Rating: 
Summary: utterly entertaining
Review: I am an Archer fan and always forget how much I enjoy his fiction until he writes another book. I would agree with other commentators that this book is unrealistic, too many coincidences and the ending could be better...with all of that said, it still was the best book I have read in a long time. He writes in such a way, that the story moves and the surprises never stop. Sit back, read and enjoy. Don't expect a Pulitizer but you will be entertained
Rating:
Summary: Thank Goodness the Other Reviewers Were Wrong!
Review: I felt compelled to write this review (my first) after reading the other reviews. I bought this book and then read the reviews before starting to read. I was very disappointed and thought I would not enjoy the book I had looked forward to reading. Well, the reviews were wrong! I loved this book. I read it (and enjoyed every bit) throughout the Presidents' Day Blizzard of 2003. I give it a 4 out 5 (and really a 4 and 1/2 rather than the full 5) only because I had trouble keeping the characters straight partway through the book. I felt I needed a scorecard.
Rating: 
Summary: look at a map
Review: I agree with the other negative reviews. One more comment: didn't Archer or any editor bother to look at a map? The book repeatedly refers to traveling "up" to NYC from Connecticut, and "down" to Conn. from NYC! I'm dizzy ...
Rating: 
Summary: a nice read
Review: I enjoyed this book. I read it in two days, even though the political parts of it were somewhat boring.
Rating: 
Summary: I Think For Myself
Review: I am glad that I ignored quite a few reviews of this book. I found it to be quite wholesome and interesting.It is refreshing to read a modern novel without all the vulgar language that most authors today feel nessessary to inject. I am from the South and have been in Connecticut only on one occasion. It was a beautiful state. I only wish I could have seen more of it.
The book is fiction to say the least. I can't imagine this plot in real life,however, it is possible. I thought Archer probably dug down deep to come up with the numerous plots. I especially liked the courtroom discourses and arguments. It was quite believable. The election process was fascinating. I seem to remember this method of counting ballots from the last presidential election. I was wondering throughout the book, how it would end. I was completely taken back with the surprise ending. I was afraid that it would be 'onesided', but Archer managed to pull it of well. I still like his work and will continue to read more of Jeffrey Archer in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolute waste of time
Review: I can sum this entire book up as follows: absurd contrivance after absurd contrivance. His research regarding a criminal trial must have consisted of watching one episode of Perry Mason. Some of the plot twists are certainly surprising. Of course, that is because you could never imagine an author expecting anyone to believe them.
Do not waste your time on this book.
Rating:
Summary: What was he thinking?
Review: As a true Archer fan, I couldn't wait for this book to come out. I had to have it the first day and what a waste. I was so disappointed with this book. It was so predictable that it is not worth the paper it is written on. This had to be one of my all time worst reads. I skipped a few pages here and there and I didn't miss a thing. IT IS TERRIBLE!! Don't buy it and don't even waste your time getting it out of the library. Disappointment to say the least. I wish I could get my [$] back or my time.
Rating:
Summary: A Long Sad Slide from 'Kane and Abel'
Review: Imagine a ridiculous separated at birth beginning, a bunch of coincidental stuff between preppies at Hotchkiss and Taft, young men totally out of place as youth in the late sixties and more anachronisms than any nitpicker could possibly count. Now you can skip the first 200 pages.After Taft Nick Cartwright, the birth parents' son, goes to UConn, becomes a hero in Viet Nam then a successful currency trader. Fletcher Davenport, the silver spoon parents' son, goes to Yale, Yale Law and a big time NY law firm. The story does generate a modicum of interest when both young men start families, hit some bumps in the road and find their second careers. Nat becomes COO of a struggling bank owned by a family friend. Fletcher follows in his father-in-law's footsteps to the Connecticut State Senate. All the while Ralph Elliot, a totally despicable character who has connived to succeed at the expense of both Nat and Fletcher since prep school days, lurks in the background. Now a new plot twist as ridiculous as separated at birth: Nat and Fletcher run against each other for governor. This leads to a violent death, an improbable legal alliance and a ridiculous Perry Mason moment in a Connecticut Courtroom. One more climactic incident triggers the inevitable search of birth records and DNA tests. When the thrilling conclusion centers around a recount of the hand ballots in Madison CT, 10,000 registered voters average age 63, you get a pretty good idea how lame this story was.
Rating:
Summary: reason alone to extend archer's jail term
Review: this was AWFUL. the story is mind numbingly uninteresting but the dialogue is insipid. it is written like a bad soap opera script and the court scene is so preposterous it is hard not to laugh, all the while kicking yourself for wasting time and money on this [junk]. they should keep this guy in the slammer for eternity for writing this trash!
Rating:
Summary: Microwaved Jeffrey Archer
Review: Archer is one of my favorite authors, but Sons of Fortune is nothing more than Kane and Abel nuked in a microwave. It has none of the emotion or well-drawn out characters that make Archer such an enjoyable author. It has all of the hallmarks of Archer books (two protagonists, a antoganist that stretches back to childhood, lots of women, business takeovers, etc.) with none of the juicy storytelling that allows Archer to rise above being a supermarket-rack novelist. The ending (last few chapters) is entirely implausible, as Archer allows the story to careen out of control. The end of the book turns into a Perry Mason movie. Archer needs to get off the two warring protagonists kick and get back to writing other storylines. A promising start turns into a disappointing finish.
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