Books with author jeffrey archer

The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the words 'I was told that my father was killed in the war.' A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle, who expects Harry to join him at the shipyard once he's left school. Then an unexpected gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys' school, and his life will never be the same again.As he enters into adulthood, Harry finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question, was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, stevdore who spent his whole life on the docks, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line?

From Publishers Weekly Archer's (Kane and Abel) talent as a raconteur is evident in these 12 distinctive short stories, all of which have surprise endings. Many center on human failings such as jealousy, obstinacy, pettiness or prejudice; 10 are based on "known incidents" that Archer has "embellished." An almost reportorial, straightforward style actually enhances each concluding jolt. In "The Perfect Murder," a married man kills his mistress, cunningly implicates someone else, and ensures that hapless person's conviction. "A La Carte" concerns Mark Hapgood, who grudgingly works as a lowly hotel porter to please his father, then unexpectedly becomes a celebrated hotel chef. The amorous, contented female narrator of "Just Good Friends" turns out to be a cat. The stunning "Christinia Rosenthal" shows the needless tragedy that results when a girl's anti-Semitic parents oppose her marriage to a rabbi's son. Though the plots are rather slight, Archer's understanding of human nature, and his talent for surprise endings, make this volume a must for his fans. First serial to Penthouse and New Woman; Literary Guild alternate; major ad/promo; author tour. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

An English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. Another man, an accountant, realizes he’s achieved nothing in his life—and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is the author’s own favorite, “In the Eye of the Beholder,” about a star athlete who has a fateful run-in with a three-hundred-pound woman. Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including “Don’t Drink the Water,” the tale of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg—with unexpected consequences. Witty, suspenseful, sad, surprising, and unforgettable, Cat O’Nine Tales is Jeffrey Archer at his best.

If your dream is big enough, not even your enemies can stop you...Charlie Trumper's earliest memory is of hearing his grandfather's sales patter from behind his costermonger's barrow. When Grandpa Charlie dies, young Charlie wants nothing more than to follow in his footsteps – his burning ambition is to own a shop that will sell everything: The Biggest Barrow in the World.Charlie's progress from the teeming streets of Whitechapel to the elegance of Chelsea Terrace is only a few miles as the crow flies. But in Jeffrey Archer's expert hands it becomes an epic journey through the triumphs and disasters of the century, as Charlie follows a thread of love, ambition and revenge to fulfil the dream his grandfather inspired.

The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1919, in the backstreets of Bristol. His father was a war hero, but it will be twenty-one tumultuous years before Harry discovers the truth about how his father really died and if, in fact, he even was his father. Only Time Will Tell takes a cast of memorable characters from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take his place at Oxford, or join the fight against Hitler's Germany. In Jeffrey Archer's masterful hands, you will be taken on a journey that you won't want to end, even after you turn the last page of this unforgettable yarn, because you will be faced with a dilemma that neither you, nor Harry Clifton, could ever have anticipated