Have you ever read a book that you knew was going to be made into a movie? “Love and Honor” by Randall Wallace is one of those books.
You say you have never heard of Randall Wallace? He wrote the novel “Braveheart” and the New York Times best seller “Pearl Harbor” and more recently directed, produced and wrote the screenplay for the fantastic Vietnam drama, “We Were Soldiers”.
Are you are getting the hint this guy is one gifted artists? He is gifted as a storyteller and the stories he tells are built around characters of remarkable courage. This story is no different.
This story is set during the pre-American revolutionary war era in Russia with an American mercenary Kieran Selkirk and his best friend Russian mercenary Sergie Gorlov sent on a critical mission into the frozen Russian winter. The mission instigated by the great diplomat Benjamin Franklin and known only by Kieran is to obtain the confidence of Catherine the Great Tsarina of Russia and convince her to support the cause of the fledgling Republic against the overwhelming British forces.
How do two lowly mercenaries get an opportunity to meet the Tsarina much less convinced her to take them into her confidence? Courage and Honor!
Kieran proves to be the type of man that you would hold up a personal hero and you would tell your sons about him and want them to grow up trying to be just like him.
When confronted with temptation, Kieran knew what to do and did it. When courage in the battle or other situations was required both men drew from depths of their soul and fought in the face of danger and likely death.
In their attempt to gain the Tsarina’s confidence the men managed to obtain roles of leadership in the Russian army in a battle against the Cossack rebels. With this incredible success in their campaign they are indeed given an audience with the Tsarina. But, the corruption of the Russian leaders throws the pair and their romantic interests into absolute despair.
With Kieran imprisoned and tortured and ready to be executed all looks lost.
Of course I can’t tell you the rest. You have to read it yourself. A with a few great plot twists the adrenaline keeps pumping. This is a great read and a great lesson in character development. Mark my words this book will be a great movie.
Wayne Moran
