Esta novela de acción es una auténtica obra maestra del género. Ambientada en la època victoriana, el brumoso Londres finisecular sirve de telón de fondo para el robo más espectacular del siglo. Una vez al mes sale de Londres con destino a París un tren que transporta la paga del ejército británico que lucha en Crimea. Las dos cajas fuertes que la contienen son inviolables, y para abrirlas, se necesitan cuatro llaves distintas que están en poder de cuatro personas. Sin embargo, las cajas llegan vacias a París....

It is like a real life Ocean's Eleven. It was a bit slow to start, but when we got to the actual heist it was crazy and impressive. ( )

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9-10

This was fun. A "highly fictionalized" (according to the wiki gods) account of the planning and execution of the theft of gold bullion (worth approximately 1.2 million dollars in today's money) from a train in motion on the London to Folkestone run in 1855. The word "novel" is prominent on the cover, so no one should be misled, but it reads very much like good narrative non-fiction. For sheer 19th century hi-jinks, though, this is right up there with The Wild, Wild, West, and almost as preposterous. Liberties are taken with the facts, but it did happen, and almost caused an international incident as the gold was bound for France. As usual, Crichton's story-telling is irresistible. ( )