Tell Tale by Jeffrey Archer

                     Jeffrey Archer's short stories are a pleasure to read. They are mostly easy reads, draw inspiration from real life incidents and almost always end with a small twist.'Tell Tale' is Archer's latest short story collection and like his previous works, the stories in this latest anthology are also quite interesting.
                    The collection begins with the story titled 'The Death of The Mayor'. As the title suggests, this story revolves around the mysterious death of the Mayor of a small town and the investigator who is brought to find out the truth behind the crime. The case is almost left unsolved until the officer stumbles upon a startling revelation.A surprising twist indeed!
                    The other stories are also equally good with quirky and relatable characters. Be it the smart couple who devise the 'crooked' plan to make money 'through' their 'summer holidays' or the car park attendant who makes a living out of an abandoned council property, Archers characters are tangible and believable.My favourite story in this collection was 'The Senior Vice President', which incidentally was also the longest one of the lot.

Verdict: On the whole, I'm giving 'tell Tale' a 3.5 out of 5.This one is an enjoyable book! 

-nikhimenon

"Be careful what you wish for" by Jeffrey Archer (The Clifton Chronicles#4)

From the book cover - When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, the egregious Major Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham.

Back in London, Harry and Emma’s adopted daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student, Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until Priscilla Bingham, Jessica’s future mother-in-law, has a visit from an old friend, Lady Virginia Fenwick, who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice.

Then, without warning, Cedric Hardcastle, a bluff Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barringtons. This causes an upheaval that none of them could have anticipated, and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle’s first decision is who to support to become the next chairman of the board: Emma Clifton or Major Alex Fisher? And with that decision, the story takes yet another twist that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

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Background - The Clifton chronicles begin in year 1920, introducing us to Harry Clifton , his family , Old Jack , his schools and the friends he make in his initial years. It also introduces us to two generations of Barringtons , who all like Harry with exception of one Hugo Barrington who might be Harry's real father. And with this one doubt , Harry's whole life takes and unexpected turn at the end of the book. Set in the times of world war , this book not only engages the reader in this epic tale of the two families but also gives a glimpse into the life in those years.

The second volume is all about Harry and Emma Barrington who goes in the search of Harry Clifton and how she brings the father of her son back to his loved ones. This book had a lot of surprises in store as Emma and Giles chart their destinies in way none had expected. Hugo's sins haunt not just Harry , Emma and Giles , but also another innocent life gets involved. 

The third book opens to the day , the fate of Gile's inheritance and Emma's wedding to Harry is decided. Soon after , Harry returns to America to promote his latest novel, while his beloved Emma goes in search of the little girl who was found abandoned in her father's office on the night he was killed. But this book belongs more to Harry's son Sebestian Clifton. He influences not just Gile's election results but by end of the book, we find him turning the wheel of time to a moment that will change life of every single person associated to him.

My views - Be careful what you wish for is the fourth part of Archer's ambitious project that will span the lifetime of Cliftons and Barringtons and all that is in the mentioned era and the people around them. There is nothing much I can tell about the book plot without spoiling it for people who have not read it, but this book got me hooked to the series back again. The third book left me wanting for more and something more juicy to chew on. This book was all that and more. Frankly , what I loved most about this book is the new characters introduced -  Cedric Hardcastle & Robert Bingham. I totally adore both these men equally , maybe a little more than Seb too ! 

It was heartening to see Emma becoming the chairman of Barrington shipping firm and to see her do justice to her role. Jessica's tale made me very sad but it was lovely to see her inspiring strangers to fight for her. Over all the story has very few lose ends and I liked the way Archer has shaped the story as a fast paced thriller sort in this part. Leaving some incidents aside , it is mostly a power game between Don Pedro and every one who stands against him for benefit of our beloved families. This one is worth every hour i have sacrificed my sleep to finish it. But like every previous part , this book too ends at a cliffhanger. Though I am not a patient person and I thought I could finally be done with the series , I find myself a little sad that the next book is still an year away. 

Rating : 4/5

Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less - Jeffrey Archer

I don't know whether I am doing justice to this book by writing its review and I don't even know whether it would be right for you to read this review. Its a Jeffrey Archer book, it has to be good. As simple as that. But just to satisfy my hunger to share my experience with this one, I am writing this review. 

The book was gifted to me by a dear friend and a person I respect. Initially she got me a box set of Ashwin Sanghi's all three books ( The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant, The Krishna Key) as my birthday gift , but I had read them already, so I asked her if we can change it and she agreed. Then I picked up Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less and Kane And Abel and I started off with the former. 

The tagline of the book says "Don't get mean, get even" and I totally believe in it. Harvey Metcalfe, a polish man living in America makes it big mostly through sly ways but he does make it really big. Then, he frames another plan to make more money and dupe people and he successfully manages to do that. He hires a person named David from US and sends him to London as a part of the company Prospecta Oil and spreads a rumour. A lot of people fall for this rumour and among them are Stephen, Jean-Pierre, James and Dr.Robin. All of them put in a lot of their hard earned money in Prospecta Oil's shares. 

Once they figure out what exactly has happened, Stephen takes the charge to get his money back and makes a plan and shares it with the other three and then begins a roller coaster ride of preparing and executing the plan prepared by Stephen and others to get their money back out of Harvey Metcalfe's pockets, obviously by crook ! ;-) 

The book is definitely a page turner and while I was reading it, I could very well figure out why it is still topping the charts among people who want to read good stories. I am not revealing anymore about the plot here! Give it a shot, the story will keep you on your toes. 

Book Source : Personal Copy

Publisher : Pan Books

ISBN : 9780330419048

Genre : Fiction

Meeting the LORD Himself - Jeffrey Archer !!!

Before I begin this one, I must must must thank Ravi Subramanian. What I experienced that day was all because of him, so it would be unfair if I begin the post without thanking him. He doesn't need any introduction. His latest book The Bankster is already topping the best sellers list.

And Jeffrey Archer needs no introduction. If you don't know him, I feel sad for you. He is THE best story teller according to me and I have grown up reading his books. Kane and Abel was the first book by him that I had read and trust me the book is still fresh in my mind.

Jeffrey Archer and Ravi Subramanian                               Photo Credits : Ravi Subramanian's Facebook Page

Jeffrey Archer and Ravi Subramanian we going to be in a single event at Jaipur and when I got to know about it, I was like there is no way, I am going to miss this one. But circumstances weren't favourable and then I decided to give it a miss. It was only because of Ravi, I could attend the event and the memories are forever etched on my mind. The arrangements he made for me were overwhelming. Who would have thought that I would get to see and hear Jeffrey Archer from the first row and that too in such a huge gathering. I couldn't even imagine about it but it was true.

I can quote each and every thing Jeffrey said during the event. Such a charmer he is. He talks as if he is telling a story. Shared many anecdotes and the way he narrated everything, I just kept on swooning and clapping throughout the event.

A lot of people asked him, how to write a good story? How to write a book? Can he train them in writing or all sorts of questions. He answered everything and was at his wittiest best. He told everyone, if you wish to write a book, GO OUT and do it. Why do you need inspiration, training or any sort of guidance. He didn't require any. He just started writing and look where he is today. He has sold over 30 million copies of his books and it is said that in every 5 seconds, a Jeffrey Archer book gets sold somewhere in the world.

He also read a story at the event, Death Speaks, which was the first story I had read in his book To Cut A Long Story Short.

Whatever he said was so inspiring, though it took some time for me to made all his words sink in my brain but now they have and trust me I can go on and on and on with this blog post because I have so many things to share but I won't do that.

I must put this here that Jeffrey was highly disgusted with the piracy of books and traffic in India. Both are the matters of huge concern. He always launches his books first in India because once he got to know that, when a book is released in any other part of the world, within 2 days, they were pirated and were being sold on the Indian streets, which is quite true.

The high point of the evening came for me, when I got a chance to get my books signed by him. He patiently signed all the 4 books that I was carrying with me. Here is one of them

And when I asked him if I could shake hands with him, in no time he agreed. It was definitely one of the most memorable moments of my life. I shook hands with Jeffrey, got my books signed, thanked Ravi and left the venue. The whole thing felt like a dream but it was true. I do not have many pictures of the event, but if you wish to have a look at them, you can see them here on Ravi Subrmanian's facebook page. Must say, the event was well managed, Marriot as venue and a huge gathering of people who love Jeffrey Archer, he got a standing ovation at the end of the conversation. He loves India because people are warm and caring and offer selfless love. He was overwhelmed with the kind of love and appreciation that he has got from his fans in India.

I am eagerly waiting for his next book from The Clifton Chronicles series, Best Kept Secrets which would be out on 14th March 2013 and if you haven't read a Jeffrey Archer book yet, trust me, you are missing out something. Buy a book today and start reading.

A Twist In The Tale - Jeffrey Archer

Title : A Twist In The Tale

Author : Jeffrey Archer

Publisher : Pan Macmillan

ISBN : 9780312933524 

I think, I am gonna read all the books by Jeffrey Archer real soon. I mean, the books are too irresistible. Once I pick a book of his, I put it down after finishing it. Though, “A Twist In The Tale” was an exception to this routine. Its a collection of short stories by Archer and Sunny ( @SunnyOnHunt ) from twitter suggested me to read it after I posted the review for “To Cut A Long Story Short”. I picked up one short story at a time and thats how I completed the whole book in some twenty days. Sunny sent me an epub of this book, and I thank him for that.

A Twist In The Tale, is a collection of 12 short stories. Though, I felt that twists were a bit predictable but one cannot deny the fact that Archer’s writing is just kickass. The narration of each and every story was tight and one has to read each and every line with throughout attention. You miss out a point and the whole story goes for a toss for you.

The 12 stories presented in the book are as follows :

1. The Perfect Murder

2. Clean Sweep Ignatius

3. A La Carte

4. Not The Real Thing

5. Just Good Friends

6. The Steal

7. Colonel Bullfrog

8. Checkmate

9. The Wine Taster

10. A Chapter Of Accidents

11. The Loophole

12. Christina Rosenthal

Out of all the 12 stories, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 5 of them.

The Perfect Murder, because it was the first story and I had to read it 3 times to figure out what the twist was. Once I found it, I felt really dumb 

Not The Real Thing and Just Good Friends, for their narration.

Clean Sweep Ignatius, because corruption is the thing that we keep talking and blabbering about these days. I am talking about India.

“Christina Rosenthal” story touched my heart even though it has sad ending. Nice love story.

Pick this book up, if you are into reading short stories,  I can vouch, you won’t be disappointed.

The Sins of The Father - Jeffrey Archer

Title : The Sins Of The Father (Book 2 of The Clifton Chronicles) 

Author : Jeffrey Archer 
Publisher : PanMacmillan
ISBN : 978-1-4472-0922-5
Genre : Fiction
Pages : 384

I have just finished with the book and all I could think of is, sharing my views on it with the reader of this post. The only thing I dislike about reading a book series is, you get highly impatient about the next part of the series if it has not been released. The same thing is has happened with The Clifton Chronicles. The third book is due in 2013 and I just can't wait to lay my hands on it. I have reviewed the first part of the series "Only Time Will Tell" here on my blog few days  back. 

The book has been set up during the times when the world is busy dealing with the second world war. "The Sins of The Father" begins with Harry Clifton's part of the story after he lands up in America with a different identity, hoping things would get better with his lady love. Though he never expected to land up in another mess and dealing with the most horrible days of his life. During his journey, there are things he establishes for himself knowingly and unknowingly but some other person  keeps reaping the benefits of it until his lady love Emma Barrington lands up in America. Very cunningly Emma plans her exit from England and lands up at America. Her quest to find that Harry is still alive gets interesting with every page. 

On the other hand, Hugo Barrington, is as usual up with his cunning tricks to fool people and making things miserable for himself and others around him, specially Harry Clifton's mother, Maisie Clifton. Whereas, Maisie is trying her best to keep up with her life, that never fails to offer lemons. 

Harry on the other hand, finally lands up in the battle field, which was his dream. Though not in the way he wanted, but what mattered to him was, he was there on the battleground and making sure that the enemies get baffled when they hear of him. 

Giles Barrington, on the other hand is living his life, winning accolades for himself on the battlefield and missing Harry, his best friend, at every point. 

Yet again, the book has stopped at such a point that has left me curious to know what is going to happen next. The most interesting thing about the series is, it focuses on so many lives together that run in parallel plots, but never fails to weave them in a single strand. You ought to be very attentive while reading the book because the moment you missed a point, you would not be able to connect the threads of the story. 

Eagerly waiting for the Volume 3 of the series, "Best Kept Secret". 

To Cut a Long Story Short - Jeffrey Archer

Title: To Cut A Long Story Short
Author: Jeffrey Archer 
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-00-77359-6

Genre: Short Stories/Fiction

Pages: 419

Rating: 4.5/5

 Last evening, I was roaming in one of the markets of my city where I spotted a shabby shop. I went inside and saw it had books everywhere. Old and new both. It took me seconds to figure out that the shopkeeper is selling old books at 50% price and there were hundreds of books lying around. Yesterday itself, someone from twitter suggested me to read short stories by Jeffrey Archer after reading my review of "Only Time Will Tell" and also suggested me this title "The Twist in the Tale" but I forgot it and picked up "To Cut A Long Story Short" for mere 100 bucks in a superb condition and I am glad I did that. 

"To Cut A Long Story Short" is a collection of short stories that Jeffrey has collected and experienced while he was travelling around the globe. The book features 15 short stories out of which 9 are based on true incidents. This was actually the first time I was reading a book which is a collection of short stories so I was a bit skeptical before starting it. 

The first story of the book is named as "Death Speaks", which has been translated from Arabic. Jeffrey was so moved by the story that he has placed it in the starting of the book. He has confessed this thing in the preface itself. Apart from this, the book has another 14 short stories namely ( the ones based on real life incidents have been written in italics)

1. The Expert Witness

2. The Endgame

3. The Letter

4. Crime Pays

5. Chalk and Cheese

6. A Change Of Heart

7. Too Many Coincidences

8. Love at First Sight

9. Both Sides Against The Middle

10. A Weekend to Remember

11. Something for Nothing

12. Other Blighter's Efforts

13. The Reclining Woman

14. The Grass is Always Greener

All the short stories have one thing in common, sudden twists and turns that would surely jolt you. The first two stories of the book namely Death Speaks and The Expert Witness, I had to read them twice because the language is so tricky that if you miss out on something, the story would sail over your head.   But after that, I read all the other stories with patience and word by word. And I would advice the reader of the book to do the same.

My personal favourites from this collection is, The Expert Witness, The Letter, Too Many Co-incidences, A Weekend to Remember and The Reclining Woman. I wont discuss the plots of these stories here but I highly recommend this book if you like intelligent and sly fiction. 

Only Time Will Tell : Jeffrey Archer

Title : Only Time Will Tell
Author : Jeffrey Archer 
Publisher : Pan Macmillan
ISBN : 978-0-330-53567-0
Genre : Fiction
Rating - 4.5/5 

While surfing flipkart for ordering more books in the previous week, I saw this book "The Sins Of The Father" by Jeffrey Archer. The title intrigued me. I thought of ordering the book right away, but then something clicked in my mind which told me to go through the reviews and that's when I came to know  that its a book from "The Clifton Chronicles" series. The Clifton Chronicles is a series of 5 books based on the life of Harry Clifton, the protagonist. And after knowing this, I thought, I'd give it a try and picked up the first book of the series "Only Time Will Tell" from a book store that I recently discovered in my city.

This was my first Jeffrey Archer book. I've always wanted to read his writings, but nothing inspired me to pick them up. I am glad that I did it now. 

"Only Time Will Tell" is set up in Gloucestershire, Britain, and is based on the life of Harry Clifton and people associated with him. An intelligent young englishman, who makes it to Oxford, whose life is based on the lies told to him by his mother and other people which encouraged him to fight wars for his country. But, as the story unfolds, and more characters are weaved into the plot, a lot of twists and turns occur in no time, leaving Harry in a fix. The book defines his relationships with almost everyone in his life in a very interesting way, his mother Maisie Clifton, his best friend Giles Barrington,  his lady love Emma Barrington, his friend Old Jack Tar and the person who have always dreaded on his existence Hugo Barrington. Harry's life changes in a moment, when he finds out the truth about his dead father and he takes up something that he has always wanted to do, when Britain is on the verge of having a war with Germany. 

Every character in the story has their own version of their life with Harry to tell and this is what makes the book more interesting. It is definitely a  page turner and I just cannot wait to lay my hands on the next edition of the series. This book ends on a point that would definitely force you to read the next one and see what turn would Harry's life will take in future and I'm surely gonna review that one here. 

-

Yatin Gupta

False Impression - Jeffrey Archer

FALSE IMPRESSION: Fiction Novel (Criminal/Thriller)

AUTHOR: Jeffrey Archer

BEST SELLERS: Prison Diaries (Non-fiction), Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less, Only Time Will Tell, Kane and Abel Series and Many others.

SYNOPSIS (From Book Cover): 

Why was an elegant lady Brutally Murdered the night before 9/11?

Why was a successful New York banker not surprised to receive A Woman's Left Ear in the mail?

Why did a young woman with a brilliant career steal an Impressionist Painting?

Why was an honors graduate working as a temporary secretary after Inheriting a Fortune?

Why was a Senior FBI Agent trying to work out the connection between these apparently innocent individuals?

A breathtaking journey of twists and turns from New York to London, from Bucharest and on to Tokyo, ends up in a sleepy English village where the mystery surrounding Van Gogh's last painting will finally be resolved. 

EXCERPT: 

"Victoria thought she heard the bedroom door open. She wondered which of her servants would have considered entering the room without knocking.

By the time Victoria had turned to find out who it was, she was already standing by her side.

Victoria stared up at a woman she had never seen before. She was young, slim, and even shorter than Victoria. She smiled sweetly, which made her appear vulnerable. Victoria returned her smile, and then noticed she was carrying a kitchen knife in her right hand.

“Who—” began Victoria as a hand shot out, grabbed her by the hair, and snapped her head back against the chair. Victoria felt the thin, razor-sharp blade as it touched the skin of her neck. In one swift movement the knife sliced open her throat as if she were a lamb being sent to slaughter.

Moments before Victoria died, the young woman cut off her left ear"

MSM Speaks: Now this is what I call writing. Crisp, breakneck speed, keeps you on the edge and you can swear you cannot get up without finishing it. Jeffrey Archer's knowledge of the art world and the dark underworld that follows the suit comes forth in this book. The quality of a true writer is to take up the lives of the characters, spin parallel stories and bring them together, seamlessly. The book follows the life of a young corporate lady, Anna Petrescue, who works for Fenston Finance, one of the roaring investment banks, that does not let go off its 'prized' employees easily. Anna comes to know of actual workings of the bank and wants to withdraw. But she is one of the most intelligent employees who has an eye for art work - real or imitation. Will she be allowed to leave so easily? And Bryce Fenston wants to own Van Gogh's self portrait of Bandaged left ear, for which Anna is the best bait. Series of events - death of Lady Victoria, Fenston's grand customer - also the owner of Van Gogh, 9/11 attack, escape of a renowned criminal Krantz, who is in good books of Fenston and Anna's run for life leave the reader gasping for more.

In all this mess, involved, is a Senior FBI Agent, Jack Delany, who is pursuing Anna hotly to determine whether she is actually innocent or a mastermind behind all these events. Oh! Lovely pursuit. Archer writes beautifully, about recognizing and ducking a stalker on your heels. The confusion of the FBI Agent leads the reader  from New York to London to Bucharest and back. On the other hand, Anna Petrescue is running out of time, so with the help of her best friend and Fenston's secretary, will she be able to save Van Gogh's Self-portrait and her own life, with those of others - it's worth a read to find out.

In all, Archer keeps to his legacy of predictable but enormously thrilling and on-the-edge style which keeps you coming back for more. And yes, MSM loves it!

My rating: 4.5/5
False Impression@ Pan Books Ltd. 2006 ISBN 13 9780330418829
flipkart price: 244/-INR