No comments about Shall We Tell the President.

No comments about Jeffrey Archer: The Selected Short Stories (HarperCollinsAudioBooks).

No comments about Four Short Stories from Jeffrey Archer's a Quiver Full of Arrows.

5 comments about Twelve Red Herrings.

1. I consider this compilation of fast-paced short stories to be a good read. If critics say this is not one of Archer's best, then, I look forward to reading his other materials.

   Compared with Roald Dahl's Tale of the Unexpected, which is also a compilation of short stories, I prefer this one more.




2. Is the first book of stories that I really like, there is one finish that I didn't like at all, the story of the painter. Is also the first time that I can select what finish I like from a story, let me tell you that if I can change the end of some books I will.
   All the stories are easy to read and have their own message (except the story of the painter, or maybe I didn't understood it.)



3. Jeffrey Archer's 'Twelve Red Herrings' are imaginative, well-written short stories. Archer (now Lord Archer, the variously popular-then-disgraced-then-popular-currently-disgraced Tory almost-leader) is better known for his novels, but has proven himself to be a good author of short stories as well.

   Each of the twelve tales in the collection contains an unexpected twist in the character or outcome, something that Archer is good at providing in most plots he's written. Archer seems to have the knack of taking one idea and spinning it, like a spider's web coming from one small strand, into a very fine and very wide reaching net that catches you and keeps you involved until the end.

   In 'Cheap at Half the Price' we are introduced to Consuela Rosenheim, a woman with expensive tastes which require both a wealthy husband and wealthy lover to satisfy, working in concert but each unwitting of the other. Her procurement of a necklace is a wonderful story.

   In 'Trial and Error' we follow Cooper on an ingenious plot for revenge, to finally carry out the murder for which he has already been sentenced and convicted, knowing that due to the construct of the law, the murder cannot be punished (he has already been convicted and served his time).

   The final story is my favourite, and of course you will, as I did, read all the endings: Archer provides a brief tale of desire-at-first-sight and the variations on the theme; how will it turn out? A question we often ask in life, and wonder will it end up well done or burnt to a crisp? Using this analogy, 'One Man's Meat...' follows a man who sees a beautiful woman while driving by, and stops to pursue her. What will happen? Is she single or married? Is HE single or married? Will she be flattered or offended? In the four alternate endings to this tale, the reader experiences each alternative.

   This is good bedtime reading, as most of the stories can be finished in under half-an-hour. For those who have not read Archer before, this is a good introduction to his storytelling style. This will not be confused for great literature, but is definitely a good yarn.




4. The 12 stories in this book are all readable. Some of the stories are brilliant -- for e.g. One man's meat where the reader is presented with 4 different outcomes.
   
   The thing I liked about all his stories inspite of some of them not having an "a-ha" at the ending was the engaging style of Mr. Archer that keeps you turning the pages.
   
   The writing style is consistent and the set of stories is way above your ordinary short stories.



5. This book is a series of twelve short stories with intriguing plots. Good read.

5 comments about Honor Among Thieves.

1. Saddam Hussein plans to mastermind a robbery of the Decleration of Independence by hiring the mafia, world's best forgery expert and one of Clinton's close aides with $100 million. Then he plans to embarrass US by burning the national treasure in front of the world media. This book is absolutely awesome, the plots, twists and story-line move like a ferrari. Once you start reading it, you won't be able to put it down. Archer's best book to date.



2. After reading Archer's "The Eleventh Commandment," I was anxious to get to this one. I really didn't think I'd enjoy "The Eleventh Commmandment" after reading the summary but I was very happy with how it turned out. So, I was anxious to get to my second Archer book. Unfortunately, this one didn't live up to the same quality as the other. It starts out well enough but as the story goes on, I found myself losing interest in almost every aspect of the plot. The one redeeming quality about this one was the caliber of the main character. He was very likeable and the only reason I finished the book. I wanted to see how things turned out with him. Ironically, the lack of development for the main character, was the only thing I found fault with in "The Eleventh Commandment." Hmmm....If only Archer could have fused these two together.
   
   The reasons for my not liking this book are many but I'll try to stick with the important ones. First, I thought that there were too many characters Archer introduced that he wanted us to remember. Almost all of the characters that I thought were unnecessary were part of the group of AMERICANS(believe that if you can) who were hired to steal the Declaration of Independence. Archer says that they went along with the theft because most of them did time in prison and have nothing but bad things to say about the American government. Still, the only real motivation that they have to go along with the scam is the payment they'll receive. Yet, most of them are well-off if not downright wealthy. I didn't think that a couple million dollars was motivation enough for them to betray their country. Sorry for that digression. Anyways, all of these traitors are given the amount of background equal to a good supporting character in other novels when really all they are are means to a temporary end. Once they've stolen the Declaration, there's really no point for them(with the exception of two) to remain characters in the story. And they aren't, until Archer resorts back to them in the end. By that time, I couldn't remember what role each one had played during the heist when he mentioned them by name.
   
   Another complaint I have is with gap in the story between the time that the Declaration is stolen to the time there is a concerted effort to get it back. The only real progression during that period is the development of the relationship between the CIA man Scott Bradley and the Mossad agent, Hannah Kopec. Archer tries to pawn off a few scenes with Saddam in Baghdad but nothing really happens there.
   
   While the mission in Baghdad is clever, it doesn't make up for the long, boring passage that is the first 3/4 of the book. There's nothing the reader didn't already know or couldn't anticipate up to that point. I'm glad that I didn't read this one before "The Eleventh Commandment" because I would have been soured on Archer and probably would have moved on to somebody else. Skip this one and try "The Eleventh Commandment" for a better read.



3. The year is 1993 and the Gulf War has only just terminated. Russia,Great Britain and the United States of America all have undergone a shift in political power and new presidents and prime ministers and leaders are endeavouring to usher in new ideas and conviction. But the sole survivor of all the adversaries is the indomitable despot Saddam Hussein,who stll commands power and authority in Iraq. And the Iraqi aupreme has conceived a devastating,crucial and unpredictable plan,a fair reflective of his own character relly,to force the new US President Bill Clinton lick the dust:steal the American Declaration of Independence and burn it in front of the world media on the fourth of July.
   
   It's around this tense and harrowing theme that Jeffrey archer's sensational thriller "Honour Among Thieves" revolves and takes the reader on n edge-of-the-seat journey through an exquisitely executed theft at the National Gallery in washington DC,clandestine,nocturnal happenings on the streets of Paris,and dangerous,frightening and unkind towns,villages and deserts of Iraq. Essentially a novel based on the popular notions of a hero in a typically Hollywood archetype style plotting the demise of a highly regarded infamous villain along with his aide=de=camps,"Honour Among Thieves" is an adept attempt to canvas the geo-political tensions and apprehensions that were thretening the peace of the world at that time. And so invariably the convention amongst modern imaginative thriller writers keen to put forward a lone figure out to tame reality and outwit the master criminal,Jeffrey Archer's hero in this novel too is polite and relatively obscure man.
   
   Scott Bradley is a young Professor at the Yale Law School in the States teaching Constitutional Law,a man always chased by a bitter parental history and forever willing to go beyond the reaches of his routine life. Bradley accomplishes a very diffrent sort of job too:he's a crucial teacher-cum-adviser to several CIA agents and other high officials. When he's sent to a dream field expedition to Paris to unravel te mystery behind the decision of the Israeli "Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks"---better known as Mossad---to post a captivating young woman at the Iraqi Interest Section of the Jordanian Embassy in Paris,little does Bradley realise that he would ultimately entangle himself in a web that threatens to submerge his nation as well as his heart. Scott Bradley's adventure changes colour:from an informer,the protagonist transcends to the saviour of the American history and prestige;Bradley's sole mision becomes to retrieve the Declaration of Independence from Saddam Hussein's own territory before time as well as opportunity runs out.
   
   It would be a crime indeed to reveal the pattern any further and the intensity and vigour that the British author blends with the precision of language and enormous political insight are to be read to be felt. The novel is remarkable not only for the intrigue and passion it invokes but also for the subtle remarks of massive moralistic implications. That the greed of power and money outreaches patriotic sentiment in today's world is made obvious in these empathic words of Saddam to his political advisers:"You have already witnessed my ability to turn the greed of their(America's)own people into a wilingness to steal the most cherished document in their nation's history." And this from a man who withdraws himself into a secure but vain knowledge of the love of his people foe him. In Hannah Kopec's character,Archer sketches the vibrant picture of a beautiful,young woman burning with revenge and this individualistic dismay and resentment towards the Iraqi tyrant is continued into a mass indignation revealed by the inhabitants of the Khan Beni Saad village.
   
   Garbed in a sensational thriller,"Honour Among Thieves" is a frightening revelation of the degree that crime can eat into one's soul. Jeffrey Archer's sorcery here lies,besides in keeping the reader firmly engaged,in providing a poignant commentary on the shrewd transactions that are carried out in the worlds of politics and crime. Throughout the book,there's always a resurgency of suspicion that these two worlds,namely those of politics and crime,are strangely interlinked and almost symbiotic. The magnificient staging ofb the theft of the American Declaration of Independence,the cool fashion of criminal discussions,the muted but all the more powerful self-assertion of Saddam Hussein and the gradual spreading of the storylines are stupendous indicators to the class and mastery of Jeffrey Archer. This novelist has developed over the years to become one of most dazzling storytellers in the modern era and in "Honour Among Thieves",he creates a very interesting tale using people greatly significant during the time and employing fractions of his own experiences in politics. Jeffrey archer is a brilliant connoisseur who doesn't disappoint even an iota in this book.



4. Jeffrey Archer has done better, but still this oeuvre is a thrilling good read.
   Compared to "Not a penny more, not a penny less" this piece lacks the brilliance
   of the final plot, compared to his short-stories this one's a more "conventional" book.



5. Other reviewers have provided the story line. I just wanted to say that it is a good thriller type novel to curl up on a cold rainy day with. Don't take it too seriously, just enjoy.

5 comments about The Fourth Estate.

1. Some reviewers state there is no heros in this book - it's about the least objectionable person. They are right. It's thinly disguested Maxwell and Murdoch. It's no wonder they sued to stop publicication of the work.
   
   Each character has their share of sleeze. Both were willing to do whatever it took to come out on top. But neither had the good sense to recognize when they should let it go... and let the other ruin each other.
   
   Indeed, ask yourself before the end - which man deserves to triumph. The best of them, the worst of them, neither, or just one of them. The answer might not be what you think.



2. Not recommended. The story could have been told in far less than 742 pages. The first part was intriguing, as we were introduced to the two main characters -- two children in different parts of the world with vastly different lifestyles, both clever and entrepreneurial. Their devious ways were entertaining. When they became mega-business competitors as adults, it was mildly interesting. But by the time I was half-way through the book, I realized that I didn't care about either of them. There was a great lack of character development. As businessmen, they were ruthless and amoral; as people, they were uncaring and self-centered. There was nothing likeable about either of them. The last 300 pages were nothing but repeated plotting and scheming against each other, ad nauseum. But because I had read other books by this author that were exceptionally good, I plodded on, hoping for an exciting conclusion. Disappointingly, the ending was extremely ho-hum. The only bit of satisfaction for me was tossing this book into my trash can.



3. I'm usually very fond of Archer's novels and particularly liked "Kane and Abel"...in fact, it is probably one of the best books I've ever read and it immediately moved Archer to my list of "favorite authors." He's very much at home in multiple genres, ranging from multi-generation sagas to spy thrillers to political dramas to short stories.
   
   This book opens with nearly the same premise as Kane and Abel...two children born in very different circumstances on opposite sides of the globe who grow to become arch nemises. With expectations that we'd be treated to another K&A, this book fell short in numerous ways...so short that I lost interest partway through and just skipped to the end. For me, the main problem was the characters themselves - like two self-absorbed asteroids hurtling towards each other, I just really didn't care if they obliterated themselves in the end.
   
   For those who know the industry, it isn't too hard to guess who Archer patterned his two media-mogul main characters after. They aren't the most lovable guys in the world, just like the characters in the book. Their business-is-war and take-no-prisoners attitude towards life and career isn't particularly endearing, and as a result, Archer managed to somehow give us two antagonists rather than dual protagonists as in Kane and Abel.
   
   There are other Archer novels that far surpass this one, most notably "As the Crow Flies" and "Kane and Abel." I like much of Archer's work...just not this one.



4. Another excellent Archer offering. I was well into it before I realised the two main characters are based on Murdoch and Maxwell. It is an excellenty told tale. One wonders what the Dirty Digger thinks of it if he has read it. Archer is a great story teller who keeps the reader gripped.



5. I classified this Archer novel as "fun". A story of a lifelong battle between two newspaper tycoons, it is fast paced and entertaining. I enjoyed it immensely.

2 comments about A Matter of Honour.

1. This story is a little bit out of reality, but it keeps you interested in the book and you can compare the FBI with the former KGB as they work almost in the same manner.



2. I read this book in two days, just couldn't put it down. Once it takes off, which doesnt take long with Jeffery Archer, it REALLY takes off. I would like to compare it with the Bourne Identity movies, just action packed. A game of cat and mouse at its best.
   A little about the author, Jeffery Archer was the youngest memeber of the House of Commons in 1969, apointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party 1985, Moved up to the House of Lords 1992. Bascially this guy was a big fish in the British Goverment. He wrote a couple of books, one of which "Not a Penny more, Not a Penny less" I think is magnificent and has about the same pace as this book. He was sent to prison in 2001 after a sex scandal which rocked...i want to say the world...but i can't be sure...
   Anyway the book starts off with a Adam Scott recieving his Father's will which contains a mysterious envelope......KGB, CIA and SAS all want it. He doesnt find out until after he gets it, by then everybody in the world and their highly trained assasins are after him. Being British he tries to run to them, but for the sake of the plot, they keep screwing up and he is always one step ahead of the russian assasin who REALLY loves killing people. Plus to add wood to the fire, the cops want him for a muder he did not commit.
   All this may sound over the top, but Archer weaves it superbly, making it unbelivably fast paced.
   The book being from a british author has a heap of british words, Trouser-Pants, Phoned-Called, Lift-Elevator and so forth. so it might be a little irritating if you do not know what he means, but honestly this little gripe doesn't in any way compare to the way the book is written.

5 comments about A Prison Diary.

1. Absolute drivel, poorly written by an angry ego driven con. The only thing that does come out of this is the state of our prison system, Kudos to our Lordship for at least using his celebratory status to raise this issue. However, come on, if you are going to write about being in prison at least let us know that you were scared to death. He never really talks about what was running through his mind all those hours in lock up. If any of these men, including Fletch, had sat next to him at the theatre he would have called security.



2. Incredible writing, totally expected of Jeffrey Archer.
   He brings his artisary in fiction into this non-fiction giving you great insight in the lives of prisoners who we all love to think of as bad guys.
   At the end of the book, the inmates are no longer bad guys but regular people who just want to get by with their lives living it as best as they can.
   A definite must read for all lovers of a good book.



3. I actually originally read Volume III Heaven before finding a copy of Volume I Hell and have to say I think Heaven was a lot higher in quality than this book. Heaven is also a lot thicker with a lot more pages. In Volume I Archer shows more of himself through his writing than in the final volume which to be honest makes him a little bit less likeable and harder to relate to. In Heaven you assume he is an average guy (I mean you know he is a rich author and politician) but in Hell he portrays his upper class upbringing and lifestyle and comes across rather snobby at times when talking about his fellow inmates backgrounds or describing his conditions. He will only drink bottled water, can't eat the everyday prison food served at meal times even though there's a menu of three alternatives, had never even heard of let alone eaten Coco Pops (these as the same as Coco Puffs for North Americans) before getting them in a multipack of cereal, and in his opinion they weren't as good as Cornflakes. How he was amazed that drugs can get smuggled in obviously means he had never watched normal TV before in his life.
   
   I found that the empathy I had for Archer in Volume III Heaven I just did not have reading Volume I Hell. Surely he also got some of his friends into trouble and a loss of their privileges or another 28 days added onto their sentences by revealing stuff like one of them who worked in the canteen stole him a bottle of water and passed it through the wire. Even if he uses fake names it is not going to be that hard for prison authorities to work out who it was from the dates in his diary. I'm glad he also got rid of the cricket score updates by the trilogy finale as these were pretty boring.
   
   Saying all that though I still found the first volume of the Prison Diaries an entertaining read and an insightful look into the Class A prisons of Britain which I imagine would have many similarities to ones in Australia, North America and elsewhere. I'm just glad that he improved the diaries by the third volume and I will definitely be checking out Volume II Purgatory.



4. What a shock to the system,but what a good read this was as well.To go from the very top to the bottom in one easy lesson!
   Loryn Potroz



5. Prison Diary is, by far, one of the most interesting books I have ever read. While some believe that Archer is egocentric (he does talk about himself quite a bit), I believe this adds importance to the story. Archer was part of the political system, yet he had no idea how horribly the prisons were run. He is now experiencing day to day life in the highest security prison in England. For a first-time offender, that has to be extremely overwhelming! He may complain about his conditions and the ordeals of his daily life, but wouldn't you if you were given a four year sentence for something that should have only gotten community service? His stories of the drug dealings, the prisoners inside the "lifers" wing, and the problems the guards face bring a new insight into prison life. Because Archer was not the "typical" con, everyone felt as if they could talk to him, thus, making this a well-rounded novel on the system. Overall, this is a well-written novel sure to shake things up a bit.

5 comments about A Matter Of Honor.

1. As usual with Archer's books, I could not put this one down. His thrillers are always terrribly exciting, but I especially enjoyed this one. It is a novel about an ordinary person, who through certain circumstances, becomes drawn into international espionage through following up on a letter received as part of his father's will. I read the entire thing in one day and evening, starting in the morning, and finishing at midnight. And you won't be able to put it down either ! !



2. It's 1966, and Adam Scott received 500 pounds and an envelope in his father's will. The envelope contained the key to his family's lost honor, and leads to an item in the vault of a Swiss bank - a Russian icon thought lost, that also contains a secret.
   
   The secret is so powerful, the KGB will do anything to get it's hands on it. A top agent is assigned unlimited resources. When Adam retrieves the icon moments ahead of him, he suddenly finds his girlfriend dead, and himself on the run from the KGB, the CIA, British Intelligence, and the Swiss police. Armed with only a small amount of money and his own wits, can he survive the hunt - and restore his family's lost honor?
   
   There is no doubt his novel heavily influenced Dan Brown (Da Vinci Code), as the elements of a hunted man, an enemy with only a code name, and a hero who seizes opportunities all come into play.



3. Ironically, I picked this one up right after I finished Ludlum's The Gemini Contenders, and they have a lot in common - a secret hidden during WWII comes to light and becomes the responsibility of a later generation and the chase is on. I gave Ludlum 4 stars and give this one 5 for two reasons; Archer's book is an easier read and the hero of his book is around long enough to care about.
   
   Thought to be a traitor, Gerald Scott resigned his commission from the army. When he died, he had little to leave his family, other than the taint of that resignation and an unopened letter from a Nazi war criminal. Adam, his son, inherits the letter and takes a simple one day trip to Switzerland to retrieve the contents of a bank box the letter refers to. From that moment on, Adam's life is anything but simple. Chased by the Americans, the Russians, the Swiss and the British, and unaware of the secret he's got in his possession, Adam has to get to safety. First, he has to solve the mystery of his inheritance, figure out where safety is and who he can trust, and manage to stay alive doing it all.
   
   The secret itself seems a tad silly, but other than that, the story is fast-paced and very easy to follow, putting it a little bit above some overly convoluted thrillers I've read.



4. Although the details of Mr. Archer's personal life rival the plots of his novels - from near bankruptcy, to Britain's political inner circles, to prison cell - none of it gets in the way of his well-deserved reputation as an outstanding storyteller.
   
   Next to "Kane & Abel" and "As the Crow Flies" this book is among my three favorites from Archer and I highly recommend it.
   
   Set in the summer of 1966 with Lyndon Johnson in the White House, Harold Wilson at #10 Downing, and Leonid Brezhnev in the Kremlin, "A Matter of Honor" pits a most resourceful but unlikely British protagonist, Adam Scott, against an equally resourceful Soviet antagonist, Alexander Romanov.
   
   When Adam's father, a disgraced military officer, dies, he leaves to his only son the princely sum of 500 pounds and two letters. The first is a missive from Adam's father, explaining the events that led to his resignation from the military, the circumstances that led to his possession of the second letter, and an expression of confidence that his son would conduct himself honorably should he decide to open the second letter and pursue whatever secrets it might contain. When Scott's curiosity gets the best of him, he opens the second letter and finds that it is from a now-dead elite member of Hitler's Third Reich - a man that Scott's father had been assigned to guard during the Nuremberg trials.
   
   As one might guess, it is this second letter that proves to be the crux of the story. It leads Scott to a bank vault, deep beneath the streets of Zurich, containing an obscure work of Russian art - an icon - smuggled out of the country during the downfall of Czar Nikolai II. At the same time, the Kremlin has learned that this painting contains a secret that could forever shift the balance of power from West to East at the height of the cold war. Romanov, a rising KGB star, is tasked with finding the icon and returning it to the Motherland so its embedded secret can be unveiled to the world. While Romanov is not told the nature of the secret, he knows only that its contents must be acted on within 30 days and the clock is ticking.
   
   The ensuing chase reveals that Mr. Scott's will to survive and ability to think on his feet are indeed a match for the best the KGB has to offer. It also presents an opportunity for Scott to restore his father's - and his family's - honor. Hence, the name of the book.
   
   Archer gives us an outstanding plot that is authentically placed amidst the political tensions of the mid-1960s. I enjoyed every moment of this book. The characters are nicely developed, the cheetah-like pace kept me turning the pages until well into the night, and the story had an ending that while rather predictable, was highly satisfying nonetheless.
   
   If you enjoy a good political thriller from the world as it was 40 years ago, along with a healthy dose of Mr. Archer's formidable imagination, don't pass up this book.



5. This is a darker, more sinister, and violent Archer book than most I have read. The USSR is still alive. A document, hidden in a lost icon, would turn Alaska back to the USSR if found. A page turner! I enjoyed it.

5 comments about The Eleventh Commandment.

1. There is nothing remotely new about the premise of this spy thriller - hero becomes outcast, must defeat powerful CIA head and nationalist neo-communist Russian head of state to save life and country. It is a quick read (large print and few pages) but ultimately has a very routine ending made unsatisfying by numerous plot errors.

   First of all, the idea that a war hero who was awarded the Medal of Honor before the whole nation could become a top clandestine agent of a super secret section of the CIA is just absurd: such fame and notoriety would be an unacceptable characteristic for an intelligence agent. Next, the book did not seem like it was well researched, but, (as was the case) appeared to have been written by a non-American. A CIA director who couldn't be removed by the president - again, how absurd. CIA agents given the choice of retirement or transfer to the Cleveland or Milwaukee offices - Archer has his American intelligence agencies confused and is perhaps thinking of the FBI; the CIA does not maintain stations throughout the country, as it is prohibited by law from operating domestically.

   The plot involving the junior Romanov (don't all spy thrillers involving Russia try to introduce a character who is a descendant of the czars?) colluding with the Russian president, then trying to betray the president, was just implausible. Ditto with the forced resignation of the rogue CIA director - certainly she would have been prosecuted,not sent free to run for the Senate. Finally, why was Fitzgerald using as a new identity the name of his wife's ex-college boyfriend (who was presumably still alive)? I wonder how large publishers can employ such obtuse editors who cannot even recognize and remedy such obvious flaws in a book.

   There are dozens of late 1990's spy thrillers out there that have the same plot revolving around an ultranationalist coming to power in Russia and this one is just a stereotype of this genre. It makes fast reading, but this book is more of a 300 page cliche than a respectable work of fiction.




2. Connor Fitzgerald is a hit-man for the CIA. After icing a (drug lord) prospective presidential candidate in Columbia he is detailed to Russia for another mission.

   Does the president know about this mission or is this a plan by the director of the CIA to get ahead (I won't spoil the plot).

   This is a great book. It will keep you in suspense from the word go. I read this book in one afternoon while relaxing with my kids by the pool.

   This book is a must read. If you havn't read anything by Mr. Archer (This was my first), let me recommend this title as your first.

   If you like authors such as Tom Clancy, you will like this book.




3. I'm a 16 year old Australian reader and this being the first Jeffery Archer book that I have read I found it totally entertaining. Since then I have purchased A Matter Of Honner and As The Crow Flies, I found them just as thrilling as The Eleventh Commandment. I have also had all of my Jeffery Archer books signed by Jeffery.



4. Having read dozens of political/espionage thrillers, I was reluctant to pick up Archer's "Eleventh Commandment" because of the cliched title and the rather drab synopsis of the plot on the back cover. I was relieved to find that Archer's work moved at a pace much faster than the ordinary Tom Clancy or Vince Flynn. Rather than wasting pages on trivial bureaucratic details, Archer keeps the characters on a steady sequence of events whose progress rivals the best works of Robert Ludlum.
   
   The one drawback of the story is the lack of character development, especially with the protagonist. Archer does give us adequate information on the background of Connor Fitzgerald but does little to endear us to him. While Fitzgerald is likeable, he doesn't have the panache that most literary spies regale the reader with. I suppose this is done intentionally considering most real CIA operatives/assassins are probably less demonstrative than the ones we're used to reading about.
   
   All things considered, Archer's book is uniquely entertaining. With a plot that's unusually thoughtful and clever, the author forces us to recognize and appreciate the precarious situations of each character. Towards the end, you'll find yourself pulling tremendously for the main character.



5. I just loved this book, i've read it more then once and each time I read it I cry at the same parts, I get mad at the same parts... Connor Fitzgerald is able to captivate you each time you read it... Excellent Book... I highly recommend it!