A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A Prisoner of Birth
Book Review: Officially Became One of My Top 5's
Summary: 5 Stars
To start, I have read on average 52-60 novels per year for the past 17 years. That's an average. I started reading this book a little over a week ago and just finished it. Obviously, the second someone is done with a book is not always the most objective time to review a book but I just couldn't wait.
I'll assume you know the plot line and the players. Just think Count of Monte' Cristo meets 'Any John Grisham book' meets Wallstreet (movie) meets Shawshank Redemption. You get the idea.
It has everything and it is done in a very proper and respectful English manner and it is done perfectly. Right this second, out of nearly 1000 books it is my #2. That's got to stand for something.
Book Review: Oh what a tangled web we weave...
Summary: 5 Stars
Two social groups come together in a pub. Danny Cartwright is out celebrating his engagement to Beth. Four nobs are out celebrating one of their birthdays. When one of the nobs insults Beth, the matter gets taken outside into the alley. Beth's brother is killed and the nobs frame Danny for the murder. Not everyone believes that he is guilty. Some reviewers have compared this to the Count of Monte Cristo (a wrongfully convicted man seeking revenge). In the plot, Danny is reading that novel in the prison library.
One gets a good look at the British legal system, as well as the class system. Danny is a garage mechanic from London's East End who somehow got through school without learning to read and write (he is exceptionally smart, and has an amazing somewhat photographic memory). He is well liked, and has his allies.
Locked away in prison, he has nothing else to do with his time, and two years of concentrated study can bring about major changes. Call it a finishing school.
The villains do not have the solidarity they might desire (there are always weak reeds) and tend to get themselves in deeper over time. There is some very interesting legal maneuvering. There is also some information about Swiss banking.
It might be noted that the author spent two years in a prison (as well as time in the House of Commons and House of Lords). He had the unique opportunity to research material for the novel first hand. It might also be noted that he attended Oxford University and cast the villains in the novel as being from Cambridge University.
Book Review: One of the Best Authors I have ever read
Summary: 5 Stars
Jeffrey Archer is one of the most outstanding authors I have ever read..I started with Kane & Abel and since then I have purchased every book that he has published and have never been disappointedBook Review: One of the best books I've read recently
Summary: 4 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it compelling and I did not want to put it down. I think the author did a great job weaving an intricate story. I love to have someone to root for and I got that in Danny Cartwright. I found myself thinking about this book many times as if the events were actually occurring in real life. I liked the fast pace of the book too.
There were definitely a few things that didn't seem realistic to me but I was willing to suspend reality a bit for a good story. Probably the biggest problem for me was to have a completely illiterate man become not only proficient in his academic abilities over a very short time but excel beyond all others in his college courses or leap from not being able to read at all to reading Bleak House and the like.
Absolutely worth your time to read this book!
Book Review: One of the very best!
Summary: 5 Stars
Some of the best authors write too many novels which become less intriguing and poorly written. Not so Jeffrey Archer. This book is/was one of the best I have ever read!!! I did not want the story to end. As I read the book I saw myself turning it into a movie with Russell Crowe or Jude Law and Sean Connery as the elder lawyer. The story was compelling and the ending was so satisfying. Revenge is sweet. Read it. YOu won't be disappointed.