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Face/Off (Book Review) by Justin (age 15)
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The novel Face/Off by Clark Carlton, based on the motion picture written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, was fairly good reading. I thought that the novel was going to be long, boring, and filled with pathetic attempts at trying to convey terrific action scenes using the limited English language. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and it's true; movies are sometimes able to communicate emotions and movement so much better than books. I suspect that this will be true with this particular book and movie.
For years Sean Archer, an FBI agent living in California, has been hunting down the FBI’s most wanted, Castor Troy, partly out of revenge for killing his 5 year old son. Castor heard of Archer’s new position in the FBI and wanted him out of the way. So he followed him to a carnival where Archer was riding the Merri-Go-Round with his son. Castor opened fire. The bullet tore a hole through Archer, and then settled in his son who died moments later. Archer took a vow to destroy Castor Troy.
The opportunity for revenge came when Castor was found at the Anderson Airfield. Archer and his team descended upon Castor and his brother, Pollux. Four agents were killed and one wounded before Pollux was taken into custody. Archer chased the unharmed Castor into a hanger, where he eventually took him down.
Archer and the rest of the world figured it was all over, but the Troy’s had set a bomb in L.A. that, when detonated, would have killed around 10,000 civilians. To locate the bomb Archer would have to take Castor’s face, whose body was kept alive on life-support, and get the location from Pollux in prison. The futuristic medical procedures outlined in the book are pretty confusing. I'm looking forward to seeing how they are handled in the film.
Well, to make a long story short, Castor comes to and takes Archer’s face. He kills everyone who knows who’s who. Yadda, yadda. Archer finally kills Castor and gets his face back. There is also a story line that highlights problems in the Archer's marriage that are resolved through all of these hardships and challenges.
I guess my recommendation is that you should SEE THE MOVIE! The book gets a little confusing after they switch faces, but the novel’s not bad. At least it's good enough to make me want to see the film ASAP.