Book Review: Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

As ever with Jeffrey Archer this is a good yarn with plenty to keep you interested regarding the life of Harry Clifton. Jeffrey Archer has covered this territory many times before, the rags to riches or success story and he tells it well.

The novel is part of the Clifton Chronicles and I believe that there will be two more to follow this first instalment. Only Time Will Tell has been left with a bit of a cliff-hanger.

This novel details the early life (up to his University years) of Harry Clifton born to a mother who had relationships with two men at the time. She is unsure who the father is. However one could have been effectively killed by the other. The prospective father who is still alive is rich and the father of Harry's best friend. This brings numerous complications and conflicts in the book. Some of these matters get resolved, but others remain as loose ends for future instalments.

I will be reading the next instalment that is for sure as I want to know what happens to Harry from 1939 when this novel leaves off.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer

I loved reading this book while in Doha, Qatar in the heat of summer 2010. It is another epic from Jeffrey Archer and I should grab your copy today. It draws on Archer's first hand knowledge of prison and is a delight.

The story concerns a character called Danny Cartwright who gets involved in a pub fight and is framed for a murder. The murdered man's friends close ranks to get Danny convicted. We also learn that Danny's girlfriend is also pregnant at the time.

Danny ends up sharing a cell with Sir Nicholas Moncrieff and another strange prisoner called Big Al. Sir Nicholas sees the gem that is Danny and helps him learn to read and their friendship becomes close. They look alike and Moncrieff grooms Danny.

Danny is also helped by a young lawyer called Alex Redmayne but Danny loses his first appeal and he is destined to serve his full term in Belmarsh Prison (where Archer was for a while).

Sir Nicholas is murdered but this is altered to look like the suicide of Danny and Danny swaps to become Sir Nicholas. Everyone is fooled of course. Big Al helps in the cover up and also helps Danny/Sir Nicholas when he is out of prison.

Once released Danny sets about putting his injustice to rights as well as untangling issues in the Moncrieff family too.

9/10 for me for this novel.

Book Review: False Impression by Jeffrey Archer

This novel was published in 2005 and has a background in the September 11 attacks and takes us on a journey through London, New York, Bucharest and Tokyo.

Anna Petrescu is fired by the evil banker Bryce Fenston who swindles people out of the valuable paintings. Anna tries to help a British lady called Arabella Wentworth to recover her fortune from Fenston.

However Anna is also being pursued by agents of Fenston as well as an FBI agent who is also trying to chase down Fenston. Who will catch who? Will Lady Arabella get her fortune back? What will happen to Bryce Fenston, how and who will bring him to justice?

The story of a doughty heroine is a wonderful novel.

7/10 for me on this one.

Book Review: Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer

The opening to this novel from 2002 is one that has been used before. Twins are born and are separated at birth, one to become the son of millionaires after their child died and the other to continue into the life he was born to.

The story follows the story of the two brothers, one who attends Yale, becomes a lawyer and successful state senator. The other brother gets drafted into the army and fights in Vietnam, wins the Medal of Honour, goes to Connecticut University and becomes a currency banker.

The twins become rivals due to the character called Ralph Elliot. However they never meet until they both decide to run for the office of the governor of Connecticut. One twin defends the other in court on a murder charge and the other twin gives blood to save his sibling.

They eventually of course discover that they are in fact twins but they still both run for the office of governor of Connecticut. The result is tied and they have to toss a coin to see who is appointed to office.

The story suspends reality in places but is the usual Archer page turning epic and I enjoyed this novel very much.

An 8/10 for me.

Book Review: The Eleventh Commandment by Jeffrey Archer

This novel was written in 1998. The background to this novel is that the CIA chief, Helen Dexter takes the law into her own hands and orders the murder of political figures in other countries on the basis of their anti-American views.

Dexter discovers however that if her actions become public then she will be ruined. She endeavours to eliminate her chief assassin called Connor Fitzgerald. However the CIA does not accept his resignation and sends him on another mission to assassinate a candidate for the Russian Presidency. However Connor is arrested and put in jail in Russia to face execution.

Connor does a deal with the Russian Mafia and escapes but his price is to assassinate the Russian President. However he fakes his death and fails in the attempt at the assassination. He gets back home to the US and the plot just continues to unfold from there.

7/10 for me for this novel.

Book Review: Honour Among Thieves by Jeffrey Archer

The action takes place in 1993 after the First Gulf War with Saddam Hussein planning his revenge on the United States by stealing the American Declaration of Independence and his plans to burn this on the 4^th of July. Hussein gets his United Nations Deputy Ambassador to seek the help of a mafia lawyer.

However, Saddam Hussein is being tracked by a young beautiful female Mossad agent called Hannah Kopec with a personal vendetta with plans to kill him.

When the USA discovers that the Declaration of Independence has been changed for a forgery, Scott Bradley who is a Yale law professor tracks Kopec to Paris and he begins to work with her to recover the document before the 4^th of July.

An engrossing read that stretches you across continents but you have to suspend your knowledge of history a little in places.

7/10 for me for this one.

Book Review: As the Crow Flies by Jeffrey Archer

This novel was written in 1991 and is a rags to riches story that has plenty of spills and spoils along  the way.

The story concerns Charlie Trumper who wants to follow his grandfather by having the biggest barrow in the world in Whitechapel, London in the ealry 1900's. He works hard and finds a very supportive wife. However he has made an enemy who tries at all times to keep Charlie down. The book moves along well and you want to read of how Charlie overcomes each adversity.

A thick and engrossing novel that is worth a read.

7/10 from me.

Book Review: The Fourth Estate by Jeffrey Archer

This novel dates from 1996 and I read this many years ago. The book is based on Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch and it chronicles their fictional counterparts in this novel. The two protagonists had very different upbringings and they battle to gain the right to have the biggest media empire.

The Fourth Estate is seen as the press as a watchdog over the state. The first three Estates are the Church, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The book is exciting and probably captures the spirit of the Maxwell/Murdoch battles of the past. No doubt the reality was as exciting but we will probably never know.

A nice novel for me and 8/10 on this one.

Book Review: A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer

Written by Jeffrey Archer and published in 1986 a disgraced British Army Colonel leaves a letter to his only son. However, the letter proves to be a Pandora's box. As soon as he has opened the letter he sets in motion events that will haunt him and many others. Soon he is pursued across Europe by the KGB and the CIA.

Shady characters endeavour to track Adam Scott down, and Adam appears to have no friends to help or protect him.

The novel leads us into the world of the Nazis of the Second World War and Adam is connected to this through his father and his time as a prison guard to Hermann Goring. Adam Scott becomes the possessor of a Russian icon that contains a lease for the USA to hold Alaska for 99 years and not a sale as was originally thought. The Russians are intent on getting the lease before the deadline expires on it in a few days.

A journey back in time and a chase to keep you enthralled from beginning to end.

8/10 for me for this book.

Book Review: Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer

Seemed a little strange to be reading this book in the heat of Doha with a subject so closely connected to Mount Everest.

Paths of Glory is based on the story of George Mallory, who it can be argued was the first man to get to the summit of Mount Everest. However this has never been proven one way or the other and he died in the attempt.

The novel, based generally on fact goes back to the early days of the 20^th century, as Mallory died in 1924. Before you get to the end, there is the story of Mallory's life and his mountaineering life as well as his personal life.

Mallory was a brilliant student and became a teacher but his passion was mountain climbing and his obsession was to climb Everest. However, his life like so many others at the time was interrupted by the First World War (1914-1918) where he fought bravely and managed to survive it so that he could continue climbing.

I enjoyed Paths of Glory very much as I must confess I had never heard of George Mallory and he is a great English hero. Archer also tells the story well, as ever his prose is easy to read. And I believe that he was fair at the end and the mystery of whether Mallory reached the summit or not is still not cleared up. A mystery in a factual book.

8/10 for me on this one.

Book Review: Shall we tell the President? By Jeffrey Archer

This book dates from 1977 and is in the last in a trilogy of novels with Kane and Abel and the Prodigal Daughter, the President version is the last one.

The story focuses on Abel's daughter Florentyna Kane and when she became the first woman President of the United States (are you watching Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton?) following the death of the incumbent President.

The FBI are aware of a plot on her life but only five people know of this plot, of those five there is only one survivor who knows all the details. He is a top FBI agent called Mark Andrews. However Andrews has a dilemma as he knows which senator is involved in plotting to kill her but he needs to find the assassin and he has six days to do this. But does he tell the President now or not?

I read this book quite some time ago, but Archer is always a good story teller and I remember turning the pages to this one pretty fast.

8/10 from me.

Book Review: First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer

Like his first novel, Archer chooses four characters to keep the action moving and the plot refreshing and multi faceted. This novel draws on Jeffrey Archer's own political knowledge as four fictional MP's strive to become the Prime Minister.

You can pick your runner from the characters to try and decide who is going to win the political race. A nice novel and in the usual Archer easy to read page turning style.

A 7/10 from me for this novel.

Book Review: The Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey Archer

This novel is the second in a trilogy. This book is in three sections, past, present and future. The book also covers quite a lot of time as well as events. The book is part 2 of a three part Kane and Abel series.

The book concerns itself with the daughter of Mr Kane, called Florentyna who vies to become the first President of the United States. Bearing in mind that this is written well before Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin.

The book moves along well and you find yourself rooting for the main character. You unfortunately have to relive some of the previous book that is OK if you are reading this as a standalone novel but a bit irritating if you are reading it as the sequel.

This gets a 7/10 for me.

Book Review: Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer

This is Jeffrey Archer's first book published in 1976 that I believe is still a fantastic read. The premise is that an American millionaire swindles four people out of one million dollars. The four of them believe that they will be rich the next day, only to find themselves penniless. This was the scenario that happened to Archer in real life, he lost everything on a get rich quick scheme. All part of his very colourful life.

One of the four strangers called Stephen Bradley gets together with the other three to get their money back from the American, not a penny more, not a penny less. The four men carry out elaborate and thoroughly entertaining schemes to get their money back. A few liberties are taken with this but it is a cracking good read nonetheless and you can forgive a few flaws especially for a first novel.

The four characters are all very different and it keeps the book refreshing to read. The pages turn very quickly and the scenarios are not too challenging. A good light read.

A thoroughly entertaining 9/10 for me.

Book Review: Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

The first novel in a trilogy, this story concerns two men who were born on the same day but in different places and how their lives progressed and came together. As ever with Jeffrey Archer it is a great story that moves along quickly. You want to know what happens to the characters.

Each chapter focuses on one man or the other so you can appreciate how each character develops equally. However, one character is from a privileged background in the USA the other is at the other end of life in Russia trying to escape from his lifestyle.

The plot interweaves with real life history (the First World War and the Titanic sinking) so Archer skilfully places us in events that we are familiar with and how they affected the characters.

Abel escapes to the USA via Turkey and after a few close shaves manages to get to America. He works his way up from a waiter in a hotel to manager. This during the time of the Great Depression. However the hotel requires extra cash and the owner seeks money from Kane. Not getting it, the hotel owner commits suicide. Abel discovers the letdown from Kane and seeks vengeance.

The two men soon become rivals focusing on outdoing each other at every turn.

The plot thickens further when the two men's children fall in love.

The novel moves over a lifetime and over the generations and is a thoroughly enjoyable read.

9/10 from me on this one.

Recommended Author Jeffrey Archer

A lot of people seem to criticise Jeffrey Archer for being a bit low brow. However, I have not felt this is the case and I have read all of his novels, I think that they are great page turners. Always worth a read. He has also written some more serious stuff about George Mallory (did he climb Everest first?) that are excellent too.

Jeffrey Archer has also been in prison and is a larger than live character. He has written about his prison days and these are an insight too. I worked on a prison construction and I had a peek into this world but it was nice to get the perspective from the inside.

Jeffrey Archer Website and he also appears on Fantastic Fiction too.

His next novel is out in the UK on 12 May 2011 and is called Only Time Will Tell.

I will certainly be reading that one this year too!!!