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A few details of this book that I remember include:

  • A specific type of parchment was purchased to forge either the Constitution or Declaration of Independence. This parchment was old enough to fool carbon dating.
  • A man urgently needed money for a bus ticket and traded his expensive watch for that money.
  • There might have been some type of plastic surgery on someone's face to change his or her identity.
  • I think this was set in either the United States or another English speaking country like England.
  • I think there was a part with a woman on a train or a bus who was being sexually harassed by some (possibly British) men who said something along the lines of "I like black birds".
  • I read this around 9 years ago and at the time thought it was a very well-known book.

I have been wondering what this was called for years and I would appreciate it if someone could figure it out.

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    Can you remember anything more about the book? Presumably it was set in the US and written in English, but how old was it? How many years ago did you read it? What was the main plot of the story - e.g. was it a heist, a mystery story, a thriller, what were the characters trying to do?
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Aug 13, 2020 at 6:48
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    You may try to look in TVTROPES WARNING tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicPlasticSurgery#folder4 for an incomplete list of literature works where someone changes their appearance with plastic surgery.
    – b_jonas
    Commented Aug 13, 2020 at 10:33
  • @Randal'Thor I edited my question to include some more information. This was back in middle school (even though I feel like this book wasn't meant for middle schoolers) so I don't remember much else about it. Commented Aug 13, 2020 at 19:18

1 Answer 1

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Perhaps "Honour Amongst Thieves" by Jeffrey Archer.

  • "But the toughest requirement proved to be the parchment itself, because Dollar Bill wouldn't consider anything that was less than two hundred years old. He tried to explain to Angelo about carbon dating."
  • "If you can't pay, you've gotta debus 'cause that's what the regulations say." "'I'll give you a dollar for that watch,' said a young man seated in the second row who'd been enjoying the confrontation."
  • 'My friend Marv fancies you. Did you know that, Sloane?' Hannah smiled at him as she began planning the route she would have to take out of the carriage once the train pulled in to the next station. 'Quite like you myself,' he said. 'But I prefer black birds.'
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    Hi and welcome to Literature Stack Exchange. This might be the right answer, but it is impossible to tell from what you wrote. Could you please expand your answer by describing how and/or where the details mention in the question match what can be found in Jeffrey Archer's novel? (See also How to write a good answer in the Help Centre.)
    – Tsundoku
    Commented Aug 14, 2020 at 8:55
  • I searched through that book and it matches what I remember. Thanks. Commented Aug 14, 2020 at 19:40
  • @AnonymousAsker That's very nice, but the answers on this site are not intended to be useful only to the person who asked the original question; they should also be helpful to other readers, which is currently not the case.
    – Tsundoku
    Commented Aug 14, 2020 at 19:45
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    @Tsundoku I edited the answer to add the quotes that show that this is correct. Commented Aug 14, 2020 at 19:46

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