Rating: 
Summary: A RIVETING WORK OF FICTION...
Review: The author, a masterful storyteller, weaves an intriguing and mesmerizing tapestry of events that surround the wealthy Pilaster banking family in the latter part of nineteenth century England. Its panoramic sweep will hold the reader in its thrall. This complex story tells of the ebb and flow of their individual personal fortunes and the personalities that are to profoundly affect them, for better or worse. Augusta Pilaster is the scheming, socially conscious, self-appointed matriarch of the family. She is a woman who will stop at nothing to ensure that her reckless and easily manipulated husband, Joseph, and their indolent, dissolute, and lackluster son, Edward, will get and retain control of the Pilaster banking enterprise. Her machiavellian machinations, however, will eventually trigger the downfall of the family's fortune. Hugh Pilaster, Augusta's nephew by marriage, is the Pilaster who has the brains and work ethic to take the Pilaster banking fortunes to a new level. His Achilles heel is that he seems destined to be attracted to working class women, a chink in his armor that Augusta Pilaster uses to her and her immediate family's advantage. He, too, is Augusta Pilater's unwitting pawn, until the day of reckoning comes. Micky Miranda is the romantically handsome scion of a wealthy, unscrupulous, and power hungry South American businessman. Micky attended an exclusive school with Edward and Hugh Pilaster, when they were young. While there, tragedy struck when a mysterious swimming "accident" took the life of one of their friends, an event that was to shadow their lives in ways no one could have imagined. Micky Miranda would eventually enter into into a web of complicity with Augusta Pilaster that would impact on the fortunes of both the Miranda and Pilaster families. This book takes the reader through all strata of English society, from the drawing rooms of the upper classes to the exclusive men's clubs and brothels that cater to exotic appetites. It is a totally engrossing and absorbing tale of love, hatred, and treachery that spans three decades. It is a story that the reader will thoroughly enjoy. I originally read this book several years ago and enjoyed it so much that I decided to purchase the unabridged audiobook for a road trip. It provided seventeen hours of pure listening pleasure, as the narrator, Michael Page, is absolutely superlative. He manages to imbue each character with its own recognizable voice and personality. I was able to tear myself away from the car only with great difficulty, at times, as I was so engrossed by the story and its telling. This is a terrific book. Whether one reads it or has it read to them makes no difference, as it is a captivating and wholly entertaining work of well written fiction. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: One of Follett's best.
Review: I just love the historical fiction of Ken Follett. And I would really like for him to write more based in this period. I've only read two books from Ken (triple, dangerous fortune) and he has quickly become one of most favorite authors.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story, too much sleaze
Review: Follett is a great writer and gives a great feeling of the times. This story is no different with great character development and an imaginative plot. My only complaint is that Follett focuses way too much on sex. In fact he does in most of his novels, but this one just has too many details. This book would've been 5 stars without the ....
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite book... for a week.
Review: I read this book three weeks ago. I have since just finished reading "The pillars of the earth". I might someday be able to look back on the past few weeks as the best weeks of my life as far as reading goes. The book was by far the best book, and story i had ever read, and i was convinced that it would be the best i would ever read. But then i picked up "The Pillars of the Earth"... I almost wish i read a crappy book after "ADF" because i didn't have enough time to really enjoy the "thought" of the book in my head before "Pillars" came along and stole the show... I truly would compare the experience of reading these books in that order to the following: Watching a U2 Concert, followed the next day by a Frank Sinatra Concert (BOTH LIVE OF COURSE). The story is totaly believable. The time period is interesting, the financial part of the story, (specially relating to the times) takes you for a ride. The people in it, good and bad, are totaly dynamic, and it doesn't matter who it is, theres a character for everybody! Everybody i know has a different "favorite character" from this book. I'm gonna stop right there, because i can't really describe how good it was.
Rating:
Summary: Follett at His Best!
Review: The action never stops in this book. Anyone who loved Robert Grave's "I Claudius" will love this book. Both tales involve a mother (Livy in I Claudius) hungry for power for their sons. They stop at nothing to ruin those that stand in their way. In both novels we have the person who played by the rules to only get knocked down to the depths but ultimately triumph in the end. This book gives a great feel for London in the late 1800's. Follett's descriptions are so detailed that we can virtually smell the London fog. The character development is also amazing. A great read overall!
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Summary: "Dynasty" in Elizabethan England!!!
Review: That's how I'd describe this book. It shows an inner look into a powerful english banking family. Like any family, they have their secrets, and quite a few perversions too! This is definitely not my hostorical era of choice, but the story pulls you in, and keeps you fascinated until the last page. A solid story that didn't disappoint. Give it a shot!
Rating: 
Summary: It is not the best book
Review: The main story of the book is interesting and keeps you reading (when you can find it) all the time but it has to many explanations of the streets, houses, how the people is dressed in each party, gardens etc. that makes boring a big part of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Follett's best
Review: I'm a HUGE Tim Curry fan, and a HUGE Ken Follett fan, so I couldn't be more pleased with the audio book combination. I'd read the book when it was first published, and was completely immersed in the storyline. Mr. Follett can draw you into any story he choses to tell like few other authors, and this book is one of his very best. As for Tim Curry, I can NOT get enough of that gorgeous Brisish accent that makes him one of the busiest audio readers today.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME BEYOND WORDS!
Review: I HATE novels, but Ken Follett is the only modern author I read other than the great classic writers. No other book has captivated me quite like this one, and I never wanted the story to end. Don't let the size scare you...I savored every word of it. Screw Shakespeare, if you only read one book in your lifetime-- read this one.
Ken Follett, if you ever happen to read this (haha)-- Thank you for writing such an amazing story! You are totally awesome!
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: In my opinion, Ken Follett is one of the better writers working currently, and A DANGEROUS FORTUNE is one of his best books to date. I liked his EYE OF THE NEEDLE and PILLARS OF THE EARTH very much, too, and while I don't think FORTUNE is quite that good, it is still one of the most entertaining books I've read recently. The story is set in England in the latter half of the 19th century, and revolves around the wealthy Pilaster family. The Pilasters are bankers and control the large and powerful Pilaster Bank. As schoolboys, both Edward Pilaster and his cousin Hugh, son of the family black sheep, are involved in the death by drowning of a fellow student. That event is the beginning of 25 years of intrigue, corruption and murder as the fortunes of the Pilasters and those close to them play out. Follett weaves an intricate and fast-paced, if not always surprising, plot around his characters that carries the reader from the mansions of London's rich and powerful, through seedy bordellos, to vile gambling dens. This is contemporary pulp fiction at its best. The characters have depth and believability and Follett seems to do a good job of evoking the look and feel of the period. The pages roll by quickly and the book is hard to put down. But, if it's so good, why didn't I give it five stars? Generally, I reserve five-star status for books of what I regard to be classic status. Caesar, Tolkien, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter (yeah, I do think Harry Potter will be around for a long time). Maybe Harry Bosch, although I may have gotten carried away, there. This is, after all, pulp fiction and it just doesn't have the depth of the above. It is very entertaining, though, and I think most readers will enjoy it very much. Consider it a strong four plus and give it a look.
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