Most Popular Books by Jeffrey Archer

A young student hitch-hiking home from college meets an old man with an incredible story to tell. Taken from his collection Tell Tale, A Wasted Hour is an ingenious and witty short story sure to delight Jeffrey Archer''s many fans and proves why the Mail on Sunday has said that he is ''probably the greatest storyteller of our age''. If you loved this story be sure to look out for The Year of Short Stories, a collection of digital short stories which celebrate the talent of this incredible bestselling author, including The Endgame and The Man Who Robbed His Own Post Office.

Nothing Ventured heralds the start of a brand new series in the style of Jeffrey Archer’s #1 New York Times bestselling Clifton Chronicles: introducing Detective William Warwick. But this is not a detective story, this is a story about the making of a detective . . . William Warwick has always wanted to be a detective, and decides, much to his father’s dismay, that rather than become a lawyer like his father, Sir Julian Warwick QC, and his sister Grace, he will join London’s Metropolitan Police Force. After graduating from university, William begins a career that will define his life: from his early months on the beat under the watchful eye of his first mentor, Constable Fred Yates, to his first high-stakes case as a fledgling detective in Scotland Yard’s arts and antiquities squad. Investigating the theft of a priceless Rembrandt painting from the Fitzmolean Museum, he meets Beth Rainsford, a research assistant at the gallery who he falls hopelessly in love with, even as Beth guards a secret of her own that she’s terrified will come to light. While William follows the trail of the missing masterpiece, he comes up against suave art collector Miles Faulkner and his brilliant lawyer, Booth Watson QC, who are willing to bend the law to breaking point to stay one step ahead of William. Meanwhile, Miles Faulkner’s wife, Christina, befriends William, but whose side is she really on? This new series introduces William Warwick, a family man and a detective who will battle throughout his career against a powerful criminal nemesis. Through twists, triumph and tragedy, this series will show that William Warwick is destined to become one of Jeffrey Archer’s most enduring legacies.

Master storyteller Jeffrey Archer keeps the pace sizzling in this final installment in the Kane and Abel trilogy, Shall We Tell the President?, a daring political thriller where treason and betrayal threaten to topple an American dynasty. After years of great sacrifice and deep personal tragedy, Florentyna Kane has finally become the first woman president in America. But on the very day that she is sworn into office, powerful forces are already in motion to take her life. The FBI investigates thousands of false threats every year. This time, a reliable source has tipped them off about an assassination attempt. One hour later, the informant and all but one of the investigating agents are dead. The lone survivor: FBI Special Agent Mark Andrews. Now, only he knows when the killers will strike. But how can he alone unravel a ruthless conspiracy—in less than one week? The race to save the first woman president begins now...

Originally published: New York: HarperCollins, 1994.

A second installment in a planned five-part series finds Harry despairing of a marriage to Emma and joining the Merchant Navy before assuming the identity of a fallen American soldier whose past proves even more turbulent than Harry''s own.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Archer, the Clifton Chronicles continues with Best Kept Secret. 1945, London. The vote in the House of Lords as to who should inherit the Barrington family fortune has ended in a tie. The Lord Chancellor''s deciding vote will cast a long shadow on the lives of Harry Clifton and Giles Barrington. Harry returns to America to promote his latest novel, while his beloved Emma goes in search of the little girl who was found abandoned in her father''s office on the night he was killed. When the general election is called, Giles Barrington has to defend his seat in the House of Commons and is horrified to discover who the Conservatives select to stand against him. But it is Sebastian Clifton, Harry and Emma''s son, who ultimately influences his uncle''s fate. In 1957, Sebastian wins a scholarship to Cambridge, and a new generation of the Clifton family marches onto the page. But after Sebastian is expelled from school, he unwittingly becomes caught up in an international art fraud involving a Rodin statue that is worth far more than the sum it raises at auction. Does he become a millionaire? Does he go to Cambridge? Is his life in danger? Best Kept Secret, the third volume in Jeffrey Archer''s bestselling series, will answer all these questions but, once again, pose so many more.

Encompassing three continents and spanning over sixty years, bestselling author Jeffrey Archer''s As the Crow Flies brings to life a magnificent tale of one man''s rise from rags to riches set against the backdrop of a changing century. Growing up in the slums of East End London, Charlie Trumper dreams of someday running his grandfather''s fruit and vegetable barrow. That day comes suddenly when his grandfather dies leaving him the floundering business. With the help of Becky Salmon, an enterprising young woman, Charlie sets out to make a name for himself as "The Honest Trader". But the brutal onset of World War I takes Charlie far from home and into the path of a dangerous enemy whose legacy of evil follows Charlie and his family for generations.

Connor Fitzgerald will not have to worry about retirement from the CIA if he cannot stay alive long enough to thwart a hard driving Russian president from beginning World War III.

A collection of fourteen short stories by Jeffrey Archer, many based on true events.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Archer Mightier than the Sword opens with an IRA bomb exploding during the MV Buckingham''s maiden voyage across the Atlantic - but how many passengers lose their lives? When Harry Clifton visits his publisher in New York, he learns that he has been elected as the new president of English PEN, and immediately launches a campaign for the release of a fellow author, Anatoly Babakov, who''s imprisoned in Siberia. Babakov''s crime? Writing a book called Uncle Joe, a devastating insight into what it was like to work for Stalin. So determined is Harry to see Babakov released and the book published, that he puts his own life in danger. His wife Emma, chairman of Barrington Shipping, is facing the repercussions of the IRA attack on the Buckingham. Some board members feel she should resign, and Lady Virginia Fenwick will stop at nothing to cause Emma''s downfall. Sir Giles Barrington is now a minister of the Crown, and looks set for even higher office, until an official trip to Berlin does not end as a diplomatic success. Once again, Giles''s political career is thrown off balance by none other than his old adversary, Major Alex Fisher, who once again stands against him at the election. But who wins this time? In London, Harry and Emma''s son, Sebastian, is quickly making a name for himself at Farthing''s Bank in London, and has proposed to the beautiful young American, Samantha. But the despicable Adrian Sloane, a man interested only in his own advancement and the ruin of Sebastian, will stop at nothing to remove his rival. Jeffrey Archer''s compelling Clifton Chronicles continue in this, his most accomplished novel to date. With all the trademark twists and turns that have made him one of the world''s most popular authors, the spellbinding story of the Clifton and the Barrington families continues.

Cometh the Hour is the penultimate book in the Clifton Chronicles and, like the previous novels - all of which hit the New York Times bestseller list - showcases Jeffrey Archer''s extraordinary storytelling with his trademark twists. It opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia. Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain. But is Karin truly in love with him, or is she a spy? Lady Virginia is facing bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to the hapless Cyrus T. Grant III from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who''s in England to see his horse run at Royal Ascot. Sebastian Clifton is now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank and a workaholic, whose personal life is thrown into disarray when he falls for Priya, a beautiful Indian girl. But her parents have already chosen the man she is going to marry. Meanwhile, Sebastian''s rivals Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor are still plotting to bring him and his chairman Hakim Bishara down, so they can take over Farthings. 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.

Cat O'' Nine Tales is the sixth collection of irresistible short stories from the master storyteller illustrated by the internationally acclaimed artist, Ronald Searle, creator of Molesworth. These twelve yarns are so satisfying because they are ingeniously plotted, include richly drawn characters and have deliciously unexpected conclusions. They feature the mad, the bad and the dangerous to know as well as some more poignant and telling characters. Many of these stories came to Archer while he was incarcerated for two years in five different prisons, and so they have a prison theme. Others were inspired since he was released, but all in all they confirm his position as one of the best storytellers alive today. ''Stylish, witty and constantly entertaining . . . Jeffrey Archer has a natural aptitude for short stories'' - The Times

Jeffrey Archer continues his beloved Clifton Chronicle series as Harry and Emma finally begin building a happy life--but a dangerous family enemy is about to resurface "Best Kept Secret" opens a moment after the end of "The Sins of the Father, " with the resolution of the trial and the triumphant marriage of Harry Clifton and Elizabeth Barrington.

New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Archer-returns with a powerful tale of twins separated by fate and reunited by destiny in Sons of Fortune. In Hartford, Connecticut, in the late 1940s, a set of twins is parted at birth-not by accident. Nat Cartwright goes home with his parents, a schoolteacher and an insurance salesman, while his twin brother begins his days as Fletcher Davenport, son of a millionaire and his society wife. During the 1950s and 1960s, the two brothers grow up apart, following similar paths that take them in different directions. Nat leaves college at the University of Connecticut to serve in Vietnam, then finishes school, earns his MBA, and becomes a successful currency dealer. Fletcher, meanwhile, graduates from Yale University with a bachelor''s and a law degree, going on to distinguish himself as a criminal defense lawyer. At various times in their lives, both men are confronted with challenges and obstacles, tragedy and betrayal, loss and hardship, before they both decide to run for governor, unaware they are brothers.... In the tradition of Jeffrey Archer''s most popular books, Sons of Fortune is as much a chronicle of a nation in transition as it is the story of the making of these two men -and how they eventually discover the truth-and its tragic consequences.

Heaven, Jeffrey Archer''s final volume in his trilogy of prison diaries, covers the period of his transfer from a medium security prison, HMP Wayland, to his eventual release on parole in July 2003. Here is the shocking account of the traumatic time he spent in the notorious Lincoln jail and the events that led to his incarceration there, and also shines a harsh light on a system that is close to its breaking point. Told with humor, compassion, and honesty, the diary closes with a thought-provoking manifesto that will be applauded by reform advocates and the prison population alike.

Inspired by the true story of mountaineer George Mallory, Paths of Glory bring to life one of history''s enduringly enigmatic figures in a stunning novel from bestselling author Jeffrey Archer. ''Archer at the peak of his imaginative powers'' - The Times Some people have dreams that are so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Francis Drake, Robert Scott, Amy Johnson, and Neil Armstrong are among such individuals. But what if one man had such a dream, and when he''d fulfilled it, there was no proof that he had achieved his ambition? Paths of Glory is the story of such a man. But not until you''ve turned the last page of Jeffrey Archer''s extraordinary novel, will you be able to decide if mountaineer George Mallory should be added to this list of legends. Because if he were, another name would have to be removed . . .

Ingeniously plotted and taken from the headlines, Honor Among Thieves resonates with the brilliant pace that is the trademark of master storyteller Jeffrey Archer. Spring 1994, Washington, D.C. - While the Clinton Administration grapples with its domestic policies, a sinister plot is being masterminded six thousand miles away in Baghdad. By using $100 million as bait and spinning a deadly web of corruption, forgery, and terror, Saddam Hussein seeks to embarrass the U.S. with the ultimate revenge: to steal a treasured historical document and then destroy it before the world''s media-on July 4, 1994. As the countdown to Independence Day begins, two agents stand in the way of his nearly flawless plan: Scott Bradley, a rising star in the CIA who is desperate to prove his patriotism, and Hannah Kopec, the stunning Mossad operative who has already lost o much that she fears nothing and trusts no one. Their unrelenting quest to prevent what would undoubtedly be the most humiliating day in U.S. history takes them across four continents and climaxes in a dramatic, triple-twist ending.

"Be Careful What You Wish For opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend? When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner. In London, Harry and Emma''s daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until Jessica''s future mother-in-law has a visit from a friend who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice. Then Cedric Hardcastle, a Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barringtons. This causes upheaval and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle''s first decision is who to support to become the chairman of the board: Emma Clifton or Alex Fisher? And with that the story takes yet another twist that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Be Careful What You Wish For showcases the master storyteller''s talent as never before--when the Clifton and Barrington families march forward into the sixties in this epic tale of love, revenge, ambition and betrayal"--