A Prisoner of Birth

By: Jeffrey Archer

Narrated by: Roger Allam

Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

International bestseller and master storyteller Jeffrey Archer returns with a tale of fate and fortune, redemption and revenge with A Prisoner of Birth.

Danny Cartwright and Spencer Craig never should have met. One evening, Danny, an East End cockney who works as a garage mechanic, takes his fianceé up to the West End to celebrate their engagement. He crosses the path of Spencer Craig, a West End barrister posed to be the youngest Queen's Counsel of his generation.

A few hours later Danny is arrested for murder and later is sentenced to twenty-two years in prison, thanks to irrefutable testimony from Spencer, the prosecution's main witness.

Danny spends the next few years in a high-security prison while Spencer Craig's career as a lawyer goes straight up. All the while Danny plans to escape and wreak his revenge.

Thus begins Jeffrey Archer's poignant novel of deception, hatred and vengeance, in which only one of them can finally triumph while the other will spend the rest of his days in jail. But which one will triumph? This suspenseful novel takes the listener through so many twists and turns that no one will guess the ending, even the most ardent of Archer's many, many fans.

©2008 Jeffrey Archer (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“There's no better person to narrate this 21st-century adventure than Roger Allam…Allam narrates the multiple layers and numerous characters of this complex plot with alacrity. His reading, together with the story's ending, will leave listeners fulfilled.” —AudioFile

“...Roger Allam gives an award-worthy performance in this crisply paced production.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Narrator Roger Allam pumps this story up considerably by enhancing each character with engrossing vocal interpretations. He does a terrific job subtly morphing Danny's East-End accent into an upper-crust West-End one.... Every character in the story draws you in but there's a old Scottish lawyer and a venerable British defense barrister that'll have you cheering.” —Tom Alderman, The Huffington Post

Well worth the listen!

Archer at his best! Well written and well read. My husband and I have totally enjoyed this book. So much so that I had to promise not to listen without him (which was a challenge) so that we could finish it together.

Fun Listen

To be honest, I think the reason this is such a tasty listen is more the healthy dose of justice for the working stiff than literary appreciation. Great villains, loved the supporting characters, and loved the brilliant courtroom narration, which is amazing because this is not normally my thing. I am not sure the story is even realistic, but I loved it. Cheers to Mr. Archer. Thanks for the story.

Excellent book!

Another excellent novel by Jeffrey Archer, and the narrator does a great job of bringing the characters to life. Well worth the time!

Well worth hearing...

As I was only familiar with Archer's fictional stories, I was curious to listen to this one, an account of his time at Belmarsh prison as an inmate. The story is very engaging and interesting. It unearths a certain injustice towards certain prisoners in the legal system, but also shows the progress others make. The narration is very well done, and I felt as though Archer himself was reading his tale to me. My only issue is, that I somehow didn't sympathize all that much with the author himself. But overall, it was certainly a worthwhile listen and one I would recommend to other Jeffrey Archer fans.

This guy can write

Nothing more to say. One of the best audiobooks I've ever listed too.

A Prisoner of Birth

This is one of the best books I've listened to in a long time. I hated to see it end.

Very good

I enjoyed this book although it is not the gendre I prefer. I can see why alot of the reviews compared it to the Count of Monte Cristo, but I think it stands on its own. Happily everything works out in the end. I loved the characters, the reader was great. There's an author's interview at the end and I found that he sounded a tad arrogant, but who cares, the book was good.

unique

Not only was this book excellent in its content but the audio narrator was brilliant !

One of Archers best

Enjoyed this book from start to finish. Intriguing and unpredictable story. Totally believable characters. I'm going to listen to it again.

Excellent

One of the best listens i've had in years.