Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer (Clifton Chronicles #5)

As these stories move into 1969- 70 the Clifton and Barrington families are fighting both old and new battles. After the thwarted effort by Don Pedro to blow up their luxury liner, the MV Buckingham, on its maiden voyage to New York City, Emma Clifton, the chairman of Barrington Shipping, struggles to keep the whole incident quiet for fear of a tremendous loss, both for the company, and herself. Her attentions are stretched, also by the lawsuit Lady Virginia has filed against her for libel. That suit has the potential to bring the company down, which Emma believes is the real purpose of the suit.

Harry has written the next book in his very successful Inspector William Warwick series and at the same time has taken up a cause he strongly believes in, even though it puts him in a direct line of fire from the Russians.

Giles and Sebastian continue with their respective careers in politics and banking while also striving to find love.  And though they both face difficult obstacles, they are determined to win the hearts they long for regardless of the sacrifices they may have to make.

MY THOUGHTS:

I've said it before, but I don't ever mind saying it again. I absolutely love Jeffrey Archer's storytelling talent!  When I finish one chapter, I'm so anxious to get to the next to see where he is going to take me. His perfectly developed characters are seamlessly woven into multi-layered stories that have so many angles to them and I enjoy it so much. He is able to not only tell a great story of political intrigue or a business takeover and add his style of humor that make his books the complete full package. Totally entertaining on every aspect.

With that being said, I can't say this is my favorite installment of the series, especially since I loved book 4 (CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR) so much but I still liked it a whole lot! I always read Archer's books so fast because I get so involved in them but then there's the let down that I have to wait an entire year for the next one to come out! I've grown to love these characters and feel I know them pretty well and I always look forward to rejoining them every year. I can't even think about what I will do once the series is finished in a few years!

If you've never read this series I encourage you to give it a try. The books rely heavily on the characters' history, so I feel you must start at the beginning with book one to grasp the entire dynamic of the series.  The stories move along swiftly and are so interesting, partly because Archer weaves historical elements into them.  Another plus is that Archer jumps right from one book to the next, so the action starts on page one with each new installment. This time around I especially enjoyed Harry's storyline regarding a former language translator who was imprisoned after writing a book about his experience working at the Kremlin under Josef Stalin and the lengths Harry was willing to go to to help get him released.   And, as always Jeffrey Archer left readers with another jaw-dropping cliffhanger at the end to torture readers until next year!

Special thanks to Jessica and Brittani at St. Martin's Press for the advance copy they provided me and to the author for such a great reading experience.

MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD (Clifton Chronicles #5)
Author: Jeffrey Archer
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: February 24, 2015
Length: 416pp
Source: Uncorrected Digital Galley from the publisher through NetGalley