Jeffrey Archer The Clifton Chronicles Series 7 Books Collection Set

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So the reader doesn’t know and you don’t know and you’ve got a year of course to work it out and get it right. But that’s the fun. As the undercover officers start to draw the threads together, William realizes that the corruption may go deeper still, and more of his colleagues than he first thought might be willing to turn a blind eye. I love Jeffrey Archer’s supreme talent in story telling and creating characters that are easy to like and a relish to hate. Kane and Abel is still my favourite novel of all time, and this series is turning out to be a solid, well written saga. Twists and cliffhangers galore. This Was a Man opens with a shot being fired, but who pulled the trigger, and who lives and who dies?

MY THOUGHTS: Jeffrey Archer is a true story-teller. I swear he could take a shopping list and make a story of it. Early on, Harry brings an end to his popular book series, deciding instead to turn his attention to writing his best-ever work. Emma, who's spent the last 10 years as chairwoman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, gets a call from none other than Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who offers her a job. Sir Giles, meanwhile, is ramping up his efforts as a member of Parliament on the opposing side - pitting him squarely against his sister Emma. Harry Clifton is an author on a crusade. As President of the English PEN society, he is determined to be the catalyst for the Russians freeing jailed author Anatoly Babakov. Maisie's sacrifices and the secret of Harry's parentage are the main focus of Only Time Will Tell. Harry has grown up thinking Arthur Clifton is his father and that he died in the war. Maisie knows the truth about Harry's parentage, and a few people know the truth about Arthur Clifton's death, but no one tells Harry anything. The characters’ stories intertwined with historical events of the period such as the Cold war and Margaret Thatcher’s political ascent. While some chapters focus on British political and international espionage others will on corporate espionage and financial crime and some will give us more social commentary of the time. The portrayal of these different views is really what keeps the story fresh and engaging.Harry Clifton remains determined to get Anatoly Babakov released from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated. Other, than to hint that the final act is a delightful mixture of fictional writing, political speech writing, and poignancy written from the mind and heart of an author who has surely lived and experienced that of which he crafts his ending. It is courageous, eloquent, humanitarian, and worthy of the high ovation he places around those characters of whom he created to demonstrate what faith, courage, and seeking the truth can reap for all communities, which fosters that character.

One thing intrigued me is that unlike most of the fictions in which bad guys have to face justice eventually, Jeff Archer let Lady Virginia get away with all her evil deeds and crimes. He even let her attend Harry's funeral and behave properly at the end, given that she had caused so many harms and even death to Harry's family. Maybe this is closer to reality since bad people mostly get away in the real world.We’ve finally come to the last instalment in the Clifton Chronicles series. What was originally supposed to be a trilogy eventually turned into an amazing seven book series spanning more than 60 years, and I’m so glad it did. I have waited for this book (thankfully not so long in between book 6 and 7 this time!) to put an end to this fantastic series. I enjoyed every word and didn’t want the book to finish. Early on, Harry brings an end to his popular book series, deciding instead to turn his attention to writing his best-ever work. Emma, who’s spent the last 10 years as chairwoman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, gets a call from none other than Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who offers her a job. Sir Giles, meanwhile, is ramping up his efforts as a member of Parliament on the opposing side – pitting him squarely against his sister Emma.

Writing was easy to read, addictive and flawless. It was told in third person narrative from Emma, Harry, Giles, Seb, Bishra, and Virginia’s perspective; started in 1970 from where the previous book ended with result of court case against Emma and ended in 1978. Being second last book of the series, lot of things were happening. All good things must come to an end and that is true with the Clifton Chronicles. This Was a Man is the seventh and final book in the series. I am left with mixed feelings. I am sad because I will miss Harry, Emma, Giles, and Sebastian. The ending was terrific and emotional but made sense and was fitting. We meet Harry, Emma, Giles, Karin, Sebastian, Samantha, Jessica, Lady Virginia and all the other characters we’ve come to love for the very last time. I don’t want to say too much a) because it would spoil it for those who haven’t yet read, and b) my husband is still working his way through the other books and wouldn’t be happy if he read any spoilers!, but this book was definitely worth the wait. It ties up all the little loose ends which have been unravelling all the way through the series, all the while managing to keep you hanging at the end of every chapter with a cliff-hanger in true Archer style. The ending was lovely, and I knew I would cry, but very fitting for these fine books. I’m not sure what I will have to look forward to now, Jeffrey Archer has managed to keep me in suspense until the new instalment came out for years. I suppose I shall have to read them all over again!What I found extremely striking about the author's writing was that he first gets his readers surrounded with the thoughts of only his characters and one by one, he asks you to choose your comrade among them. In a nutshell, the story is extremely enticing, captivating and highly exciting despite being sympathetic in its own way. The author devised one hell of a spellbinding tale that won't disappoint any of his readers. She looked up and smiled. He didn’t know her name, and perhaps it was better that he didn’t. All he knew was that she spoke fluent English, was an interpreter by profession, roughly the same age as Karin, and would be wearing an identical outfit to hers. But there was one thing Walter hadn’t explained. Why was she willing to take such a risk? I was surprised when I learnt this last book was being released so soon after the last book and I think it does show quite starkly. It was a bit of a mish mash of information. Archer seems to expect his readers to remember every little detail of the previous novels (and sometimes it's seems like he's forgotten, he's vague about aspects of the previous novels and has made a couple of mistakes) and doesn't alway elaborate on the plot so it does get a bit confusing. There seemed to be babies born with no preamble, dead relatives with no funerals, children adopting parents, 70 years olds embarking on new career paths with no real explanation, art prizes being flung around while personal lives were completely ignored and one of the most major themes of these novels was glossed over in one paragraph.