6 reviews for Cometh The Hour
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Cometh The Hour
by Jeffery Archer
Description:
Cometh the Hour opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia. Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain. But is Karin truly in love with him, or is she a spy? Lady Virginia is facing bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to the hapless Cyrus T. Grant III from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who’s in England to see his horse run at Royal Ascot. Sebastian Clifton is now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank and a workaholic, whose personal life is thrown into disarray when he falls for Priya, a beautiful Indian girl. But her parents have already chosen the man she is going to marry. Meanwhile, Sebastian’s rivals Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor are still plotting to bring him and his chairman Hakim Bishara down, so they can take over Farthings. Harry Clifton remains determined to get Anatoly Babakov released from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated. Cometh the Hour is the penultimate book in the Clifton Chronicles and, like the five previous novels – which were all New York Times bestsellers – showcases Jeffrey Archer’s extraordinary storytelling with his trademark twists.
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
“Excellent Reading”
Sejal
I didn’t want to finish this book because I wanted it to last as long as I could drag it out. It followed the series like the other books before have and it certainly did not disappoint. The book seemed to be setting us up for the end of the series but the biggest surprise of all is that this is not the last book in this series. The way it ended could have very well ended The Clifton Chronicles but it didn’t so now we have no way of knowing what will be happening next. I have come to the conclusion that Jeffrey Archer is one of the best storytellers and authors around.
Smit
First, this book didn’t feel as cohesive as past books in this series. It was dang close to rambling at times, without actually crossing that line. Second, some of the story lines felt repetitive or even recycled. This leads to the final thing which is, overall this felt a little ‘stiff’.Now with all of that out the way, the reason this gets 4 stars and not 3, is because of the writing. It is not only engaging, but the author is great at spacing/pacing his plots. It almost felt like it was expertly choreographed without the feeling of being formulaic. He creates a great flow and Jeffrey Archer’s magic was definitely there (even though there were some things I didn’t care for.)
Kalgi
Jeffrey Archer has always intrigued me with his style, but I have to admit he keeps me anticipating something all the way to the end of his stories, and I am never disappointed because he finally comes with the twist in the plot that reveals an unexpected angle. He did just that with Cometh Hour. His family sagas and historical novels have always been gripping. And with a mix of distress, money, ambitions, history etc, he did it again, bringing the series to a wonderful conclusion. I see elements of Disciples of Fortune,The Godfather, and Sins of the father, in Cometh Hour. Only if there were a way to continue the series.
Anupama
I LOVED this book. Jeffrey Archer is the consummate storyteller and this series keeps getting better. I found myself so engrossed in the story that the world around me seemed to disappear. It was great to become reacquainted with Harry, Emma, Giles, Sebastian and others. Lady Fenwick, a character you love to hate, also added interest to the tale. It’s a pleasure to find fictional characters who exemplify the qualities we admire and share in their triumphs as well as share their setbacks and challenges.Although I find great pleasure in books and reading in general, this novel was exceptionally good. My only complaint is I’ll find it difficult to wait for the next book.Thank you to Goodreads for the opportunity to win an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review (it was easy to say great things about this book!).
Jasmine
Excellent read and a great follow up on author’s earlier book. The Clifton Chronicles is a fine series and a collector’s item. You may keep the whole series on your shelf after you have finished it as you may wish to read it again after a while. Jeffrey Archer is a master of his craft and it is a joy to read his works. Looking forward to his final episode (book 7) of the series. There is sufficient intrigue, suspense, romance, action to keep you hooked on to the book and make each one of the parts unputdownable. Enjoy.