β Scribed by Jeffrey Archer
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
A real-life mountaineering mystery serves as the springboard for bestseller Archer's abysmal latest. The plot begins promisingly with the body of mountaineer George Mallory discovered on the slopes of Mt. Everest in 1999, possibly having been the first man to have reached the summit. But hopes of an adventurous yarn are soon dashed as the novel becomes a long flashback, offering stock vignettes of Mallory's childhood, Cambridge days and mountaineering adventures. These passages are hampered by phoned-in writing, clumsy attempts at verisimilitude and a notable lack of psychological depth. Along the way, Mallory marries, becomes a father, serves in WWI and finds himself pitted against Australian mountaineer George Finch as a potential leader of Britain's push to conquer Everest. Archer does eventually offer his opinion as to whether Mallory summited Everest, but by that point all but his most devoted fans will have fled the icy crags of this lifeless novel. (Mar.)
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Praise for Jeffrey Archer:
βA dynamite commercial novel β¦ Archer brings it off with panache.β
---The Washington Post on A Prisoner of Birth
βBestseller Archer pays homage to Dumasβs The Count of Monte Cristo in this delicious updating of the adventure classic.β¦ The authorβs firsthand knowledge of prison life and legal maneuvers help make this a thoroughly enjoyable entertainment.β
---Publishers Weekly on A Prisoner of Birth
βLike other Archer thrillers, the book is compulsively readable.β
---Library Journal on A Prisoner of Birth
βA worthy successor to the still bestselling The Da Vinci Code.β
---Liz Smith, New York Post , on False Impression
βOne of the top ten storytellers in the world.β
---Los Angeles Times
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A novel about one man's extraordinary quest to climb Mt. Everest from the one writer who could bring such a towering, epic tale vividly to life#1" New York Times" bestselling author Jeffrey ArcherSome people have dreams that are so magnificent that if they were to achieve them, their place in histor
The Sunday Times No. 1 epic new novel inspired by the heroic real-life tale of George Mallory ### Review Praise for Jeffrey Archer: "A dynamite commercial novel ... Archer brings it off with panache." ---"The Washington Post" on "A Prisoner of Birth" "Bestseller Archer pays homage to Dumas
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