Customer Reviews

A Prisoner of Birth

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Wow! I read THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO as a teen, and it's always been a favorite of mine, so I was delighted to learn that Jeffrey Archer's new novel was a modern version of that well-loved tale. But A PRISONER OF BIRTH is a good deal more than a new spin on Alexandre Dumas--it's a fascinating, edge-of-your-seat thriller that actually makes a few valid points about the world today. From courtroom to prison to freedom with a glamorous new identity and a burning desire for revenge, the young hero of Archer's book is a worthy contemporary counterpart of Edmond Dantes, the "Count" of Monte Cristo. But you don't have to be familiar with the Dumas original to enjoy this terrific story. It's a good, old-fashioned page-turner that succeeds on its own merits. Highly recommended.

Jeffrey Archer's " A Prisoner of Birth" opens on a cheerful note. An East-Ender named Danny Cartwright gets down on one knee and proposes to his pregnant girlfriend, Beth Wilson, who happily accepts. Bernie, Beth's brother and Danny's best mate, joins the happy couple at a pub to celebrate. The revelry ends abruptly when four drunken men pick a fight with Bernie and Danny, who depart with Beth to avoid a row. Unfortunately, the three are confronted by their antagonists and a vicious brawl ensues, leaving Bernie dead and Danny arrested for his murder. Although Danny's conscientious young attorney, Alex Redmayne, does his best to defend his client (who refuses to plead guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter), the four men from the pub, who call themselves the Musketeers, concoct a bogus but credible story and stick with it.

The actual killer is Spencer Craig who, ironically, is a barrister specializing in criminal law. Craig is a sociopath who has convinced his three friends, Gerald Payne, an estate agent, Lawrence Davenport, a television, actor, and Toby Mortimer, a drug addict, whom he has known since their days at Cambridge, to lie on his behalf. The wealthy and privileged Craig has contempt for the uneducated Cartwright and is elated when the jury finds Danny guilty. The sentence: twenty-two years in Belmarsh high-security prison.

"A Prisoner of Birth" is reminiscent of Dumas' classic "The Count of Monte Cristo," with Danny playing the role of Edmond Dantes, who was also the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. While in prison, Danny undergoes a major transformation. His cellmate, Nick Moncrieff, is an sophisticated and cultured individual; under his tutelage, Danny loses his accent and begins to speak and behave like a gentleman. He also takes courses and proves to be an intelligent and gifted pupil, especially in mathematics and business. Although his future seems bleak, a series of unforeseen events provide Danny with the opportunity to clear his name while taking revenge on the people who wronged him.

Archer has written an engrossing tale that is blessedly free of the sensationalism, gore, and explicit language that is common in today's fiction. Archer's style brings to mind the novels of yesteryear, with a beginning, middle, and end, and no distracting flashbacks. On the downside, Archer offers no shading in his characterizations; the villains are contemptible and the heroes are loyal and steadfast. Since most people are somewhat familiar with the Dumas story, there are few surprises in store. Still, once the reader becomes invested in Danny's fate, he will be interested to see how the young man's problems are eventually resolved. There is something here for everyone: scenes of intense courtroom drama, a touching romance, high-stakes financial intrigue, and a few delectable twists and turns in the final chapters. Although "A Prisoner of Birth" is not subtle, edgy, realistic, or brilliantly written, it is a good old-fashioned yarn, and that alone will earn it an eager audience.

The novel is engaging as I found Danny Cartwright more likable and accessible than Edmond Dantes from Dumas classic The Count of Monte Cristo. There are several devices to tie up the complex plot in A Prisoner of Birth (as a previous reviewer mentions) but then again in the Dumas classic there are several items that make the story go that strain credibility (that a prisoner can make medication, tools, and ink in his cell). A certain amount of this stuff is necessary to make the plot go. The fact that Cartwright can take a plea is pure modern times. Nice touch. The ending is riveting as Cartwright doen't completely blindside his enemies, and ruin them via his wealth and the power that brings [as Dantes does]. I loved Dumas' clasic and enjoyed this as well.

Two social groups come together in a pub. Danny Cartwright is out celebrating his engagement to Beth. Four nobs are out celebrating one of their birthdays. When one of the nobs insults Beth, the matter gets taken outside into the alley. Beth's brother is killed and the nobs frame Danny for the murder. Not everyone believes that he is guilty. Some reviewers have compared this to the Count of Monte Cristo (a wrongfully convicted man seeking revenge). In the plot, Danny is reading that novel in the prison library.

One gets a good look at the British legal system, as well as the class system. Danny is a garage mechanic from London's East End who somehow got through school without learning to read and write (he is exceptionally smart, and has an amazing somewhat photographic memory). He is well liked, and has his allies.

Locked away in prison, he has nothing else to do with his time, and two years of concentrated study can bring about major changes. Call it a finishing school.

The villains do not have the solidarity they might desire (there are always weak reeds) and tend to get themselves in deeper over time. There is some very interesting legal maneuvering. There is also some information about Swiss banking.

It might be noted that the author spent two years in a prison (as well as time in the House of Commons and House of Lords). He had the unique opportunity to research material for the novel first hand. It might also be noted that he attended Oxford University and cast the villains in the novel as being from Cambridge University.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this one! Of course I have to admit to being one of those people who feel that the work of Alexandre Dumas in his Count of Monte Cristo is one of the fifty best novels in the English language. This book by author Jeffrey Archer is a wonderful update and take- off from that classic work by Dumas. This novel takes place primarily in England, although does move about a bit later in the book.

The plot line has been pretty well covered here by other reviews so I will not dwell on that at length. Suffice to say that we have a poor young man who is set up and framed by four quite wealthy and privileged young men for the crime of murder. Danny, our hero, is an uneducated mechanic who cannot read or write. He is brilliant though, and through a series of fortunate circumstances, ends up sharing a cell with two remarkable individuals who transform Danny's life. Again, the author is sticking to the Dumas work pretty closely.

This work is completely filled with twists and turns and just when you think you have if figured out, or that all is lost, the author neatly twirls events and you are off in another direction. The plot is rather complicated but is surprisingly easy to follow as are the well developed characters. This can be and should be classified as a thriller, but it is so much more than that. Archer's knowledge of the legal system and prison life allow the story to be told in a realistic fashion (yes, I admit that the author does stretch a few things here and there, but hey folks, this is a novel meant to entertain, not a T.V. documentary...yawn). This work also takes a close look at the English class system, at its worse and the play between the lower and upper classes of society, i.e. the have and have not's.

This is a rather large novel, which in a way is unfortunate, because if you are like me, once you finish the first page or two, you will be hooked and you are going to be there for awhile. Now I fully admit to loving to read a good revenge book and this is one of the best in that genre I have read in quite some time. No spoilers here, I hope, but I found this to be a very satisfying read!

Recommend this one highly. If you are into this type of novel, I cannot see how you will not like it.

Don Blankenship

The Ozarks

Here's a book that proves there is good reason Mr. Archer is Great Britain's best selling novelist. What good can come when a Cockney lad shares a pint with his fiance and his best friend in the wrong (posh) end of London inside a pub full of drunken gentry? A few sodden comments, a leer here and there, and his friend lies dead outside the drinking establishment. With enough money, one can avoid the consequences of sin in any court. With power, pounds, and position, the three guilty "gentlemen" can manuever through the English courts with relative ease. The innocent "Danny" loses his lover, his unborn child, and 20+ years of his life. But, education can find its way even through locked cells, if one seeks it. In prison Danny is tutored by a genteel man whose own world has been rocked. Danny becomes a student of protocol. He is taught to dress like, talk like, and becomes even more of a look-a-like of his new friend and mentor. Suddenly, during a prison riot, Danny's soon to be released friend is killed. Fortuitously, (and because it makes for a great story!), Danny is mistakenly identified as his teacher, and summarily released from prison. It this was a great story before, and it was, PRISONER OF BIRTH now goes to max power and soars. Danny, becomes his friend. With all the accoutrements of fortune, and the new faculty of mind and body to right quite a number of wrongs. The first of whom will be each of the dandies who conspired to admit him to a generation of confinement. Vengence may be the Lord's, but the Almighy likely could not have done a better job of bringing the "olde public school tie boys" to their days of judgment. And, then there is the final twist. Of course, Danny is found out, and naturally he loses all that he gains; because, in the end justice must prevail. Or, must it? And, after all justice isn't always what comes out of a courtroom. Sometimes, "One good act of vengeance deserves another." This is an extremely entertaining read. Buy it. Buy two, in the event your spouse begins PRISONER and takes yours from you...

Jeffrey Archer said he hoped to write a book better than his first and he succeeded here. As he said in his interview at the end of the audio version of A Prisoner of Birth, in a story of revenge a person has to have a "pot of gold" in order to have the time to spend on a game of revenge. And he wanted to find a very creative way to get Danny out of jail. He was successful on all counts. I'm not sure I believed the prison sections, although Archer insists the content here is based on his personal experience in jail. However, going to jail for perjury and going to jail for murder would put offenders in different cell blocks with different rules, so I think there is not as much of a reality base in those sequences as Archer thinks there is. Nevertheless, he successfully suspends a reader's belief system and weaves a great tale. The end is perfect. He doesn't rush it, which many authors tend to do. Yet he doesn't diminish it with a lot of detail. It's a surprise, yet he foreshadows it very early on in the book. The subtly of the foreshadowing is so good that the reader totally forgets about it. Awesome writing technique. It's one of the best endings to a well crafted story that I've read in a long time. The other reviewers on this book give endless story briefs, so I won't do so myself. But buy it. If you prefer audio, the reader is outstanding. I sat in my garage on many a night coming home from work to see what happened next. Either purchase is well worth your money.

I would have rated this a 3 plus or 4 minus, but overall I found Archer's latest tome to be fun. Of course, one must suspend reality in order to accept the whole premise. [Poor man wrongfully accused while the weathy scoundrels "get off." Assuming identities, etc. to attempt to seek revenge.] I was a big Archer fan many years ago. Since I've been quite disappointed lately [with other books], I found this one to be very civilized and stylish in a very British manner. Archer's characterizations are terrific. Some of his minor players [such as Fraser Munroe, Uncle Hugo & his wife, Alex & his father, the Swiss banker] are just fabulous! Loved Munroe and the interplay between the father and son lawyers. Reading about the wills was intriguing.[Don't want to spoil this!] The description of the jail seemed quite real. Nick & Danny were likable characters, and, of course, one naturally finds oneself rooting for them. If you're in the mood for a good romp and are willing to suspend reality, this book will not disapppoint. I guess this is what is usually called good vacation and/or beach reading. Absolutely nothing wrong with this. Could have used better editing, but fortunately Archer is a deft writer. If this were music, it would be quite lively and definitely not in a minor key. Unfortunately for me, I love music written in a minor key! Recommended as light reading -- although the book itself is not so light!

I have read many of Jeffrey Archer's books and have enjoyed them all. I never thought he would be able to write something as wonderful as "Cane and Able" but he has. "A Prisoner of Birth" is by far his best novel and one of the best books I have read in a very long time. It was a very hard book to put down. It keeps your attention until the very end and at the end you are not disappointed.

This was my first Jeffrey Archer novel and I'm wondering, how did I miss this guy? From the first page until the very last, I was truly amazed at the quality of characters, the storyline and everything in between in this outstanding book. There is nothing I can add to the rest of the great reviews here. This book is truly outstanding in every way.

Highly recommended and I'd give it 10 stars if I could.