Fortunately Karin Barrington isn't dead, and even better, Pengelly is! Good beginning, but then over the last six volumes one has become accustomed to main characters surviving cliffhangars.
"One local, however, knew exactly what was going on. Colonel Henson MC (Rtd), had phoned RAF Bodmin within moments of seeing Pengelly leave the cottage firmly clutching his daughter’s arm. He’d rung the number he’d been instructed to call if he thought she was in any danger. Although he had no idea who was on the other end of the line, he delivered the single word ‘Tumbleweed’ before the line went dead. Forty-eight seconds later, a brace of helicopters was in the air."
Good show!
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Quite informative regarding elections, specifically in Britain.
"‘There are two factors the polls are unable to take into account,’ she told Emma. ‘How many people are unwilling to admit they will vote for a woman prime minister, and how many wives are not telling their husbands they will be voting Conservative for the first time.’"
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Sebastian looks at a newspaper while waiting at Ford open.
"Endless photographs of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer chatting at a garden party in Norfolk; Diana looked extremely happy, while the Prince looked as if he was opening a power station."
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"‘This ship is my home. It has everything I require, with the added advantage that I don’t have to pay taxes.’
"‘Isn’t that a little restricting?’ asked Knowles.
"‘No, in fact the opposite. I quite literally enjoy the best of every world. I can visit any port I choose, and as long as I don’t stay for more than thirty days the authorities take no interest in me. And I think it would be fair to say that this ship has everything a major city could offer, including a chef I stole from the Savoy. So, gentlemen, shall we go through to dinner?’"
Don't have to pay taxes????????
Sebastian is bringing back the heirs of now deceased Desmond Mellor back to England from Chicago, where the mother and daughter were living a life of not only poverty but visible signs of abuse.
It's noticeable how often Archer introduces this element of the innocent children of perfect villains, for whom the reader cannot help being completely sympathetic, despite the hatred for the said villain.
Unlike others, though, here there's a surprise and a twist, so one doesn't know which way Kelly would eventually go, but her daughter remains the innocent child.
"‘This ship is my home. It has everything I require, with the added advantage that I don’t have to pay taxes.’
"‘Isn’t that a little restricting?’ asked Knowles.
"‘No, in fact the opposite. I quite literally enjoy the best of every world. I can visit any port I choose, and as long as I don’t stay for more than thirty days the authorities take no interest in me. And I think it would be fair to say that this ship has everything a major city could offer, including a chef I stole from the Savoy. So, gentlemen, shall we go through to dinner?’"
Don't have to pay taxes????????
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Sebastian is bringing back the heirs of now deceased Desmond Mellor back to England from Chicago, where the mother and daughter were living a life of not only poverty but visible signs of abuse.
It's noticeable how often Archer introduces this element of the innocent children of perfect villains, for whom the reader cannot help being completely sympathetic, despite the hatred for the said villain.
Unlike others, though, here there's a surprise and a twist, so one doesn't know which way Kelly would eventually go, but her daughter remains the innocent child.
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Archer has woven in not only his Warwick series as written by Harry Clifton, but announced Heads You Win as well, just after the middle of this final volume of this series, as Harry Clifton's next project!
One of the Archer favourites is a Sotheby auction, this time of Ming dynasty vases. The very format provides for a natural setting for drama, and Archer used it delightfully in As The Crow Flies. Here the drama is good, too, although not quite as high as in the other.
Archer has woven in not only his Warwick series as written by Harry Clifton, but announced Heads You Win as well, just after the middle of this final volume of this series, as Harry Clifton's next project!
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One of the Archer favourites is a Sotheby auction, this time of Ming dynasty vases. The very format provides for a natural setting for drama, and Archer used it delightfully in As The Crow Flies. Here the drama is good, too, although not quite as high as in the other.
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"Sebastian always booked the same corner table at Le Caprice where his conversation wouldn’t be overheard and he had a good view of the other guests. It always amused him that the long glass mirrors attached to the four pillars in the centre of the room allowed him to observe other diners, while they were unable to see him.
"He had no interest in film stars he barely recognized, or politicians who were hoping to be recognized, or even Princess Diana, whom everyone recognized. His only interest was in keeping an eye on other bankers and businessmen to see who they were dining with. Deals that it was useful for him to know about were often closed over dinner."
That's only the second time Archer mentions thequeen of peoples' hearts, for befriending whom he was punished with imprisonment for which an appropriate excuse was of course found.
"Harry always thought himself lucky if he knew the first paragraph, let alone the first chapter, because when he picked up his pen at six o’clock each morning, he had no idea where it would lead him, which was why the Irish said he wasn’t a writer, but a seannachie.
"One thing that would have to be decided before setting out on his latest journey, was the names of the main characters. Harry already knew the book would open in the kitchen of a small house in the back streets of Kiev, where a young boy, aged fifteen, perhaps sixteen, was celebrating his birthday with his parents. The boy must have a name that could be abbreviated, so that when readers were following the two parallel stories, the name alone would immediately tell them if they were in New York or London. Harry had considered Joseph/Joe – too associated with an evil dictator; Maxim/Max – only if he was going to be a general; Nicholai/Nick – too royal, and had finally settled on Alexander/Sasha.
"The family’s name needed to be easy to read, so readers didn’t spend half their time trying to remember who was who, a problem Harry had found when tackling War and Peace, even though he’d read it in Russian. He’d considered Kravec, Dzyuba, Belenski, but settled on Karpenko."
Well, Archer didn't stick to all of it, just the names. It's St Petersburg instead of Kiev, and it opens with Alexander and Vladimir walking home from high school, discussing their futures.
Was Vladimir completely unplanned, and just floated onto paper as Archer began writing?
"Sebastian always booked the same corner table at Le Caprice where his conversation wouldn’t be overheard and he had a good view of the other guests. It always amused him that the long glass mirrors attached to the four pillars in the centre of the room allowed him to observe other diners, while they were unable to see him.
"He had no interest in film stars he barely recognized, or politicians who were hoping to be recognized, or even Princess Diana, whom everyone recognized. His only interest was in keeping an eye on other bankers and businessmen to see who they were dining with. Deals that it was useful for him to know about were often closed over dinner."
That's only the second time Archer mentions thequeen of peoples' hearts, for befriending whom he was punished with imprisonment for which an appropriate excuse was of course found.
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"Harry always thought himself lucky if he knew the first paragraph, let alone the first chapter, because when he picked up his pen at six o’clock each morning, he had no idea where it would lead him, which was why the Irish said he wasn’t a writer, but a seannachie.
"One thing that would have to be decided before setting out on his latest journey, was the names of the main characters. Harry already knew the book would open in the kitchen of a small house in the back streets of Kiev, where a young boy, aged fifteen, perhaps sixteen, was celebrating his birthday with his parents. The boy must have a name that could be abbreviated, so that when readers were following the two parallel stories, the name alone would immediately tell them if they were in New York or London. Harry had considered Joseph/Joe – too associated with an evil dictator; Maxim/Max – only if he was going to be a general; Nicholai/Nick – too royal, and had finally settled on Alexander/Sasha.
"The family’s name needed to be easy to read, so readers didn’t spend half their time trying to remember who was who, a problem Harry had found when tackling War and Peace, even though he’d read it in Russian. He’d considered Kravec, Dzyuba, Belenski, but settled on Karpenko."
Well, Archer didn't stick to all of it, just the names. It's St Petersburg instead of Kiev, and it opens with Alexander and Vladimir walking home from high school, discussing their futures.
Was Vladimir completely unplanned, and just floated onto paper as Archer began writing?
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Harry as an author merges with Archer in story of writing Heads You Win, but then Archer has him pass on nine days after Emma, and as one reads the description of the memorial service, one wonders if this is Archer's tribute to his friend, Princess Diana, who he perhaps wouldn't be allowed to write about - the crowd, the crammed church, the popularity, and instead of the applause for Charles Spencer's speech in mid speech, it's laughter at words of Giles for Harry, thst spills over out of the church.
Harry as an author merges with Archer in story of writing Heads You Win, but then Archer has him pass on nine days after Emma, and as one reads the description of the memorial service, one wonders if this is Archer's tribute to his friend, Princess Diana, who he perhaps wouldn't be allowed to write about - the crowd, the crammed church, the popularity, and instead of the applause for Charles Spencer's speech in mid speech, it's laughter at words of Giles for Harry, thst spills over out of the church.
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ISBN 978-1-4472-5228-3
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................................................ISBN 978-1-4472-5228-3
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