Cometh the Hour, Jeffrey Archer

Book 6, the penultimate book of the Clifton Chronicles

'If there was a Nobel prize for storytelling, Archer would win'- Daily Telegraph.
Background & Plot: 
Five books have been published in the series so far. Harry, a poor boy brought up by his single mother, has worked hard, been through a LOT, and is now (over five books) a successful author. 

He has devoted his life to getting an author named Anatoly Babakov, imprisoned in a Siberian gulag for writing a book on Stalin, released. Things finally begin to look positive, but then something unexpected happens. Harry's wife Emma, Chairman of the Barringtons' is ever busy. Will she come out clean of the charges levied on her by Lady Virginia Fenwick? She also has become friends with Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, a powerful lady. What does their friendship lead to?

Meanwhile, her brother Giles has to decide between his political career, and the girl Karin who he has fallen for, and is trapped behind the Iron Curtain, in East Germany. Her father Pengelly is in England, ever hopeful of meeting his daughter before he dies. But is she really who she is? And who exactly is Pengelly? Add to this, tooth and nail attempts by Lady Virginia Fenwick, to bring down the Barringtons, and Giles in particular. The self proclaimed socialite that she is, she gets acquainted with a rich yet simple man from the States. So what web does she weave to trap him in?

Harry's son Sebastian, is in a mess of his own. Even after knowing he has a daughter in the States who is highly talented, he cannot figure out how to address the issue, and how to approach Samantha. And to add to his already troubled personal life, he meets a beautiful Indian girl named Priya, who he falls for, and wants to marry. But what will her parents, the all powerful Ghumans, say? And then there are his nemeses, Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor, who have joined ranks with Lady Fenwick. He has found a few great advisors-'foul weather friends'- Hakim Bishara, Kaufman, Clive Bingham, etc. Sloane and Mellor try desperately to bring down Farthings and Barringtons. Do they succeed?

(I'm posting whatever is there on the cover of the book. Some bits may be spoilers...)

My thoughts:
The storytelling, as usual and as expected, is magnificent. I might sound biased, but then Archer is a genius. He has been one of my favourite authors, and it's quite hard to find flaws in his books. The way things seem to fall into place, and then suddenly something totally unexpected happens, is something very few authors can bring out, so effortlessly. And when you finish an Archer book, the way the characters tend to stay with you for a long time, happens with very few books. 

Coming to this book in particular, it has a more positive outlook compared to all earlier books in the series. The ending is again a cliff-hanger, but somehow didn't affect me the way the older ones had. There are so many twists in totally unexpected places, assimilating what you read takes some time. Apart from the storyline, I also liked the glimpses into everyday life of the UK, India and the States, back then.
To sum up, an engrossing read. A chunk of chapters is devoted to one character each, with the years mentioned at the beginning. Read all books in sequence, else nothing will make sense at all. 

Rating: 9/10

P.S: The wait for the last book of the series, will be short, as he's announced the release later this year, in November. Titled THIS WAS A MAN, I have a very sinister feeling about the was. As the series has followed Harry Clifton's life from his childhood, his end will be expected. But do we really want to see him die? I'm not so sure, and I hope the title refers to William Warwick, and not Harry Clifton!


Read also: A brief review of the entire Clifton Chronicles
(Picture sourced, and book bought from Amazon)

Comments

  1. Sir Jeffrey archer we need no introduction to his book, am sure will be an awesome read :)

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    1. Yea, it almost comes to the legendary Kane and Abel standard.

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  2. and i haven't read a single yet... sigh...
    soon :-)

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    1. Start this series and try finishing before November :)

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  3. My favorite author. His Clifton chronicles are awesome. I have read 3 so far. Nice summed up review.
    ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​A Rat's​ ​Nibble

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    1. Yes. So are all his other books. Read the rest of the Clifton books soon! :)

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