Tag Archives: The Clifton Chronicles

Jeffrey Archer is Back

Posted on by

Some run for elected office in their seventies; others write books.  Jeffrey Archer, 79, will be in his eighties when his new book – Nothing Ventured – continues the story of Detective William Warwick in a new family saga.  Archer has not lost his touch; his new story takes the reader on a wild ride with fast turns and switchbacks as the characters pursue crimes in art and antiquities.

Fans of Archer’s Clifton Chronicles will recognize Detective William Warwick as the fictional character created by author Harry Clifton, in his popular and lucrative detective series.   Archer now centers his new family saga on Warwick in a clever spinoff.

In this first in a series, Warwick foregoes following the family tradition of studying law to earn a degree in art history, followed by a career as a constable and novice detective.  His police work is enhanced by his good looks and his intelligence, as he gets opportunities to prove himself in the field.  Like all Archer’s characters, Warwick is easy to like and to follow, and the story pits him against a civilized and brilliant villain to keep the plot rolling.

Archer usually ends with a cliff hanger leading into the next book in the series, and he delivers enough of a tease at the end of this story to tempt the reader into the next book featuring a battle of wills between Warwick and criminal mastermind Miles Faulkner.  Keep writing, Lord Archer, we can’t wait for the next installment.

This Was a Man – The Final Volume of the Clifton Chronicles

Posted on by

9781250061638_p0_v6_s192x300  With the same fast-paced intensity as the six books leading up to this final entry in The Clifton Chronicles,  Jeffrey Archer’s This Was a Man leads the reader back to the family saga of the Barringtons and the Cliftons.  Although the last two books included my name ( a result of winning a contest), this final volume has no Ph.D. with good advice.  The main characters do return, and Archer successfully reminds the reader of past adventures but it would be easier to binge read all the books together – if you could.

Cunard has bought out the Barrington ocean liners, Harry has been knighted, and Margaret Thatcher is in office, with Emma newly appointed to championing a health care bill. Villains return too, with Lady Virginia artfully and greedily worming her evil through the scenes.

Archer skillfully addresses each family member in the line, providing successful outcomes as their lives continue to develop and interact.  Despite the novel’s length and the complications of following a number of characters across dissecting story lines, Archer has the unique ability to maintain clarity, helping the reader follow with anticipation and sometimes with empathy, as he weaves his storytelling drama across generations.

The character Harry Clifton offers an undeniable clue to the ending of Archer’s last volume – it really is the end –  and Archer uses his last pages to revisit highlights of his previous six novels.   The family saga is over.  But maybe it will reappear someday as a modern Forsythe Saga in a BBC special drama series.  I would welcome it to my Sunday nights.

Books I Have to Buy not Borrow

Posted on by

Although the source of most of my books is the local library, I sometimes get impatient waiting for a bestseller.  Who wants to read one a year after the excitement fades?  And Audible has lately caught my attention and dollars, giving me companionship when I walk.  My bookshelf is small these days, and I tend to be cautious in purchasing new books to crowd those I’ve chosen to keep forever. Nevertheless, circumstances, the news, and my own procrastination have motivated me to buy a few books I might otherwise have not.

9780143034759_p0_v6_s192x300 Hamilton by Ron Chernow

After borrowing this tome of over seven hundred pages from the library – twice – and returning the book not finished, I discovered the paperback version has been published.  Someday I will take a long flight again, and then it will be with me.

9781451648768_p0_v2_s192x300 Bob Dylan – The Lyrics

After Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature, I wondered if I had missed something. His familiar lyrics from “Blowin’in the Wind,” written in 1962 have a message still applicable today, but what of his others?  Downloading the sample book to my iPhone gave me a few, appropriately stopping at “Mixed Up Confusion” – my sentiments lately after the recent Presidential election.  I decided more of Dylan’s poetry might be the salve I need now.

9781250061638_p0_v5_s192x300 This Was a Man

Jeffrey Archer’s last book in The Clifton Chronicles could not wait. Will my namesake be back? I want to know what happens – now.

 

 

Cometh the Hour – my namesake is back

Posted on by

9781250061621_p0_v5_s192x300Dr. Rosemary Wolfe reappears briefly in Jeffrey Archer’s latest installment of The Clifton Chronicles – Cometh the Hour – in the ongoing family saga of the Barringtons (British upstairs) and the Cliftons (the downstairs).   Dr. Wolfe, who won her place as a character name appearing first in the fifth  book – Mightier Than the Sword – has a short cameo, but enough to make me proud.

As I read his latest book, comparisons of Archer and Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, delighted me.  Both keep the action moving by popping back and forth among tense character scenes; both use finite descriptions of places and manners to create the atmosphere; and both authors conveniently tie up plot lines quickly and satisfactorily – despite having to kill off an unsuspecting innocent now and then in shocking end of episode style.

Archer combines the political fervor of the seventies in Great Britain – time of the election of the first woman Prime Minister – with the backrooms of bankers and shipping magnates in developing convoluted plots pitting villains against the good guys, as he continues the family adventures through generations.  One of my favorite lines was Archer’s description of two despicable  villains – “Gone to ground…they’ll resurface in the spring like all pond life…”

The action is pure fun, and if you haven’t discovered this series, you might consider binge reading from the firs book Only Time Will Tell.  I’ve read them all – see my reviews below – and can’t wait for the next, due in November.  I can only hope Dr. Rosemary Wolfe will return.

Only Time Will Tell

Sins of The Father

Best Kept Secret and Be Careful What You Wish For

Mightier Than the Sword – and my fifteen minutes

Mightier Than the Sword – and my fifteen minutes

Posted on by

9781250034519_p0_v1_s260x420My fifteen minutes of fame came as a character in Jeffrey Archer’s latest installment of the Clifton Chronicles – Mightier Than the Sword.

Rarely do I enter contests; even more rarely do I win one – yet, Jeffrey Archer picked me. My prize – my name as a character in his next book – Mightier Than the Sword. Although I was hoping to be the evil mastermind, my namesake is a minor character appearing only briefly but consistently. Maybe you can find it – if you don’t blink.

If you are a fan of the Clifton Chronicles, you are primed to expect adventure and sabotage,  connecting the network of established characters in the Barrington and Clifton family trees.  Harry Clifton uses the book’s opening bombing incident on his wife’s new ocean liner as fodder for his latest successful spy thriller, and remains true to his moral compass as well as his penchant for crime solving, as Archer weaves Harry into a Russian undercover plot to suppressing state secrets reminiscent of a Solzhenitsyn exposé.  Emma, Chair of Barrington Shipping Company, faces her own issues with old nemesis Virginia, beautiful ex-wife of her brother Giles.  Sebastian, son of Harry and Emma, now a young handsome finance wizard, had my undivided attention, since he is the character who interacts with my namesake – on more than one occasion.  More characters reappear, but Archer carefully provides background for anyone who has not read the previous books in the series.  If you are a new fan, you might consider starting at the beginning with a binge-read, saving yourself from the angst of the inevitable cliff-hanging ending.

Reading an Archer novel is like watching an episode of your favorite television series.  The plot twists are usually surprising, the villains sometimes win the battles, the heroes are vulnerable, and satisfying solutions usually prevail.  I dare you to not read the books quickly as I do, furiously seeking the next outcome.  Maybe in the next installment, Dr. Rosemary Wolfe will return and play a bigger role in Sebastian’s life – I hope so.

Related Reviews: Previous books in The Clifton Chronicles