The Scarlatti Inheritance: A Novel

Other reviews listed here complain about the pace, development and plotting of this novel. I'd have to say many people are spoiled by some of today's works in that most events are telegraphed to the reader and it ends up being like a typical action movie ... thin and unmoving.

To me this book is neither. It has depth and a trio of main characters that are interesting. There are some citations that note this book is formulaic. Perhaps it needs to be taken into consideration that it was written before some of these formulas were developed.

I thought The Scarlatti Inheritance was a fine read and the premise was very interestng. A mother -- Elizabeth Scarlatti -- wants to keep her evil son -- Ulster Scarlatti -- from financing the Third Reich in the 1920s. The "hero" of the novel is Matthew Canfield, a government man who is looking to find out what Ulster Scarlatti is doing with more than $200 million in securities.

Ludlum does an excellent job of capturing the way people lived in the 1920s, especially the rich.

Even though this is one of the first books Robert Ludlum it is one of the last ones I read so you could imagine my delight when I found this a Ludlum book I haven't yet read during a book drive at my daughter's school.

The book starts in Washington DC where Major Matthew Canfield is being sent to meet a high ranking German official with promises to divulge information to help end WWII.

From the second chapter, to one before last, the story is told as a back flash about the Scarlatti family. Giovanni Scarlatti, a poor but ingenious Italian immigrant, marries a rich heiress, his employer's daughter, named Elizabeth who helps him take over her business in as well as many other companies to become extremely rich within a decade.

The Scralattis had three sons, one died in WWI, the other was ordered by his mother not to enlist, and the third - the troublemaker - enlisted and, to everyone's surprise, became a war hero.

What no-one knew is that the third son, Ulster, coned his whole regiment to believe he killed many Germans and saved them all, only trying to escape the front. Together with a German officer he took on a second identity of a German solider he killed named Heinrich Kroeger.

Ulster's plan to bankrupt his family and help Hitler's Third Reich is the plot which takes us, his mother and the book's hero, field accountant (not yet Major) Canfield, around the globe and into mysterious financial transactions.

I'm a big Ludlum fan but honestly - I don't know what to think of this book. It's certainly isn't as good as other Ludlum books but it is an exciting read, well paced and the characters are not one-dimensional freaks.

The thing that this book falls short on is the ending. It seems that Ludlum used the "Star Trek" type ending - where a complex story is neatly tied up in 5 minutes or less.

The Scarlatti Inheritance is the first thriller by Robert Ludlum, and it lacks some of the flair, suspense, and character development of the later works, such as the Bourne series. It is an interesting look at the lives of the idle rich in the 1920's combined with an overview of the world of corporate finance.

In the story, we follow the lives of a great Italian-American family over three generations and two world wars. Elizabeth Scarlatti is the widow of the great man, and she lives to see her oldest son die in WWI and her next oldest son start WWII. The third son is a prominent character for the first half of the book, and then Ludlum seems to have forgotten about him. Maybe there are chapters about him not in the book, but left stuffed behind the couch at the Ludlum compound.

The second son, Ulster Stuart Scarlet (nee Scarlatti) takes his inheritance and heads for the dark side in the 1920's, aiding and abetting the likes of Hitler, Hesse, and Goebbels. Actually "steals" would be a better word choice, for Scarlet stealthily removes bearer bonds and securities from the family trust vaults, sells them illegally outside the US, and then appears in Munich, to ingratiate himself with the leaders of the Beer Hall putsch.

His arch-nemesis is the field accountant, government man Canfield, who links up with Elizabeth and Ulster's wife, to track him down. The denouement is a chilling scene in Switzerland, where all the world's great financiers have assembled to decide the political and economic fate of the world.

One should remember how grounded in fact this story might be, as the Third Reich in its early days, had no shortage of admirers and supporters in the West. We all know the story of Charles Lindberg, King Edward VII, and Joseph Kennedy. When Robert Kennedy ran for President in 1968, he was still making excuses for the behavior of his late father in the 1930's. Of course, England in the 1930's was a hotbed of supporters of the fascist doctrines.

In sum, pick another Ludlum thriller over this one. If you do take this one on, be sure to take notes (it is rather confusing, with random appearances of important characters), and don't expect any real surprises. It is not particularly well-written. Characters come and go with no development or resolution. In addition to the mystery of the third son mentioned above, there are others who pop in and out, like the Mafia, government agents, and household staff.

ludlum can perhaps thank his lucky stars he made his name elsewhere before starting to write thrillers, since not many other authors would have been given another chance after producing something as muddled as this. the opening and final chapters are ghastly, veering from sheer incomprehensibility to juvenilia. the idea isn't bad and the rest of the book chugs along, but how did he get away with that opening? without reading the rest of the book it makes no sense at all and strikes me as being more likely to repel rather than suck in the reader.

Elizabeth's son was the personification of evil.He was aligned with very shadowy characters when he was a very young man. His very lovely wife was mistreated by him. His mother did not like the monster that was her child. He joined forces with one of the greatest sources of evil by combining forces with Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. Elizabeth Scarlatti was correct to consider her son dangerous. The goodguy in the person of the field officer was also effective. A different written Ludlum book but still interesting.

The Scarlatti Inheritance is a good book. It's best ingredient is the vivid imagination of Mr. Ludlum and his ability to weave a fine plot and have it unfold at a good pace. This book hits the same key that many others do: Nazis and the Third Reich, but it is very original in plot and hero, or as it were, heroine. The ending isn't necessarily what you might expect from Ludlum, but it is definately appropriate. This is worth your plane ride, so read it.

What is it about Hitler that so intrigues many writers? It's like you're not a complete writer until you have written at least one book about the madman. Well, this is Ludlum's college try and while it is intriguing in parts, dramatic in others, it is - and I hate to use this term - utterly predictable. Who didn't know the real identity of everyone involved and the ultimate outcome?
This is an OK read but kind of rough around the edges. I guess my main complaint is that it is just too conventional.

The first Ludlum novel I read was "The Matarese Circle" which made me a Ludlum fan.After reading a series of '80s Ludlum novels,the "Scarlatti Inheritance" seems somewhat strange in the making of the characters.Because this novel begins in the turn of the century and goes to 1950s.I loved the passages in which Ludlum makes his man talk to Hitler.And the last few chapters really do show how misguided we humanbeings can sometimes be.

The Scarlatti Inheritence reads slowly and is somewhat uninteresting for Ludlum fans. The plot is not as thrilling or embedded as Ludlum readers are accustomed to. Additionally, the plot is revealed early on to the astute reader. It is a novel that one can begin, but not necessarily feel compelled to finish immediately.

The first Ludlum novel I read was "The Matarese Circle" which made me a Ludlum fan.After reading a series of '80s Ludlum novels,the "Scarlatti Inheritance" seems somewhat strange in the making of the characters.Because this novel begins in the turn of the century and goes to 1950s.I loved the passages in which Ludlum makes his man talk to Hitler.And the last few chapters really do show how misguided we humanbeings can sometimes be.

The Scarlatti Inheritence reads slowly and is somewhat uninteresting for Ludlum fans. The plot is not as thrilling or embedded as Ludlum readers are accustomed to. Additionally, the plot is revealed early on to the astute reader. It is a novel that one can begin, but not necessarily feel compelled to finish immediately.