6 reviews for Be Careful What You Wish For
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Be Careful What You Wish For
by Jeffery Archer
Description:
Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer’s Be Careful What You Wish For opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno?
When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, the egregious Major Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham.
Back in London, Harry and Emma’s adopted daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student, Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until Priscilla Bingham, Jessica’s future mother-in-law, has a visit from an old friend, Lady Virginia Fenwick, who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice.
Then, without warning, Cedric Hardcastle, a bluff Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barringtons. This causes an upheaval that none of them could have anticipated, and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle’s first decision is who to support to become the next chairman of the board: Emma Clifton or Major Alex Fisher? And with that decision, the story takes yet another twist that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Be Careful What You Wish For showcases the master storyteller’s talent as never before when the Clifton and Barrington families march forward into the sixties, in this epic tale of love, revenge, ambition and betrayal.
About The Author
Archer wrote his first book, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, in the autumn of 1974, as a means of avoiding bankruptcy. The book was picked up by the literary agent Deborah Owen and published first in the US, then eventually in Britain in the autumn of 1976. A BBC Television adaptation of the book was broadcast in 1990, and a radio adaptation was aired on BBC Radio 4 in the early 1980s.
Kane and Abel (1979) proved to be his best-selling work, reaching number one on The New York Times bestsellers list. Like most of his early work it was edited by Richard Cohen, the Olympic fencing gold-medallist. It was made into a television mini-series by CBS in 1985, starring Peter Strauss and Sam Neill. The following year, Granada TV screened a ten-part adaptation of another Archer bestseller, First Among Equals, which told the story of four men and their quest to become Prime Minister. In the U.S. edition of the novel, the character of Andrew Fraser was eliminated, reducing the number of protagonists to three.
As well as novels and short stories, Archer has also written three stage plays. The first, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, opened in 1987 and ran at the Queen’s Theatre in London’s West End for over a year. However, Archer’s next play, Exclusive, was not well received by critics, and closed after a few weeks. His final play, The Accused, opened at the Theatre Royal, Windsor on 26 September 2000, before transferring to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in the West End in December.
Archer has stated that he spends considerable time writing and re-writing each book. He goes abroad to write the first draft, working in blocks of two hours at a time, then writes anything up to seventeen drafts in total. In 1988 author Kathleen Burnett accused Archer of plagiarising a story she’d written and including it in his short-story collection, A Twist in the Tale. Archer denied he had plagiarised the story, claiming he’d simply been inspired by the idea.
It has been suggested that Archer’s books undergo an extensive editing process prior to publication. Whilst Archer’s books are commercially successful, critics have been generally unfavourable towards his writing. However, journalist Hugo Barnacle, writing for The Independent about The Fourth Estate (1996), thought the novel, while demonstrating that “the editors don’t seem to have done any work”, was “not wholly unsatisfactory”.
Since 2010, Archer has written the first draft of each new book at his luxury villa in Majorca, called “Writer’s Block”.
In 2011, Archer published the first of seven books in The Clifton Chronicles, which follow the life of Harry Clifton from his birth in 1920, through to the finale in 2020. The first novel in the series, Only Time Will Tell, tells the story of Harry from 1920 through to 1940, and was published in the UK on 12 May 2011. The sixth instalment, Cometh the Hour, was published on 25 February 2016. The final novel in the series, This Was a Man, was published on 3 November 2016.
Archer’s next novel has been provisionally titled Heads You Win, and will be published in 2017, along with another volume of short stories.
Skryf Review
“Amazing Reading”
Sejal
They are very well written and researched. I always enjoy his well-thought-out style and story lines. My only objection is, since I did not know this was the last of the series, I was shocked when I came to the end and found so much unresolved and a note promising the next book sometime in 2015! Plus, until today, I thought it was the third — Is that why there were details I missed?! However, I do plan to put a hold on that book at the library as soon as I possibly can.
Smit
Starting is a bit slow and there are pieces that don’t seem to fit in. Then comes the entire jumbled-up plots of old and new parties, trying to outsmart each other. On one side is the old Barringtons, Clifftons and their supporters, both old and new. And on the other side is Don Pedro Martinez, his not so smart sons and some hired Irishmen. The character of Cedric Hardcastle seems to be trying to take place of good old Jack, but he doesn’t come even halfway through to the level of wisdom, wit, intelligence, and experience of Old Jack. That is one character I certainly miss. Also, gone are all the old elderly generation of Sir Walter Barrington, and Lord Harvey. Now all that is left are the younger generation, unsure, trying to find the right path, struggling, wavering, falling down and standing up…Overall, this is an interesting read, almost succeeds in keeping you on your toes most of the time, always keeps you guessing, decently paced, and worth reading, for being part of one of the most thrilling series of current time.
Kalgi
Archer’s heptalogy continues with the fourth instalment of the Clifton Chronicles. The novel opens hoping to resolve the major cliffhanger after Sebastian is in a major car accident and someone has died. Harry and Emma rush to the hospital to get the news, which changes their lives forever. Emma cannot sit by idly as Barrington Shipping’s chairman resigns, leaving her the opportunity to fill the void. Don Pedro Martinez, a powerful new enemy of the Cliftons, uses his company shares in an attempt to place a hand-picked candidate in the chairmanship. While Barrington Shipping seeks to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham, Martinez proves the masterful saboteur in hopes of bringing the company to its knees as a final act of vindication. All the while, Harry and Emma’s other child, Jessica, is making a name for herself in the art world and finding love in all the right places. That is, until another old rival, Lady Virginia Fenwick opens old wounds in an attempt to derail any happy future for Jessica and her extended family. Archer pits Martinez and Fenick against the Clifton and Barrington families in a set of adventures that will keep the reader wondering how long the fast-paced action can continue. Complete with another stunning Archer cliffhanger, the novel ends just as the reader is hopeless hooked. When Archer’s in control, anything is possible.Archer continues the story so effectively, adding characters and plot lines at every turn. The story never stops and even the minor branch-offs prove highly entertaining and develop the ever-growing list of individuals whose lives become intertwined with the Cliftons and Barringtons. Archer’s constant development of ideas set against historical events proves seamless, though he uses said events only in passing, unlike Follett or Rutherfurd in their respective multi-generational series.
aashna
Another great tale from Archer ending with yet another marvellous cliffhanger. Yes, he may be slightly predictable with his writings and yes, some people don’t favour the man’s stories but for me, I find his novels easy and enjoyable to read. “Be careful what you wish for” is the fourth instalment of the Clifton Chronicles and as usual, is both well researched and written in a manner that seamlessly links this and his previous episodes together, offering gentle reminders about what happened in book 3 without over egging that particular pudding.Without wanting to give anything away, there are the addition of some new and wonderful characters in this episode, that take the story in all different and exciting directions without losing the main thread of the story. And, as I have said, the ending is again a great cliffhanger which serves to make me add just one more comment … Please write faster Mr Archer, the suspense is killing me 🙂
Krish Vinod (M No 16943)
Writing a series is not as easy as the plethora of successful titles that you see on the shelves of your local bookstores. Not only would you have to make sure the long drawn out story is of interest to the reader, but also end each book of your series in such a way that the reader would be eagerly looking forward to the next one to be released. And perhaps, for Jeffrey Archer, that was the ultimate challenge – we all know he can keep the reader glued to the story in his books, but can he do it over a series, with a story that transcends generations? “The Clifton Chronicles” is a resounding yes to that question.
In case you haven’t read the first 3 books of the epic family drama series (which is a big miss on your part by the way), let me help you get up to speed. The story is essentially about Harry Clifton and Emma Barrington, from the time they were born, get married and have children of their own, with the trials and tribulations of life that they face together. The 3 previous books tell us about all the sacrifices Maisie Clifton, Harry’s mother, makes; of Hugo Barrington and the trouble and shame he brings to the Barrington family; of Harry impersonating a wanted convict to get away from England and everyone he knows there; and finally Emma and Harry getting back together to live with their Sebastian and adopt Hugo Barrington’s illegitimate child as their own.
There are some memorable characters throughout the 3 books, especially Lady Virginia and Major Alex Fisher, who try their best to seek revenge on the Cliftons and the Barringtons. The story continues in the latest book of the series “Be Careful What You Wish For”. The story picks up from the cliffhanger that was the end of “Best Kept Secret”, with Sebastian and Bruno (son of Don Pedro Martinez, the one against whom Sebastian helps the Home Office thereby forever earning the Don’s wrath) in the midst of an accident. The book opens by telling us what happens in the accident, and the reader would be a bit relieved to know that it was Bruno who was the unfortunate victim of the Don’s plans rather than Sebastian.
Things do not stop there, with Don Pedro hell-bent on exacting revenge on the family, blaming the Cliftons for his son’s death. He, therefore, decides to destroy the Barrington Shipping Company, which Emma Clifton, on the other hand, tries to take control of. The boardroom battles and the share market battles make for delightful reading and keep the reader hooked to the book from the first page to last.
“Be Careful What You Wish For” is everything you would want from a Jeffrey Archer novel, and as always, the writing is smooth and the author’s narration style, as always, takes the reader on a delightful journey through the lives of the characters, with whose qualities most readers would be able to identify themselves with