What's your favourite Jeffrey archer book?

[cIaire]

Haven't read any of him yet, not sure which to try first

fourth estate
not a penny more, not a penny less

a lot of his earlier stuff is decent, not read a lot of his later stuff, the clifton series was ok but not finished it yet

His early books are the best but the one that sticks in my memory, really love and go back to time and time again is his collection of short stories :- To Cut A Long Story Short.
They are inspired, so cleverly worked out and engaging. Definitely worth a read.

I agree with his earlier books being much better than the later ones, and his short stories are always worth a re-read, but my absolute favourite Jeffery Archer is Paths to Glory about George Mallory. It's a fictional story based on the first man to conquer Everest (I still believe he did it!), but was such a good read.

That's like asking my favourite disease.

Definitely the early stuff. 1980s.
He was actually quite a decent writer.
Shame about the rest as I feel a bit grubby these days even thinking of rereading any of them but they really were good political thrillers/sagas.

False impression was quite good it’s a post 9/11 story and a prisoner of birth, loosely based on the count of Monte Cristo. I liked a matter of honour when I was younger and everyone was reading the Kane and Able books but I’m not sure they’ve aged well.

I found he’d got quite stale for a bit and you could lift whole paragraphs out of old books and interchange them with his recent stuff. He then got better again after being in prison I think spending time away from his privilege did him good.

I bloody loved Kane and Abel but I suspect I wouldn't so much now. I was a voracious consumer of blockbusters in my teens.

I agree any of his earlier stuff. I'm currently reading the newer stuff but it's a bit obsessive about the art world & not much happens & I'm struggling tbh. My faves:

Kane & Abel / Prodigal daughter
Honor among theives
As the Crow Flies
A matter of honour
First among equals
Not a penny more, not a penny less.

Sidney Sheldon (not the new horrible ghostwritten ones) stills beat for me JA though!

Yes to Sidney Sheldon. I also read masses of my dad's Jack Higgins.

“Shall we tell the president” was my first Jeffery Archer book, which I read as a teen in the eighties, so remains a favourite.

’Not a Penny more’ is good.

I loved Kane and Abel. I was shocked, I expected to hate anything by JA.

First Among Equals. Cracking story. Also, learned an awful lot about politics and Parliament, some of which might even be true.

Ah I’ve found my people! I cringe when I think of JA, but I was gripped by Kane and Abel, lol. Could not put it down.

I enjoyed reading his prison diaries.

His prison diaries are brilliant - so good I've read them twice.

Kane & Abel without a doubt

I read Kane and Abel as a teen and First among equals as my dad had them. Really enjoyed both but not sure I would now!

As the Crow Flies

As The Crow Flies. Great book.

I love his short stories A quiver full of Arrows

First among equals for me

I was kinda hoping for a general consensus but looks like I'll have to just read all of them! 😂 Thank you everyone

I'm rereading Kane and Abel on the back of this thread.

It stands up to the test of time as a solid blockbusting rags to riches/riches to more riches family/political saga spanning the 20th Century.

The one thing that strikes me now is it's very much "tell" rather than "show". Lots of short sentences, very simply written and so very easy to race through. A happens, followed by B and there's a nice solution with C and onto the next chapter.

Good storytelling though, which is what I was after.

We gathered all of them from the local charity and second hand shops. The kids were about 8&6 at the time, they still remember the dedicated fire pit at Dismaland with its smouldering copies of his back catalogue.