Rating: 
Summary: Archer flatters to deceive
Review: For long time Archer fans such as myself, a new book is always something to look forward to but after reading his latest I wonder if it was worth it. SONS OF FORTUNE is a hollywoodish story that's more Sleepless in Seattle than Die Hard and has a plot that keeps promising but fails to deliver.We have here a pair of twins separated at birth, who separately keep blazing paths of glory. The story follows their individual but entwined lives right from school in Hartford and college in Yale and Harvard, jobs in NY, etc. till they finally decide to run for the Governor of Connecticut against each other. To be fair to Archer, the twins' characters are well etched, but the other characters such as their best friends start off with detail and are mysteriously and suddenly ignored; becoming also rans in the story. Too many plots within the plot, coincidences a dime a dozen and predictability are the three things that hamper this book from being a good one. Too many times one gets the feeling that Archer initiates a particular sequence or incident well but loses steam midway. Overall, I would say the book is worth reading only if you have time to kill. But I am sure you would agree that Archer only "Flatters to Deceive !"
Rating:
Summary: skimmed through much of it
Review: I had read only one Archer book previously (Kane & Abel) which many reviewers agree is his finest. This one didn't compare. It started out pretty well, but my attention lagged at parts, and the ending was disappointing. I found the suicide of Nat's son pointless. Lucy's relationship with George could have been interesting, but she ends up just saying he's only a friend and gets an abortion. The scene big revelation at the end was a letdown. Many reviewers have pointed out inaccuracies, and I'll mention one no one else has: Archer makes the character of Su Ling half Korean. He correctly points out that Koreans are different than Chinese and Japanese, but obviously did not research authentic Korean names. The names he gives to Korean characters sound more like Chinese. It would have been very simple to look up a few real Korean names. This is just something that annoyed me.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best... but, still enjoyable...
Review: Sons of Fortune is a story about two brothers separated at birth by a baby switch. One goes home with his biological parents and leads a modest life. While the other ends up being a son of a mutlimillionaire. Both of them ends up in successful jobs (One a criminal lawyer and the other a banker.) Their paths cross several times but, it's the death of their mutual enemy that brings them together and reveals their secret... Sons of Fortune is not Archer's best. But, I enjoyed reading it anyhow. The story seems too impossible. Then again, who wants to read about people with common lives?
Rating: 
Summary: AN ABSORBING STORY with a disappointing ONE STAR ENDING
Review: This is an well crafted, well researched novel by the master storyteller Lord Jeffrey Archer that I decided to read immediately because of its special interest to me. It is a tale of destiny and fortune that spans the last half of the twentienth century, and is fast paced and foreboding. It is set in Connecticut, with the birth of two twins who are separated at birth and raised in disparate circumstances by parents who are unaware of the switch which occurred in the hospital nursery. (Of course, the reader's knowledge of the situation and desire to to see how the resultant issues are finally resolved is one of the compelling aspects of the book.) Nathaniel Cartwright grows up with his middle class parents, an insurance salesman and schoolteacher. They all believe that his twin brother Peter died shortly after birth. Meanwhile, only two individuals are aware of the fact that the baby who leaves the hospital as Fletcher Andrew Davenport, son of a millionaire and major benefactor of the hospital, is in reality Peter Cartwright. We follow their lives as they grow up in CT. Nat wins a scholarship to Taft, meets his lifelong friend Tom Russell, attends the University of Connecticut and eventually serves in Vietnam. Also, while at Taft Nat first opposes Ralph Elliot for school president, whose cunning and manipulative ways will influence both Nat's and Fletcher's lives in unforeseen ways. Meanwhile, Fletcher attends rival Hotchkiss, meets Jimmy Gates, son of a state Senator and eventually goes to Yale and studies law. Their stories seem to alternately move in parallel and then diverge as their fortunes rise and fall. After initial careers in NYC they both return to CT., Nat as a banker and Fletcher as a criminal defense attorney; as befitting a saga of this type they both become devoted husbands and fathers as well. As their careers proceed, it seems inevitable they they will both eventually run for public office. This is a story that does a very good job of capturing the era. In fact, it is divided into seven books, and the very aptly chosen titles clearly indicate the author's intent for this to be a major literary work - GENESIS, EXODUS, CHRONICLES, ACTS, JUDGES, REVELATION, and NUMBERS. This book is of special interest to me. I was born and raised in CT, won a scholarship to a New England prep school and also attended college There. And now my wife and I once again live there, in close proximity to Taft and Hotchkiss. The narrative rings true to the time and locale. Even the politics are relatively accurate. It took me a short while to get used to a story written totally in the third party, but after a few chapters I was completely involved. The story moves rapidly and continually between the two protagonists' lives; I almost hesitated to start the book (503 pages, not 400 as indicated), but it read very rapidly. The juxtaposition of the lives is very effective, but be warned, this is story, not a book of personal reflection and psychological insights. I became increasingly involved, and several of the climactic developments during during the last few sections took me by complete surprise. I was tremendously impressed by the author's ability to weave a tale. If, I had had to guess at my rating with twenty pages to go it probably would have been five stars. Then, total disppointment. The last section seems excruiatingly slow, totally predictable, and completely unsatisfying and unrealistic. It is inexplicable; perhaps Sir Archer felt the story had been so good that the reader would accept a conclusion that basically says life goes on, but that is not the mark of a great story teller. A few other minor complaints. First, for as meticulous research as was done, it is surprising that two of the towns involved in political events were Ipswich and Chelsea, both of which are in reality in Massachusetts rather than CT. (Any map or atlas would have shown this.) Second, at a crucial point the vote for the two candidates on page 498 is sloppily transposed. Last, the final election scenario is riduculous for 1992, and the consultation regarding the election outcome indicates an utter lack of knowledge of the difference between federal and state authority in elections. (This is too bad since I am quite a political junkie and most of the political background and maneveuring and mind numbing attention to detail of political campaigns was very accurately portrayed.) So, if you like good stories of a broad sweep, read and enjoy SONS OF FORTUNE. You will be entertained (and surprised), but I suspect that like me you will also feel that the conclusion is an anticlimax. However, perhaps you won't care, especially if you are a confirmed Jeffrey Archer fan.
Rating:
Summary: Far below Archer standards
Review: Archer's abilities seem to have impaired after the Old Bailey sentenced him. Sons of Fortune is a typical Archer - but with no Twists in the Tale. Archer, as usual, shows his prowess of instant wit - especially the paragraph when Cartwright gets out of the helicopter when the person in the helicopter explains that 'Getting in last has its good and bad. The last person to come is the first to step out.' 'And the bad...?' Archer also plays with his prowess to explain detailed boardmeetings,stock market blues and other financial stuff people must have been tired of in Fourth Estate, Kane and Abel, and The Prodigal Daughter. Also crude is the way in which the plot thins out finally, since Archer usually places a twist here and a turn there. Kane and Abel was his best, but following the same style and even the same pattern won't help in the long run. At the end of the day, do you want to read this book?
Yes, If you love the concept of two persons growing elsewhere but closer to each other without their knowledge.
No, If you have read Kane and Abel or Fourth Estate. This is Kane and Abel Part 2. Want
Rating:
Summary: Good, a poor mans Kane & Able....
Review: Archer is a great writer and the way the novel went back and forth reminded me of his great novel, Kane & Able. This was good, but far from great. A nice story without many twists.
Rating:
Summary: archer-not at his best
Review: Born in Hartford, the twins from Heaven
Separated at birth, it twisted their faith
Success was the only thing they had ever met
One banker, anohter lawyer, but the secret still unmentioned Will they ever meet or will they never see each other like a two sides of a coin?
Nobody can predict.
Because they are the sons of fortune. Sons of fortune Well, this poem should sum up the whole book.. all of archer's books have been great and they have always given me satisfaction and pleasure.. so i immediately read the book after it came out.. its a very good book consisting of a magnificent plot and intense drama between the twins.. you always have this ironic question in your mind.. will they ever meet each other?
the book has everything to deliver but this book is definetly not a platinum.. coz of its dissapointing ending.. its more like a hollywood movie that comes out these days
Rating:
Summary: Evidently not Archer's best
Review: While I was also disappointed with glaring inconsistencies in this book, I appreciated the journey Archer led me on. As a point of interest I would like to highlight that, according to the internet biographies, Archer writes all his books in felt pen, so a previous reviewer's comment that Archer should have used his computer to create variety among conjunctions etc. may not apply. Add to that the constrictions of writing from prison. Not that it should be necessary to defend inaccuracies on any account, a book is a book and this one fell short of the author's previous high standard, in my opinion. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable read. I would also like to point out that it is not at all necessary to go back through the book to discover who it was that had a preference for heads (but to save you searching - the start of chapter 31 discloses that fact). The final paragraphs provide all the necessary details. Pay attention to the positions of the candidates on the second last page and then note the key words "now standing" in the last line, and all will become clear.
Rating:
Summary: Great Until The End
Review: I really enjoyed most of this book. I liked both of the main characters, even if their success seemed improbable at times. Their stories and various plots were quite engaging. This book is about twins separated at birth and the separate yet remarkably similar lives they lead. So you'd expect the scene where they are finally revealed to one another would be a big deal, but here Archer falls short. They don't have any emotional reaction to the revelation at all, it lasts only a few pages, and then the book just moves on. That wasn't satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: skimmed through much of it
Review: I had read only one Archer book previously (Kane & Abel) which many reviewers agree is his finest. This one didn't compare. It started out pretty well, but my attention lagged at parts, and the ending was disappointing. I found the suicide of Nat's son pointless. Lucy's relationship with George could have been interesting, but she ends up just saying he's only a friend and gets an abortion. The scene big revelation at the end was a letdown. Many reviewers have pointed out inaccuracies, and I'll mention one no one else has: Archer makes the character of Su Ling half Korean. He correctly points out that Koreans are different than Chinese and Japanese, but obviously did not research authentic Korean names. The names he gives to Korean characters sound more like Chinese. It would have been very simple to look up a few real Korean names. This is just something that annoyed me.
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