Rating: 
Summary: GOOD, SOMEWHAT PREDICTABLE, BUT NOT HIS BEST
Review: I LOVE THE WAY ARCHER WRITES, BUT THIS WAS CERTAINLY NOT KANE & ABLE OR AS THE CROW FLIES. THE STORY BUILDS AND BUILDS AND THEN FALLS A LITTLE FLAT. YOU KNEW THE OUTCOME AND REALLY WANTED SOMETHING MORE DRAMATIC. AS AN ARCHER FAN, I READ ALL OF HIS BOOKS, AND THIS ONE IS WORTH READING, HOWEVER, NOT HIS BEST.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new and captivating
Review: It takes some efforts to finish the book. At first I thought it is "Kane and Abel" with a different cover but after reading the Fourth Estate, I found it is nowhere near "Kane and Abel". Disappointing
Rating: 
Summary: Famous last words: "I could never enjoy a story like that!ý"
Review: Amazing how a story with absolutely vile, immoral protagonists; a plot that both adds to and takes away the glamour of the newspaper universe; & certainly nothing that you can really indentify with; takes hold of you, plunges you into its scheming, sordid world & changes forever the way you'll look at a newspaper again!!
Bina Mathews
Dubai, U. A. E
Rating:
Summary: Unimaginative entrepreneurial epic
Review: Expecting an entrepreneurial tour along the lines of James Clavell's classic Nobel House, instead I found this book to be trite, loosely written, and unimaginative. While possessed with an engaging style which enabled me to power through over 700 pages, the novel portrays two unlikeable business titans in a way which leaves the reader with little to ponder (if only to use the book as a tool to repair their own business lives).
The only really redeeming information is a side primer on how a book becomes a New York Times Bestseller: there is a secret list of 15 monitored book stores. This must somehow explain how this novel made the list
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: A great disappointment after reading such gems as Kane & Abel and Prodigal Daughter
Rating:
Summary: Finished it, but so what?
Review: I keep expecting Archer's latest books to measure up to the earlier ones, but was disappointed again. Even though the chapters alternate so that one media mogul has every other chapter, I had to keep checking back to remember who was who. I didn't get to like--or hate--either one because I had a hard time really understanding them. The other characters were basically non-existent. I kept reading because the paperback was easy to carry and I knew from the beginning that only one would "triumph" in the end. Oh well, it was better than another Archer that I had to put down after a couple of chapters
Rating:
Summary: Are you sure you wanna read this?!
Review: This is a book meant only for first time Archer readers. If you've never so much as take a glance at a story by this master of storytellers, then go ahead take the plunge. You'll definitely find this an immensely witty and exciting tale of two highly ambitious men fighting for fame and fortune. As for all the Jeffrey Archer fans, who is like myself, out there you will sadly be disappointed as this is merely like a merging of two great novels that spellbound all of us, "Kane And Abel" and "As the Crow Flies". Sigh...He has certainly let us down this time
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: With this book, Jeffrey Archer has destroyed whatever respect any discerning reader may have had for him. He has betrayed the promise he showed in 'Kane & Abel' and 'As the Crow Flies'. I am still to come to grips with the fact that an author who could write something as brilliant as the ones mentioned above, could sink so low as to produce such trash. In 'The Fourth Estate', Archer has tried (unsuccessfully) to combine an unauthorised biography of two leading media personalities with a reworking ok 'Kane & Abel'. That a comparision with 'Kane & Abel' has been made is in itself an insult to that book, and I have permitted myself to mention it here simply because the selfsame authore was responsible for that brilliant creation and the comparision serves to illustrate where he stands now. The only saving grace of the book is Archer's engaging style which, despite the lack of a powerful storyline or commitment to back it up, still makes for a reasonable fascimile of good reading. I hope this once brilliant author comes back into his own from a decline that started with 'Honour Among Thieves'
Rating:
Summary: Flawed but entertaining
Review: The Fourth Estate is much like Kane & Abel, Archer's most successful book. In fact, its almost a carbon copy of the great novel. Its weakness, and its sole difference from Kane & Abel, comes in the poor character development of the supporting cast, with the exception of the adversaries. The book is a fascinating, intereting read, and goes by very quickly. It is at times amazing and at times ridiculous, combining to form an uneven, but highly entertaining read
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS INDEED WORTH READING!
Review: This book is, in my opinion, not as good as
Kane and Abel and A Matter of Honour, but none-
theless, it's worth reading. This is an exciting
story in the good-old-Jeffrey Archer-style.
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