Getting Rather Monotonous!. Review on Fourth Estate, The - Jeffrey Archer

Ever felt that the plot was familiar or the story rather stale? Well, that’s exactly the feeling you get when you read Jeffrey Archer’s ‘The Fourth Estate’ if you’ve already read ‘Kane and Abel’ and ‘As the Crow flies’. Archer might be the ‘greatest story-teller’ of all times, but he certainly lacks originality. The book doesn’t offer anything new, apart from boredom of course. Even the emotions, which were so strong and had the ability to captivate the readers in his previous books seem to have worn out. I certainly cannot classify ‘The Fourth Estate’ as a good read.

Keith Townsend, the scion of a well-known family, the only son of the editor of a major Australian newspaper, groomed for a public role from his earliest years, a rebel who didn’t give a damn to anyone and a daring gambler. Richard Armstrong, a Jew, a hustler and a thief; a man who would change his entire identity if it would reap him profits. The two have little in common apart from a dream to succeed at any cost. One craved wealth, recognition and status whereas the other, anonymity; and both were prepared to put everything on the line to control the biggest newspaper empire in the world. Only one would succeed.

But I must admit that Archer has made a rather dull subject reasonably readable. There are some innovations such as the fact that Archer has shown his lead characters not as heroes but rather as dishonorable people who had no pretensions about bluffing and cheating. And another interesting point is that most readers would expect no outcome from such a clash, but surprisingly only one of the two actually succeeds while the other fails. But basically, the three rating is just as a mark of respect to the great man who has shelled out so many good books and not really for the quality of the book.

Overall, not a novel worth wasting time over.