There are so many reviews written on this book, just shows how good it is. I do not remember whose comment it is , on the book which says the gentleman completed the book in two readings, I thought its exaggeration. But when I started reading it, I blamed the job, works, need to have food and all other things that made me keep the book aside for some time. Jeffrey Archer is an ardent story teller. I don’t think anyone can make the story as lovely as he does. The way the book proceeds, we are sorry that it ends after the 470 pages! Its just like a cricket team which has scored 470 runs in the stipulated 50 overs and the second innings has to start, however this team here has lost its players in form!
The story revolves around the world wars and once again makes me feel that if there were no World wars, what would have been? How many fictional heroes would have we missed, other than the addition to great Histories of different nations and their rejuvenation.
The story shows the effect of the world war to one character as he suffers the extremes. It also shows how the World War-2 provided the place for revenge for the person in his own way. The book revolves around three generations and has a similarity to the book " As the crow flies" where there is a single hero. The story of Abel and the Charlie Trumper is similar, where he becomes an owner of a big store from being an owner of a barrow. The success rate is very much like that of Charlie Trumper.
The greatness of the story is the way Archer shoots the arrows, right from the start. The description of the birth of Wladek Koscewicz is really great! It justs brings so many doubts in our mind till the time he reveals what the narrator is really describing about. In many places the story is predictable and surprises although are too great, My badluck was I guessed them rightly beforehand.
The reasons were simple and clear. When the man with the limp saves the Young Captain in the world war, and the equivalent of that not available to the banker, naturally gives us the idea of who the benefactor is! The way Jeffrey Archer makes us to love some of the characters in the story so much that we start loving the names, Like he does to Elizabeths of the books " Shall we tell the President?’ and " First Among Equals". So he does here for the characters Anne and Katherine. He makes them just adorable.
The good thing in the story is that the people who if alive after suffering such humiliations are sent to death, one easy thing for fiction! And there are no untimely deaths like in Charlie Trumper’s As the crow flies. I recommend the book to all lovers of books. I also think that the book should not be seen for the size and the pages should not be counted, as I thought, everyone will feel that it was too short by the time the book comes to an end!