Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, by Jeffrey Archer

December 27, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: bestseller, book review, Fiction, Financial Thriller, Jeffrey Archer 

This is the book that to a large extent made Jeffrey Archer famous and as a world class bestseller writer. Harvey Metcalfe, a self-made American millionaire, finalizes an elaborate scam in which he cheats four strangers out of a million Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, by Jeffrey Archer dollars. They all thought they would be rich, but the next day they discover that they are penniless. However, they decide to work together to get the one million dollars back from Harvey Metcalfe, using whatever means necessary.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less is fun, it is full of plots, has humor, irony, good characterizations and interesting characters, and is a great read as well. However, the writing style is a little mechanical and simple, and not quite as good as in Jeffrey Archer’s later books. However, even today it provides great entertainment and is a book you should not miss out on.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was televised in 1990 by the BBC.

(Order Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer from amazon UK (clicking the picture takes you to amazon US).

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The Eleventh Commandment, by Jeffrey Archer

June 11, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: bestseller, book review, Fiction, Jeffrey Archer, New York Times bestseller, Thriller 

Connor Fitzgerald works for the CIA. Nobody knows of his double life, The Eleventh Commandment, by Jeffrey Archer so when days before he’s due to retire he goes on a last business trip which goes wrong, his family is inadvertently thrown into questioning what he really does for a living.

Actually, Connor is being sent on a bogus mission, set up by the director of the CIA, presumably with the permission of the White House. The job ploy is to eliminate Connor, who has, in the Director’s view, become a threat to her job.

The Eleventh Commandment is another Jeffrey Archer-tale with a lot of twists in the tale, and clearly with some references to the goings on of the real world. Well worth an intensive weekend of reading!

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False Impression, by Jeffrey Archer

March 4, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: book review, International bestseller, Jeffrey Archer, Thriller 

In this thriller, written by Jeffrey Archer in 2006, it’s September 10, 2001, and False Impression, by Jeffrey ArcherLady Victoria Wentworth is sitting in spacious Wentworth Hall considering the sad state of family fortunes when a female intruder slips in, slashes her throat and cuts off her ear.

The next day in New York, art expert Anna Petrescu heads to her job as art wrangler for wealthy magnate Bryce Fenston of Fenston Finance. The pair’s offices are in the Twin Towers, and when disaster strikes, each sees the tragedy as an opportunity to manipulate a transaction scheduled to transfer ownership of a legendary Van Gogh painting, Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear, from the Wentworth estate to the larcenous Fenston.

Another great story full of twists and turns from a master storyteller, but even so False Impression is not quite up to the pre-prison standards of Lord Jeffrey Archer. It is still well worth reading, of course.

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Cat O’Nine Tales, by Jeffrey Archer

February 24, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: book review, Fiction, International bestseller, Jeffrey Archer, Short stories 

Cat O’Nine Tales is Jeffrey Archer’s fifth collection of short stories. It was published in 2006, and nine of the twelve stories are based on tales Archer heard while in prison. The other three stories are also based on true events but are not derived from prison. Jeffrey Archer is an excellent short story writer – he masters the form of the short story almost to perfection. In Cat O’Nine tales he shows it yet again.

Cat O'Nine Tales, by Jeffrey Archer While incarcerated for two years in five different prisons, Jeffrey Archer picked up several ideas for short stories. They range from a tale of The Man Who Robbed His Own Post Office, to the story of a company chairman who tried to poison his wife while on a trip to St Petersburg – both with unexpected consequences. In another, Maestro, an Italian restaurateur ends up in jail, unable to explain to the tax man how he can own a yacht, a Ferrari and a home in Florence, while only declaring a profit of £70,000 a year.

Cat O’Nine Tales is another great collection of short stories, with twelve stories with intriguing plots, by Jeffrey Archer!
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First Among Equals, by Jeffrey Archer

December 27, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: book review, Fiction, Jeffrey Archer, Thriller 

First Among Equals, a book written by Jeffrey Archer (now Sir Jeffrey Archer) in 1984, is a tale about four gentlemen aspiring to become the Prime Minister First Among Equals, by Jeffrey Archerpof Great Britain: Fraser, Gould, Kerslake and Seymour. They all enter the House of Commons in the 1960s, each aspiring to win the highest office and to reach 10 Downing Street. But only one man can do it.

Jeffrey Archer, the master storyteller, narrates in detail the lives of each man – the ups and downs each face – and winds it up with the final battle. And the competition for the highest office of the land is fierce.

The suspense is gripping, the twists in the plot are multiple, and the man who becomes the Prime Minister is revealed only in the very last paragraph of the novel.

First Among Equals has been filmed as a TV-mini-series by the BBC. It is a great read.

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A Matter of Honour, by Jeffrey Archer

November 4, 2008 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: book review, International bestseller, Jeffrey Archer, Thriller 

In A Matter of Honour, Jeffrey Archer tells a strange tale. In 1966 a disgraced British colonelA Matter of Honor, by Jeffrey Archerp bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son. An unemployed ex-military man inherits a sealed letter in his father’s will. It is an old letter that his father, at the insistence of his wife, had never opened.

His father’s letter to him instructed him that the letter was only to be opened if a matter of family honour came up. The item in question is worth a lot, and has far more than just monetary value.

However, when the colonel, Adam Scott, opens the yellowing envelope, he unknowingly sets in motion a very deadly chain of events that threatens to shake the foundations of the free world. Within days he is running for his life throughout Europe, pursued not only by the KGB, but by the CIA and his own countrymen as well.

A Matter of Honour is another page turner! As always, Jeffrey Archer’s plot is rich, big, stunning and surprising, but not necessarily totally believable. And the writing is dynamic and engaging. Not the best Archer, in my opinion, but still good and worthwhile. And, of course, as always with Jeffrey Archer, very, very entertaining. Well suited for a rainy fall weekend!

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