The book caught my attention the time I flipped through the first few pages. His name being famed and so the book, I got hooked on. And I’d say for luck because it was a great read certainly.
I think the book is one of Archer’s best, till date. The plot is one which is really interesting and compels you to turn the pages. The twist in the end does it all to have an indelible impression on your mind! This was Archer’s first novel; and a climbing ladder to success. It is based on his real life experience of near bankruptcy.
The story is about Stephen Bradley, an American professor teaching at Oxford, Dr. Robin Oakley, a Harley Street physician, Jean-Pierre Lamanns, a French art dealer with a gallery in London, and James Brigsley, heir to an earldom. Four different people but all brought together by the turn of fate.
The four of them had been shot into trouble by a common innocent friend, David Kessler, a recent Harvard MBA who has also been cheated. David took up work in the most promising and upcoming successful companies, Prospecta Oil.
He was told by Harvey Matcalfe, the owner, that they had discovered huge shares of oil and incites him to invest in the oil shares which guarantee profit. David elatedly does so and also encourages four of the others to do the same. But they all are cheated when the company closes down unexpectedly and the stock markets for their shares tumble down.
But this time Harvey Matcalfe, the genius, chose the wrong men for the four of them Stephen Bradley, Dr. Robin Oakley, Jean-Pierre Lamanns and James Brigsley wouldn’t sit and watch. They made a group which was firm on their goal- to retrieve their lost money- Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less.
Now that you know the basic frame, the rest of the story takes you on a roller coaster ride about how the four men retrieve their money in different ways. That surely is interesting and the twist, as I told you before, spices it up! Thus, it’s a must- read and a sure page-turner…..don’t miss out on it!!