The Collected Short Stories: Jeffrey Archer's Previously Published Stories, Compiled for the First Time in One Definitive Volume

By Jeffrey Archer

Book Overview

Millions of readers around the world have relished Jeffrey Archer's shortstories. Now, for the first time, all three collections are gathered together inone handsome volume. One of the most acclaimed authors writing today, JeffreyArcher is a dazzling storyteller. A master of character and suspense, he has agift for the unexpected plot twist that has catapulted all three of his shortstory collections-- A Quiver Full of Arrows, A Twist in the Tales, and Twelve Red Herrings --onto international bestseller lists and earned himwidespread critical praise. The stories from A Quiver Full of Arrows take is on a tour of ancient heirlooms and modern romance, of cutthroat businessand kindly strangers, of lives lived in the realms of power. Fortunes are madeand squandered, honor betrayed and redeemed, love lost and rediscovered. As Publishers Weekly said about this collection, "Somerset Maugham neverpenned anything so swift or urbanely witty as this." The spellbinding storiesfrom A Twist in the Tale leads us on a journey of thwarted ambition, undying passion, and unanswered honor--to placers we've never visited and peoplewe'll never forget. Readers will meet an extraordinary cast of diversecharacters: a philandering husband who thinks he's committed a perfect murder, aself-assured chess champion who plays a beautiful woman for stakes far higherthan the secrets of a Swiss bank. The New York Times raved about ATwist in the Tale , "Jeffrey Archer plays a subtle cat-and-mouse game with thereader in twelve original stories that end, more often than not, with ourcollective whiskers twitching in surprise." From his inventive thirdcollection, Twelve Red Herrings, comes a dozen delectable morsels inwhich human beings are given opportunities to seize, crucial problems to solve, ordangers to avoid. And buried in each is a red herring Archer challenged hisreaders to uncover. In these stories things are never quite what they seem: animprisoned man is certain that his supposed murder victim is very much alive, afemale driver is tailed relentlessly by a menacing leather-jacketed figure in a pursuing vehicle; a young artist gets the biggest break of her career, an escapedIraqi on Saddam Hussein's death list lands unexpectedly in his homeland. The Daily News Express hailed Twelve Red Herrings as"Outstanding...White-knuckled suspense and witty denouncements." Thesethirty-six tales are Jeffrey Archer at the peak of his form. Wonderfullyentertaining, The Collected Short Stories will astonish, delight, andenthrall Archer's many fans, both old and new.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060192240
• ISBN13: 9780060192242
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 1.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An excellent collection!

THE PLOT:An amazing collection of 36 shortstories from a master storyteller combining romance, history, danger, twists, international intrigue, and domestic angst.WHAT I LIKED:Obviously with 36 shortstories, one cannot simply provide a generic list of key elements. A really nice mix, particularly some of the ones with twist endings. Here is an overview of each of the stories and the ratings for each.- NEVER STOP ON THE MOTORWAY: Woman driver is chased by a van down the motorway, with the context backlit by recent rapes and murders. Fantastic twist. 5.00- OLD LOVE: Two competitors, one boy, one girl compete against each other in everything including who loves the other more and are inseparable throughout life. 4.50 - SHOESHINE BOY: Mountbatten (sic) pays a visit to St. George's where a drastically underfunded Governor rolls out the red carpet. 4.50 - CHEAP AT HALF THE PRICE: Mrs. Rosenheim wants a bauble from the jewelry store but has to play hustle to get the men in her life to commit to buying it. 4.00 - BROKEN ROUTINE: A man whose routine is unflappable is somewhat disturbed by a brash youth on the train who wants to read his paper and smoke his cigarettes. Nice twist. 4.50 - AN EYE FOR AN EYE: A woman has an alibi for the death of her husband: she was not only in the hospital (although the time is shaky) but also blind...or is she? 4.00- THE LUNCHEON: A up and coming man takes an attractive (married) woman to lunch to try and get business favours. Unfortunately lunch is expensive and he has no budget. 3.50 - THE COUP: Two business rivals are stranded in Nigeria during a coup, and they end up resolving their differences and being the real coup. 3.50 - THE PERFECT MURDER: A man commits an accidental murder of his mistress after finding out she was also stepping out with another man, and manages to frame the man for the murder. Cute twist at end. 4.00- YOU'LL NEVER LEARN TO REGRET IT: David is dying of AIDS and leaving everything to Pat. They trick the insurance company despite his condition and collect handsomely on David's death. But insurance companies are sometimes trickier than one might think, as are their brokers. 3.75- THE FIRST MIRACLE: A cute twist on an old tail has an historical figure running errands around the birth of Christ. 3.50 - THE LOOPHOLE: Two friends get into a heated argument at the club and not only engage in slander but also physical fighting, leading to a legal battle and an eventual settlement, yet the two remain friends. 4.00 - THE HUNGARIAN PROFESSOR: An Englishman visits Hungary for the Olympics and meets a Professor who knows all about England and wants to practice his English and talk about all the sites in London. 4.25- THE STEAL: A tightly-budgeted couple takes a vacation and are forced to endure the overblown ramblings of an obnoxiously rich couple, up to and including the purchase of an oriental rug. 4.75 - CHRISTINA ROSENTHAL: A strange story of a Jewish marathon runner and the gentile woman he fell in love w

FABULOUS!

I believe this is a complete compliation of Archer's three previous short story books, which each contain 12 stories. I couldn't put down as Archer is a master of the short story! I've read his long fiction and it's great, but he is truly the best short story writer I have ever read. He takes his stories whree you don't expect, then somewhere totally different - sometimes in the last few words!

Great Short Stories by One of the Finest Minds.....

These are the stories that will keep you turning a page to another until each one ends. Realistically plot-driven, thought-provoking suspense. Ironic twist end. Witty, shrewd characters in some walks of life for some reason, politics frequently in particular. Ironic romance story with four different witty ends. Original ideas that gave birth / inspired and have nourished some of contemporary screenplays. My most favorite is TRIAL AND ERROR: an original, witty story of an unlucky logistics ( haulage truck ) company owner who happened to have married a wrong woman, have trusted a wrong guy professionally and personally, have been in the wrong place at a wrong time just to find the truth that negatively changed his life, ended up in jail for the crime he DID NOT commit and hopefully waited well...impatiently to get out and back to someone who had owed him HIS life.............This 36 short story compilation by one of UK's finest story-telling minds is one of the worthwhile, entertaining readings for almost everyone for sure. If you are a bookworm and a voracious reader of fiction or short story, you MUST have this book. Have a nice day of reading without prejudice.^-^ SP

The best of Archer in 1 volume...quite a posession...!

This collection just thunders along at a hectic pace and you cannot wait to turn over the page to reveal the next twist in the tale. The stories are a mixture of humour, melancholy, utter suspense and bewilderment, and therefore keep the reader moving along at an exhilirating. Its not a book to be read in one sitting but rather savoured at many moments during the reading cycle...!

JEFF HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!

A fabulous read. Mr Archer's magic combination of irony, wit and suspense come together in so many different ways in this collection. The beauty of a book of short stories is that you never get bored or tired of the story. You don't have a chance-you just have to keep reading!!From murder and suspense in "The Perfect Murder" to bitter irony in "The Chinese Statue" Mr Archer's collection is a broad range of clever stories with the usual Archer twist-just to keep you puzzled!!!Bravo Mr Archer