Hidden in Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer

 

Hidden in Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer-295 pages

William Warwick has been promoted to Detective Sergeant, but his promotion means that he, along with the rest of his team, have been reassigned to the Drugs Squad. They are immediately tasked with apprehending Khalil Rashidi, a notorious drug dealer, who operates his extensive network out of South London.  Good thing Rashidi has the habit of visiting his mother every Friday because this is where William and his team pick up a clue that will help them nab him in the end!

This is the second installment in the William Warwick series.  I enjoy Jeffrey Archers writing.

The Eleventh Commandment by Jeffrey Archer

 464 pages (mass market paperback)

"Connor Fitzgerald has an impressive resume. Military hero. Devoted family man. Servant of his country―as an assassin. Just as he's about to put his twenty-eight-year career at the CIA behind him, he comes up against the most dangerous enemy he's ever faced: His own boss, Helen Dexter.

"As Director of the CIA, Dexter has always been the one to hold the strings. But when her status is threatened by a greater power, her only hope for survival is to destroy Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, the country braces itself as tensions with a new Russian leader reach the boiling point…and it's up to Fitzgerald to pull off his most daring mission yet: To save the world. Even if that means risking everything―including his own life―in the process."  --from the publisher

First, I love Archer's Clifton Chronicles. They are outstanding, and if you like epic, generational stories then you would probably enjoy the series. This book, however, was written like an action movie. The character development and transitions between settings were lacking, imho. I found it hard to follow and engage even though the storyline was interesting. I give it three out of five stars.

Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer

(Detective William Warwick #1)

320 pages / 9 hrs, 27 mins

"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?  --from the publisher

I love Archer's writing style, and the narrator is one of my favorites (George Blagden, who also narrated Clifton Chronicles). The plot and characters are a bit too high society for my interests, but I'll definitely try the next in the series. I give it four out of five stars.

A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer

A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer
512 pages

"If Danny Cartwright had proposed to Beth Wilson the day before, or the day after, he would not have been arrested and charged with the murder of his best friend. But when the four prosecution witnesses are a barrister, a popular actor, an aristocrat, and the youngest partner in an established firm's history, who is going to believe your side of the story?

"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.

"However, Spencer Craig, Lawrence Davenport, Gerald Payne, and Toby Mortimer all underestimate Danny's determination to seek revenge, and Beth's relentless quest to pursue justice, which ends up with all four fighting for their lives..."  --from the publisher

Strong story with solid characters and several plot twists!  Is Jeffrey Archer a modern day Charles Dickens?  I love happy endings!  I give it four out of five stars.

Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer

Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer-320 pages

I enjoyed the "Clifton Chronicles" by Jeffrey Archer so I was looking forward to the launch of his new series "William Warwick".  I was not disappointed.  This follows a young man who since the age of 8 had always wanted to be a detective.  He achieves his dream and is on the fast track to Scotland Yard.  There are several cases going on at once and through many twists and turns he seems to always come out on top.  I highly recommend.

This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer

This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer
(The Clifton Chronicles #7)
432 pages / 12 hrs, 47 mins

"In Whitehall, Giles Barrington discovers the truth about his wife Karin from the Cabinet Secretary. Is she a spy or a pawn in a larger game? Harry Clifton sets out to write his magnum opus, while his wife Emma completes her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and receives an unexpected call from Margaret Thatcher offering her a job. Sebastian Clifton becomes chairman of Farthings Kaufman bank, but only after Hakim Bishara has to resign for personal reasons. Sebastian and Samantha's talented daughter Jessica is expelled from the Slade School of Fine Art, but her aunt Grace comes to her rescue. Meanwhile, Lady Virginia is about to flee the country to avoid her creditors when the Duchess of Hertford dies, and she sees another opportunity to clear her debts and finally trump the Cliftons and Barringtons."  --from the publisher

Wow! This was excellently done. The cast of characters and time span for this series are both immense, and Archer does a masterful job keeping the details straight so the reader is engaged in the story. The plot dragged in some places, but not for long. I may have to revisit this series in the future.  Loved it!