A PRISONER OF BIRTH
Jeffrey Archer – Macmillan – NZ$38

Jeffrey Archer’s 14th novel is a riveting read in the true Archer style which made his novels like Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less , Kane & Abel, and First Among Equals huge best sellers around the world. Today years after their first hardcover publication they remain in print in paperback.

Angie Willocks was for some years an ever cheerful, always efficient and unfailingly enthusiastic publicist for Macmillan in New Zealand.
The last book she sent me before heading off to the UK for her mandatory OE was A Prisoner of Birth. “I’m not sure whether or not you are a Jeffrey Archer fan but in any case I know you like a good crime thriller so I’m sure you’ll love this one.”
How right she was. I hadn’t read Archer in years but I couldn’t put this one down. He is, of course, one of the great page turners, always has been.

Twists and double twists abound in this story of Danny Cartwright, a young man wrongfully convicted of murder, subsequently sentenced to 22 years in prison, and of his fight from inside to clear his name. Archer spent two years in prison himself in recent times and one assumes it is this experience that enables him to write so convincingly about life on the inside.
At well over 500 pages this is a big read, perfect for that holiday if you are heading north somewhere for some sun during our winter months. Or of course if you live in the northern hemisphere then this will be perfect summer reading.
By the way the explanation for the title comes very near the end of the book forming part of one of Archer’s great plot twists.
This is Archer at his action-filled, imaginative best.