Bam' Mangecavallo, the best-kept secret weapon in Washington, who's still connected to certain people in Brooklyn...Vinnie's best intelligence agent, Little Joey the Shroud, a character Joe Pesci was born to play if this craziness was made into a movie!...and then there's the mercenaries(!) who are hired by our heroes for much-needed protection, Cyrus and Roman, as the date to be before the Supreme Court gets closer...we're even reunited with a couple of Hawkins' Harem again!Robert Ludlum was best known for his espionage thrillers before his untimely death, but reading this book and its predecessor shows he had a truly extraordinary sense of humor! THE ROAD TO OMAHA, like its predecessor, can get incorrect as heck...nothing's sacred in the crazy world of Hawkins and Sam, on EITHER side of the political fence, so take that as a warning! But if you really want a truly unique and completely funny read, this book ranks up there with Carl Hiaasen's STRIP TEASE...Ludlum's intricate plotting will ensure you'll be thrilled as your funny bone gets tickled too, and for those reasons and more I recommend THE ROAD TO OMAHA without reservation! :D
—Charles Spencer
