William Martin 1st edit/1 print The Lost Constitution First Edition 2007 [Hardcover] Martin, William [Hardcover] Martin, William

Peter Fallon #3

by William Martin

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Historical, American History, Suspense

Hardcover

First published May 15, 2007

About the author

Meet 'the king of the historical thriller' (Providence Journal). William Martin is a New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels, an award-winning PBS documentary, book reviews, magazine articles, and a cult classic horror movie, too. He is best known for his historical fiction, which has chronicled the lives of the great and the anonymous in American history while bringing to life legendary American locations, from Cape Cod to the Sierra foothills during the California Gold Rush. His latest, December '41, sweeps us across America in the weeks after Pearl Harbor and has been hailed as "propulsive," "cinematic,' and "riveting" by critics. He was the recipient of the prestigious 2005 New England Book Award, given to "an author whose body of work stands as a significant contribution to the culture of the region." And in 2015, the USS CONSTITUTION Museum gave him the Samuel Eliot Morison Award. He has three grown children and lives near Boston with his wife.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rare-book expert Peter Fallon and his girlfriend, Evangeline, are on another treasure hunt. This is the third in the series, published in 2007, and I have read a later book in the series but not the first two. In this one, Fallon learns of an early annotated draft of the Constitution, which was stolen. Their search takes the pair back and forth across New England and puts them into danger--as, naturally, they aren't the only ones looking for the document. As valuable as the document is for its monetary worth, it is even more valuable for what its marginal notes might tell us about the Framers' intentions, especially concerning the right to bear arms and the role of religion... Both issues, needless to say, if anything, are more important and controversial now (2022) than when the book was written.
As with Martin's other books ( I believe), there are two stories here: Fallon's story taking place in the contemporary time period, in this case, during the Bush II administration and the story taking place in the past, in this case, the history of the lost draft as it passes from hand to hand. This history was actually more interesting to me than Fallon's search and it takes us from Shays' Rebellion following the American Revolution ( and which led to the Constitutional Convention, as Washington and other leaders wanted to create a stronger government in order to prevent any more rebellions) through the Civil War all the way to the Clinton years of the 1990s.
3 STARS, as this was a good read overall with some very interesting history presented--and I like the Peter Fallon character--but it really dragged around the middle. There were also just too many characters to keep track of! Maybe, it's just me but I kept forgetting who some of the characters were...But I give it 3 stars mainly because I found the secret of the lost constitution to be disappointing. Sorry, as this is a SPOILER--but there's no surprise revelation. So, for me, this book suffers by comparison with Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol," which showed us the connections between Freemasonry and the establishment of the United States ( Washington and many other leaders were Freemasons). That was a major oversight of the book--that there was no mention of the Masons at all. Perhaps it's unfair to William Martin to compare him to Dan Brown--or Steve Berry, for that matter, who gives us some thought-provoking secrets of history in his books. Anyway, I will be looking for more of the Peter Fallon books.

[Joanne Moyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and exciting ride through history with rare book expert Peter Fallon as he searches for a lost annontated copy of the Constitution. I've read William Martin before and enjoy his back and forth progress through time storytelling.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin has his wonderful duo, Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington, back for another treasure hunt through time. As the US Congress begins debate on repealing the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights (that infamous right to bear arms), Fallon is made aware of an early draft of the US Constitution, annotated with the intentions of the New England delegation of Founding Fathers as it relates to a Bill of Rights. This draft was stolen and smuggled out of Philadelphia, making its way through various hands all over New England. As Fallon and Carrington seek to track the document down, scholars and prominent members of the rare document community begin turning up dead. Carrington soon falls into the hands of one invested party, keen on ensuing that Fallon finds the document before it's too late. As Fallon searches, Martin illustrates the historical movement of this draft and how its content could have altered some key constitutional events through to the present day. From the early days of the American political experience, through to the Civil War, the Prohibition Era, and even Clinton's impeachment allegations, Martin takes the reader through a multi-generational story, offering insights at every turn. Explosive to the final pages, Martin flexes his literary muscles to draw fans in for his most electrifying series novel to date.

A keen reader of constitutional books, fictional and factual alike, I was drawn to this book years ago. I tried reading it at that time, but struggled. Having made the effort to read the Fallon series from the beginning, I was better prepared for this book and the format it takes. Martin has made a name for himself as both a historical writer, but also choosing to take a much deeper approach, writing a modern-day story that juxtaposes its historically evolving sub-plot that mirrors Fallon's plot. The plot is highly political in its nature, but the novel deals more with the passing of the document from generation to generation with a historical backdrop than the political content of the annotated document. Fans of the series will catch some of the crumbs Martin offers from past novels and the nuances in the character development, which is always a lovely addition to the reading experience.

Kudos, Mr. Martin on another exciting addition to the Fallon series. I find myself more addicted with each passing novel.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading William Martin’s novels. They have well-developed characters, interesting plots, and a writing style that makes then fun to dive into. His Peter Fallon series is a perfect blend of a couple of my favorite genres: historical fiction and modern day thrillers.

For those that have yet to experience one of the Peter Fallon books, let me summarize the approach. Peter is a rare-book and manuscript expert and businessman, specializing in collectables of historical significance. In these novels, he is a treasure hunter, following clues from many sources until, hopefully, he reaches a successful end to his journey. But what makes these books unique is that we readers get to follow along in history, joining the historical figures (both real and fictional) and their adventures with that very same treasure that Peter is hunting in the present day. It is really cool to jump back and forth and see how the events laid out in history transform into clues for Peter to follow.

This time, the treasure is nothing less than an original near-final draft of the US Constitution, with margin notes scribbled by the founding fathers. This novel was published in 2007 but is even more relevant today as Peter’s present day world is engaged in a nation-wide debate on the the right to bear arms. Gun violence has reached such a level that they are even considering a repeal of the 2nd amendment. ("A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."). What would happen if some of those margin notes provided further insight on what the framers of the US Constitution might have been concerned with? Of course both sides of the issue have their thoughts and extremists in this novel are even willing to kill to either find the lost constitution or see it destroyed.

This makes for a fascinating tale and the book rises to the occasion. The historical chapters follow Will Pike and his descendants as the lost constitution is smuggled out of Philadelphia, sold, purloined, auctioned, and hidden for over two centuries. There are a lot of action sequences as the document's value grows over time and people fight over its location or ownership as well as a lot of family intrigue. I did feel some of the middle sections grew too long and other parts could have stood some pruning as well but overall it was a fully engaging story. It was also nice to see progress with Peter’s personal life as well.

I certainly recommend this series, particularly for those interested in historical America. The first two books in the series (Back Bay and Harvard Yard) were almost entirely set in the Boston area but this one found its way to all of the New England states. These books are a treat for me so I only read one per year or so. I always want at least one to look forward to.

[Donna Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been several years since I've read a William Martin book, and I had forgotten just how good a storyteller he is. He is a true master of historical fiction. This book is set in Boston, with excursions to all five of the other New England states. The historical part goes back to 1787 when the US Constitution was being written, although there are sections prior to that time. It then follows up with the Civil War (on a Virginia battlefield), and continues through the present time that the book was written (copyright 2007). The book is about a lost draft of the Constitution and the main characters' adventures in trying to locate the draft. The action centers around what the founding fathers might have been thinking as they drafted the document, including their thoughts about a potential Bill of Rights. Those discussions when the document was being written are still relevant today, especially with the current comments about the Constitution in today's political arena. As with all of this author's books, the writing is excellent, with just enough sarcasm and smoothness included to make the book interesting reading.

[Michael Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves another second glance, I love how the historical stories in the book coincided with how things are going in the future. Definitely bought the Hardcover for I was so impressed

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living in New England and reading this book was exciting. This was my introduction to William Martin books and I have enjoyed reading his books. To relive some history during the present is always enjoyed by our family. This book encouraged me to GO and visit and dream of what was once here in America. I enjoyed the search for the lost Constitution and the pace kept me reading page after page.
My favorite part of the book... "This is America. In America we get up in the morning, go to work and we solve our problems."
I would highly recommended this book and any book by William Martin, especially with Peter Fallon!

[Angie and the Daily Book Dose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic historical thriller from William Martin! Tracing the possibility that an annotated copy of the first draft of the Constitution exists our hero, an antiquarian bookseller sets off to find it. Along the way we are transported back and forth through time with the holders of the document.

I love this guys stuff! A light easy read.

[Deborah Coonts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill martin weaves wonderful dual-timeline stories, giving the historical context of a document in the original time, while his continuing characters search for it in the present. Love the rich history. Love the adventure. Love the romance. Well done and very much worth reading.

[Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The historical aspect was the only saving grace in this book. The thriller was not so thrilling, the "Nick and Nora" conversation between the two sleuths was a little stale and forced, and the whole thing became just ridiculous in the end.

[Kathy Chartier · Rating 5 out of 5]

History buffs are in for a treat with Martin's book. A fast, knowledgeable romp through the lives of the men who signed the Constitution and those close to them. What did happen to the first draft of the laws of our land?

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read for anyone who likes historical novels, mysteries and is or has been a northern New England resident. This is a two part novel, the first being a generational tale of a missing annotated copy of the Constitution and the second a current day search for said copy by a rare book dealer.
The story starts with two brothers whose father is sent to debtors prison when he can not come up with tax monies on his property. The older brother joins Shay's Rebellion (1786) with others protesting against the new laws and the younger brother who aspires to be a lawyer gains the position as a aide to Rufus King at the Constitutional Convection. He is entrusted with a copy that has been annotated by members of the New England delegation, but has it stolen and this begins a multi generational search for the copy as it travels from family to family. The current time search is fueled by several parties who desire it to back their various stands on the sections on church and state and more particularly on the second amendment which one senator is attempting to have abolished.
The plot travels back and forth across Ma,NH,Me and Vt both from the 1700s to the present and those familiar with the area will I am sure recognize the locals visited. I found it to be an absorbing read and thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.

[James Oates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book from Martin. Combining history with a crackerjack plot. A must read.

[MCReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. It was creative how it went from a modern mystery back and forth with a storyline in history. However, some of the historical sections dragged on too long for me.

[Lori Espino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book that details through the story the history of Ma, NH, VT and Maine from the writing of the constitution through present day in the search for a lost early version of the constitution. Great read but incredible amount of material to read through. As usual, William Martin doesn’t disappoint with a fast Paced search and historical detail that speaks much louder through this novel than any history class I’ve ever been in.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I will not call The Lost Constitution a bad book, it had several elements that made for a poor reading experience for this reader. Those elements combined with the novel’s slow pacing mean that I won’t be recommending it to anyone. However, I do want to acknowledge that the things that I disliked were highly subjective and the pacing was slow, but not painfully so. If you don’t have the same dislikes that I do and you like American history, then you might enjoy this book. Let’s talk about why I didn’t so that you can decide for yourself if you want to give it a shot.

The Lost Constitution has a bizarre opening for a story about treasure hunting. There’s no flashback to the treasure being created or murder where the treasure is stolen or anything to establish what the treasure even is. Instead, we open on the FBI raiding a bunch of US-based Al Qaeda cells. We soon learn that these groups were planning a massive attack for the 4th of July. The guns that the terror cells were going to use in this attack were all legally bought from sellers within the USA. This discovery leads to a massive public debate about gun control and some foreboding commentary that a congresswoman is going to try and get the second amendment (the right to bare arms) repealed. And with that, the prologue ends.

I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about it, so it was at this point that I stopped reading the story and read the book’s cover summary instead because I wanted to know what the heck I was getting myself into. I was surprised to discover that The Lost Constitution is supposed to be about history and the search for a lost, annotated draft of The Constitution whose “marginal notes spell out, in shocking detail, the Founder’s unequivocal intentions – the unmistakable meaning of the Bill of Rights.”

This raised my brows for two reasons:

1. The Bill of Rights was not written at the same time as The Constitution. It was written two years later to address issues with the original document, so no draft of The Constitution would include information on the Bill of Rights.

2. If such a document existed, a draft copy would likely be a single person’s notes or the notes of a small group, not the definitive word from all of the Founding Fathers. If the Founding Fathers wanted something to be in the Bill of Rights, it ended up in the Bill of Rights. We also know that compromise was involved in the creation of those original documents, so it’s inaccurate to say that the Founding Fathers had uniform opinions on most topics.

This was just the cover-text, though, not the actual story, so I didn’t know how founded my concerns were and I didn’t want to be too quick to judge, plus the general premise intrigued me. Ultimately, I decided to keep reading because I like history and treasure hunting. It took about 70 pages – which I plodded through simply because I wanted to give the novel a fair chance – but I did ultimately have my worries about accuracy assuaged. The book is slow, but quite historically accurate baring the introduction of a few fictional characters who didn’t actually exist, but were necessary for The Constitution plot to work.

It’s at this point that I should tell you how the story works so that we can discuss what turned me off.

The story is told in two parts. Half of the novel focuses on historic events involving the aforementioned draft of the Constitution. The other half focuses on modern events involving the story’s hero – Peter Fallon – as he tries to track the document down. The novel goes back-and-forth between these two settings to create an interwoven tail of historical fiction and modern adventure.

I had issues with both parts.

Issues on the Historic Stuff

When it comes to history, the movers and the shakers were usually men while women were delegated to the side if they were even mentioned at all. It sucks, but it’s accurate, so it’s not shocking that the novel mostly focuses on men. It’s also accurate that women often suffered due to their lack of power. That being said, I was uncomfortable reading through the historic sections of the book because of how unkind it was to the women we saw. While the novel rarely goes into graphic details, we have two rapes, a brutal murder, a woman trying and failing to escape her husband, and more. This didn’t bother me at first because there’s plenty of tragedy for the men in the historic parts, too. However, the longer the story went on, the more I noticed that almost every woman was subjected to brutal life stories, most of which were not needed for the sake of historical accuracy.

Part of the reason I noticed this is because the novel is clearly written from a male point of view, so the more I read, the more I started thinking about gender. Examples within:

Better yet, he was mentoring a girl who had a showgirl’s legs and a scholar’s brain. (page 35)

He knew a woman in the logging camp, too, a woman with breasts big enough to warm both sides of a man’s face at once. (page 49)

“I wasn’t expecting beautiful women and famous booksellers” (page 55)

She had long legs and – there was no better way to say it – a nice ass… it was alright to think that way about the woman you loved. (page 99)

I am NOT trying to call the author sexist by mentioning all of this. I don’t have anywhere near enough information to make that claim and I actually liked the way that he wrote several of the modern women. I am only discussing this because the gender stuff was enough of a turn off that I wanted to warn readers who might find this kind of content deeply upsetting or even triggering due to their own trauma.

While we’re on that topic, I should also mention that several of the characters use racial slurs and other awful language. These things are usually being said by a ‘bad guy’ or by someone in a historic setting where the language would be appropriate, but that doesn’t change the fact that the language is there as early as the prologue, so readers who are sensitive to that stuff should be prepared before they start reading.

Outside of those issues, the historic stuff was fine. It didn’t notice any inaccuracies and I think that American history buffs will have some fun going through the country’s history. If you’re not a history buff, though, then you may get lost. This is not a novel that aims to teach and there are a LOT of names and places to keep track of.

Issues on the Modern Stuff

While the novel is about a search for a copy of The Constitution, that search is deeply immersed in the politics of gun control, as I assumed it would be from the prologue. The book doesn’t aim to come down on either side of the topic and neither side of the debate comes out smelling like roses, but it was still too political for my tastes. When the novel focused on the search instead of the politics, it could be fun, but the constant reminder of such a hot-button issue was a major detractor for me.

The other detractor was how convoluted the story was.

At the start of this review, I mentioned pacing issues and that was more to do with the modern stuff than the historic parts. While the historic elements dragged at times, they mostly kept moving and we go though two centuries of events at a decent pace. The problem is that the book needed to have an equal amount of story dedicated to the modern events and it did this by introducing so many characters that my head started to spin. It was near impossible to keep track of them all even without the constant jumps to the past and it felt like we just kept adding people and events so that the story could be padded out to match the historic stuff in length. I started counting named characters from the modern part and stopped when I got to 15 because, while I could have kept counting, that number plus all the characters from the historic section will be giving most readers pause. This is the type of book where you start taking notes just to make sure that you don't get lost since there's no character glossary to refer back to.

Outside of the character bloat, the plot isn’t bad, it just suffered because of the story’s structure. It almost would have been better off to just have the historic stuff be the first half of the book and then have the modern stuff be the second half. That would have lost some fun parallelism between the two timelines, but it would have made for a far more immersive tale. As-is, it's just too much to keep track of.

After all that negativity, I wanted to end with a shoutout to one of the novel’s strongest elements: the relationship between the two leads (Peter and Evangeline). They were a joy and they come across as a realistic couple. I liked them both a great deal and they’re the main reason that I forced myself to keep going every time that I debated giving up on this one. Despite all the flaws, I wanted to know what happened to these two and any novel that can make me do that deserves at least a few stars.

[Mark Abreu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how this story was told - historical plot and a current day plot that get woven together.

[Susan Stater · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author. I liked it but I didn't love it. It was a selection for a book club I belong to and once it was selected I had hoped that perhaps this could be a new series featuring treasure hunters Peter Fallon and his girlfriend, Evangeline, that I would enjoy. The main problem I had with the book was that I felt it was too long. Don't get me wrong, I love a big fat involved read as long as I'm entertained and engrossed in the story. That wasn't the case with The Lost Constitution. I finished it but the last couple of hundred pages were losing my interest. I thought the description of New England's various landscapes, towns, and villages were charming and actually made me want to travel there. The historical story of the framing of the constitution was also fascinating. I guess I could have done with less people and less side stories. Still I think I will probably give this author another try.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've tread all of Wm. Martin's books but one. I thoroughly enjoy his mixture of history and modern day. This book was very interesting. It told the story of an alleged first annotated draft of the constitution. The notes were written by the New England signers before the Constitution became law. Of main concern, thoughts of these signers about the ability to own guns and the separation of church and state. The story begins with the year that the New England Framers are about to sign the Constution and the Bill of Right through to today and the story that led for the search for the document.
I highly recommend Mr. Martin's books especially if you enjoy reading about our history. My favorite is still Harvard Yard, but all his othyers are close seconds.

[Katie O. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope.

The alternating eras by chapter/section is a favorite gimmick of mine, but this one jumps the tracks in terms of tight plotting by a few generations in. The good guys vs. bad guys twists stay clean and intriguing for the first maybe 2/3 and then become quite muddled. The 2nd amendment and current events theme is prescient and fairly well-balanced via various characters. However, this is laced with a few too many caricatures and some rather late-to-the-party people, too. Peter Fallon is all over the place (librarian? tough guy?). The end just reads like a rather hurried recap/rehash of a conspiracy and cover up that were not well set up by the much more interesting elements of history/historical fiction in the earlier sections.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly: the portions that took place in the historical past were great — it was wonderful to jump back into exciting time periods of American history. The modern-day narrative was somewhat intriguing, but ended up falling kind of flat in its conclusion (and I’m still a little confused at who ended up hiring who to kill whom) — although all those gorgeous descriptions of the scenery left me dying to travel through New England! But seriously, how many fart jokes and gratuitous sex scenes/female-characters-as-objects-of-lust can a man put into his novel?

[jjmann3 · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a native New Englander, I loved the descriptions of the beautiful places throughout its six states. However, I found a lot just was off about The Lost Constitution. It reads like a preachy, repetitive YA novel (This is America! Get up and solve your problems!). The character development is very shallow, two-dimensional, and frankly, overly reliant on tired stereotypes. The tale of the sought after constitution draft hits all (literally, all) the anticipated U.S. historical high-notes. For me, the most thrilling part of this thriller was finishing it!

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Similar to DaVinci Code. Lookingt for a lost historical document - part of the US Constitution. Author vascillates between the past and the present through a multitude of characters. I felt I needed a genealogy chart to keep up with all the characters. Some of the present day scenes weren't realistic. Read for book club - most people were luke warm to the book. The reference to the history was well done

[Debbi Kersey Ingersoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book once I got into it. I would describe it as a historical fiction mystery. Started off slow at first as each chapter changed from current time to the time the Constitution was written. It was a great way to learn a little more about history and be entertained at the same time.

[Richard McMahon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another historic mystery by a talented author. What if the US Constitution we have today is not what the founding fathers intended? As usual, William Martin has written another fine mystery woven into American History.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion this is the best of the Peter Fallon series. I especially like that it features a lot of western Massachusetts in it. the funny thing is that a previous reader had annotated that only four towns were flooded to create the Quabbin reservoir not nine as listed by the author.

[J.W. Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good historical Fiction. A bit long and drawn out for my taste but overall a good read

[Rebecca Marble · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I lent it to both my mother and my father and they both enjoyed it.

[Shaheed · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful historical ride. William Martin does an excellent job of merging historical facts with a fictional account. Looking forward to reading the other Fallon books.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically National Treasure with random sex scenes.