Excellent. The Jeffrey Archer we know is back | A Prisoner of Birth

Lord Archer is back with a bang! | A Prisoner of Birth | Jeffrey Archer

books:


	• A Prisoner of Birth Jeffrey Archer St. Martin's Press, 2008 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 61 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Fantastic audio book

I loved this one. Jeffrey Archer wrote a very compelling thriller, with interesting twists and turns. I found myself listening to it every where, not only in the car. The narrator, Roger Allam is excellent, he does a wonderful job of changing voices and accents so there was never any doubt in my mind which character was " speaking. I listen to many audio books and it is rare that one will keep me awake at night, usually if I listen at bedtime I fall asleep and have to rewind to the spot where I dropped off. Not with this book. I had very dark circles under my eyes for a couple of days with this one.
Any thing else I could say in review of this book would just be repetition of the positive comments by other reviewers, but I highly recommend this " read" . It is also a good idea to follow up this book by reading The Count of Monte Cristo.

for more information click here

Excellent. The Jeffrey Archer we know is back

I started reading Jeffrey Archer's novels when I was in college. I loved them so much that I bought and read all his works at least twice over the next 10 years.
While some of his novels/ short stories may seem a bit of a stretch, I have always found his story telling to be very tight, with an elegant use of English and brilliant one-liners, full of suspense and at several times an edge of the seat turn of events when you cannot take your eyes of the book to even go for a drink of water. The character development was always so nicely done that I could see the story play in my mind as I read the novels.

Then after his prison term, came "Sons of Fortune" and I was not at all impressed with that book (the court drama in that is like a school kids effort compared to the one in "A Prisoner of Birth"). Post that came, "False Impression" and I was disappointed to say the least. These two books took away the complete character of Jeffrey Archers story telling. They read like a below average effort by someone using his name.

When "A Prisoner of Birth" was released, I was determined not to buy the hard bound book and waited for the paper back before I purchased and read it.

And I am delighted to say that the real Jeffrey Archer is back. And with a bang. This was nothing short of a brilliant novel with very neat story telling, brilliant characters and as always, edge of the seat drama and turn of events. Parts of prison escape might seem predictable, but were very well written. The trip made to a Swiss bank, anxiety of how the hero's return would be handled and how the illegality of the will was established are but a few of the brilliantly written parts. Ending, as always was very nice but left me wanting for more...

I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it whole heartedly. Now I wait for the next book from Jeffrey Archer and this time I will buy the hard bound, as soon as it is released.

Would I call it Archer's best? No. That would probably be between "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less'', "Kane and Abel" and maybe some of his short stories. However, it would definitely rank among one of his best.

for more information click here

Lord Archer is back with a bang!

Lord Jeffrey Archer is back with a bang! Doing what he does best. Writing fiction with revenge and justice as the major themes of his novel.

I have not been as lucky as some as to meet this Lord in person. But I'm sure it would be an amazing experience just to hear him speak on any topic on this earth. He has an astounding insight on what seems to be almost everything.

Lord Archer has proved yet again why he is one of the leading best selling authors of this generation.

The similarities to Dumas's Count of Monte Cristo are clearly evident in this tale and even the main protagonist keeps referring to the book. But Archer gives this tale a modern twist and spices it up with intimate knowledge of the details that he gathered during his 2 year tryst in Her Majesty's prisons.

The tempo of the novel keeps building up and its quite un-put-down-able (not sure if that is a word, but it describes this story aptly) To use a real word, this is a page turner. Definitely not bed time reading unless you plan to stay up all night until you are done.

This is a book that every mystery/crime fan should buy and read and re-read (its a book that may need to be read twice as new angles are discovered which have a different significance on past conversations and situations)

I'm now waiting for Paths of Glory which he is due to release in March of next year.

for more information click here

Far Fetched and Predictable, But an Enjoyable Read

Those who have read Archer's former novels will find this story does go over the same ground of a lot of them. The book is a bit far fetched in parts, relies on coincidences to pull off the storyline and the central character Danny doesn't have a consistent level of intelligence throughout the story. The book is however fiction after all albeit not necessarily original. The story is good enough to keep you reading until the end and satisfying enough that you'd recommend it to others.

This novel is really a couple of different stories following the timeline of the central character of Danny Cartwright. Initially we have the pretty much uneducated, illiterate and not too bright from London's poorer suburbs, Danny celebrating his engagement to life long friend Beth, with her brother Bernie in a British upmarket pub. Four drunk, upperclass men whose successful careers are quickly on the rise take exception to the three drinkers who don't really belong in such a place and don't hold back in bating the poorer class drinkers with their opinions of the group. One line of comments implying Beth is a hooker and they'd like a go when the two lads have finished with her particularly annoys Danny. Beth tries to usher her group out the back door to avoid confrontation but when they find one of the men blocking the path and the others waiting outside the Danny and Bernie can't resist teaching them a lesson. Unfortunately Bernie ends up dead and with the four men and the barman all disputing Beth and Dannys version of events, Danny is charged with his best friend's murder.

Next we have a lengthy court room drama which to be honest is a probably a bit long since obviously with the title of the book we know the outcome. After this we have a story emulating Archer's own time behind bars revisiting the day to life of Archer's three A Prison Diaries books. Smartly Archer did not include in Danny's character the more irritating actions of himself as a prisoner such as refusing to drink tap water. In fact Danny's mentor and cell mate Sir Nicholas Moncreiff is probably based on Archer's perception of himself, (a guy jailed for a crime that seems laughable, keeps a diary and gets along and becomes a favourite with the prison staff). Danny basically decides to better himself and become like Nick, even getting the same haircut. The implausible nature of the storyline is also added that suddenly Danny looks exactly like Nick.

The book then takes the reader on a Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less vengeance style storyline which although a lot more far fetched, predictable and unrealistic than that book was is still a good tale.

The ending is very predictable, uneventful and a bit of a let down being that the cover blurb "prepare for an ending the will shock even the most ardent of Archer's fans". Clearly the blurb has not read this book at least not to the final pages.

An enjoyable read, not Archer's best work but a decent length also means its not bad value for money.

for more information click here

I READ THIS IN TWO DAYS!!

Virtually I could not put this book down! It was full of suspense from the first chapters. Archer has masterfully woven several plot lines
into this story and yet does not lose the reader. I was speechless and
mightily impressed with the ending!! So much so that I actually pressed "Next Page" on my Kindle several times. If you enjoy excellence in suspense, this book is for you!

International bestseller and master storyteller Jeffrey Archer is at the very top of his game in a story of fate and fortune, redemption and revenge.

If Danny Cartwright had proposed to Beth Wilson the day before, or the day after, he would not have been arrested and charged with the murder of his best friend. But when the four prosecution witnesses are a barrister, a popular actor, an aristocrat, and the youngest partner in an established firm?s history, who is going to believe your side of the story?

Danny is sentenced to twenty-two years and sent to Belmarsh prison, the highest-security jail in the land, from where no inmate has ever escaped.

However, Spencer Craig, Lawrence Davenport, Gerald Payne, and Toby Mortimer all underestimate Danny?s determination to seek revenge, and Beth?s relentless quest to pursue justice, which ends up with all four fighting for their lives,

Thus begins Jeffrey Archer?s most powerful novel since Kane and Abel, with a cast of characters that will remain with you long after you?ve turned the last page.

And if that is not enough, prepare for an ending that will shock even the most ardent of Archer?s fans.

for more information click here