A Prisoner of Birth Mass Market Paperback – 2 December 2008
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International bestseller and master storyteller Jeffrey Archer returns with a tale of fate and fortune, redemption and revenge with A Prisoner of Birth.
Danny Cartwright and Spencer Craig never should have met. One evening, Danny, an East End cockney who works as a garage mechanic, takes his fianceé up to the West End to celebrate their engagement. He crosses the path of Spencer Craig, a West End barrister posed to be the youngest Queen's Counsel of his generation.
A few hours later Danny is arrested for murder and later is sentenced to twenty-two years in prison, thanks to irrefutable testimony from Spencer, the prosecution's main witness.
Danny spends the next few years in a high-security prison while Spencer Craig's career as a lawyer goes straight up. All the while Danny plans to escape and wreak his revenge.
Thus begins Jeffrey Archer's poignant novel of deception, hatred and vengeance, in which only one of them can finally triumph while the other will spend the rest of his days in jail. But which one will triumph? This suspenseful novel takes the listener through so many twists and turns that no one will guess the ending, even the most ardent of Archer's many, many fans.
- Print length618 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date2 December 2008
- ISBN-100312944098
- ISBN-13978-0312944094
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Product description
From the Back Cover
International bestseller and master storyteller Jeffrey Archer is at the top of his game in this story of fate and fortune, redemption and revenge…
"Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages." —The Boston Globe
If Danny Cartwright had proposed to Beth Wilson on any other day, he would not have been arrested and charged with the murder of his best friend. But when the prosecution witnesses happen to be a group of four upper-crust college friends—a barrister, a popular actor, an aristocrat, and the youngest partner in an established firm's history—who is going to believe Danny's side of the story?
"Thoroughly enjoyable."—Publishers Weekly
Danny is sentenced to twenty-two years and sent to Belmarsh prison, the highest-security jail in the land, from where no inmate has ever escaped. But Spencer Craig, Lawrence Davenport, Gerald Payne, and Toby Mortimer all underestimate Danny's determination to seek revenge—and the extent to which his fiancée Beth will go in pursuit of justice.
"Dynamite…plot twists and a slam-bang finale."—The Washington Post
About the Author
Jeffrey Archer was educated at Oxford University. He has served five years in Britain's House of Commons and fourteen years in the House of Lords. All of his novels and short story collections--including And Thereby Hangs a Tale, Kane and Abel, Paths of Glory and False Impression--have been international bestselling books. Archer is married with two sons and lives in London and Cambridge.
Product details
- Language : English
- Mass Market Paperback : 618 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0312944098
- ISBN-13 : 978-0312944094
- Best Sellers Rank: 140,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 183 in Legal Thrillers
- 1,813 in Adventure Stories & Action
- 3,299 in Contemporary Fiction
- Customer reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
However, this story does stand on its own. The characters are complex, Archer gives just enough detail that the surprises later in the story bring you back to the events that happened. The book is engaging and intriguing and one can't put it down as you just need to know what's going to happen next The story is intricately crafted and detailed and makes a lot of sense. The prison scenes are very realistic (probably based on Archer's own experience "serving" 2 years "in Her Majesty's prisons").
If you're intrigued at all by the outline of this story but not sure you want to read or purchase this book, do. You won't be disappointed. This one could easily be made into a movie and would do well. Hey, there's an idea and hopefully it happens.
本小説は大きくは4つの大きなパート、6部構成、全体でエピソードを79に分けて物語が展開される。
エピローグに続く裁判、獄中生活、脱獄後の暮らしぶりと復讐、そして最後の審判。 小気味のいい、スピード感あふれる物語の運びだ。
筋立てについては他のレビュワーの方々が書かれているので、詳細は避けるが、本小説は友人でもありフィアンセの兄の殺人の容疑をかけられた主人公ダニーが犯人一味の策略により殺人の罪をきせられて20年の有期刑となり投獄される。やがて脱獄は不可能といわれた刑務所から幸運に恵まれて同房の他人に成りすまして出獄。 後に知略を尽くして自分を貶めた犯人一味に復讐を果たすことで、ダニーは自分の名誉を回復するまでを描く。
殺人事件から、裁判、判決に至るまでの展開は正直なところ大雑把すぎるし、いかにダニーの弁護を引き受けたアーノルドがその時点ではルーキーだったとしても、彼の弁護ぶりはお粗末すぎるし、裁判にはシロートの読者ですら「?」の事案が弁護人にも警察にもスル―されるのはちょっと不自然。 出獄までの経緯も、出獄してからの生活ぶりもちょっとねぇ、、、こんなことがあるのかよ、ちょっとありえないよなぁ、という感想が最期まで残るのは残念。
本小説はJ.アーチャーらしい仕掛けや伏線があちらこちらに埋め込んであるエンターテインメント。 何気なく読み飛ばしたところが、後ほどの展開に大きな影響を及ぼす。 物語の運びにスピード感があり、ページをめくる手が止まらない。 丁寧に読んで極上のJ.アーチャーならではの極上の英文エンターテインメントを楽しみたい。
決して難しい英語ではないが、英国人らしい文法的にもカッチリしたとても勉強になるいい英語である。 本ペーパーバックの終わりのころには「なんだか自分の英語力が上がったのではないか」と思えるくらい速読が可能になっていること請け合い。 傑作なのは主人公になくてはならない相棒となるBig Alのスコットランドなまりの英語表記。最初は何の意味なのか、想像する事すら難しいのだが、読み進むうちに慣れてきて、それっぽい会話がアタマの中で響くようになってくるのが楽しい。