Reading Tim Green's "Exact Revenge" due to the local heatwave that's keeping me mostly indoors. I discovered the existence of this book from an introduction penned by Tim Green in one of the "Count of Monte Cristo" editions. He admitted to pretty much copying "Count" for his own novel, set in the modern day.

So, how successful is it? Mixed feelings here. "Count" worked because of the time period, and the limits on technology/communication available, the limited due process of law, very limited female autonomy, and an unstable political situation. Green's rendition tries to transplant the story into our times, but I feel that a lot of it requires suspension of disbelief, as well as the need to accept his protagonist's (Raymond White) questionable deeds.

[mostly spoiler-free]

Final thoughts: The book started off pretty well... a mix between "The Count of Monte Cristo" with a little of "The Shawshank Redemption" added in. The problem is that the main protagonist, Raymond, spends the majority of his prison stint in solitary by choice. So he really doesn't spend much time with (Faria-substitute) Lester, nor does he spend his time learning or improving himself or becoming more than he used to be.

Once he gets out, the thrill of "exact revenge" for us readers is there, but turns out to be fleeting. Raymond becomes increasingly despicable and hard to root for. His concept of "exact revenge" is more like 10x retribution. His actions cause collateral damage>! in the deaths of Dani Rangle, of Villay's second wife, and possibly countless heroin overdose deaths because he released millions of dollars of heroin into the community, via Russo and Andre's selling it!<. Unlike The Count, Raymond has no epiphany or sudden realization that his self-righteous revenge had gone too far. Raymond does not commit acts of accidental altruism to make other people's lives better. Because it's all about Raymond, the selfish "protagonist".

Even less satisfactory is Helena, the Haydee analogue. Helena is basically a waif that Raymond re-made into a pop star diva, and he enabled her to get some petty vigilante revenge on Frank (Fernand). She wasn't a VIP in her own right, she was just a girl who needed a Svengali. The book ends with him happily getting as much sex as possible (voluntary, but still...) No redemption or repentance, or last-minute acts of mercy here, because it's all about Money, Power and Sex.

Premise was good, but in trying to "modernize" what was a perfect novel, all the rewrite did was make things uglier, with more violence, foul language, loads of sex and TONS of unbelievable plot contrivances and logic flaws. Characters fail to utilize resources available in the modern world (that were unavailable back in 1815-1838).

If you're going to read it, read it for the lulz and list how many ridiculous and unbelievable plot contrivances you can find.