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

Great!

This is one of those books that deserves a 6 star rating. You can't go wrong with this one!

Great book...

I just finished listening to the book. I must admit that when the book started it was slow, in the middle i felt that the author was jumping from one story to another but when i had completed 3/4ths of the book, i was convinced that this was one of the best legal thrillers that i've read... Legal thrillers being my favorite genre, i have read many. Well scripted and very engrossing. I should say that the reader has done an amazing job with the English accents of England and scotland as i'm sure that if i had read the book i wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as i have listening to this amazing book. If Legal thriller is your favorite cookie then you are sure to enjoy this one!!!

disappointing

I found this book to be disappointing after all of the strong reviews. The author keeps repeating events that happen in the story as if you didn't hear about those events earlier in the book when they were actually taking place. I felt as if I was being talked down to as a reader. Events and feelings of the characters were explicitly explained as if I could not understand the characters actions without the author explaining them.
The actual tale is interesting but I couldn't help but feel it had the potential to be a much better book. I could at most see it being given 3 or 3.5 stars.

a prisoner of this book!!!

This book was extremely well-written, however, almost overshadowing that fact was the excellence of its storyteller. This is an audio theatre lovers absolute dream book. I am very happy when a long listen can keep me interested until the very end. Bravo!

Definitely Entertaining

Definitely entertaining, but you have to be able to suspend reality and common sense to buy off on the main premise of the story.

When Archer finally gets to the key premise, I was so disappointed with the stupidity of the scheme that I almost quit listening - totally ridiculous!

I am glad I didn't quit listening though. Once I got over the issue, the story was very good and turned into a "can't put down" listen - I just wish he would have found another way to get there.

On a side note, it was interesting to see the story point out the vast differences in US Courts versus England's courts. If the story is accurate, it makes one realize how lucky we are to have US Courts. Even though the US system is far from perfect, the English Courts are utterly laughable.

Nothing great here, but worth the listen.

Superb listen

Great narrator, gripping story, satisfying characters... what more can one ask? Oh, yes, and an intelligent and old time good guy v bad guy class struggle. I'm glad I trusted my friends who told me to get this book. You will be too.

GREAT PERFORMANCE

Listening to this book was awesome. The characters came alive. The story was compelling. I couldn't stop listening! Although different topics completely, I have to compare the quality of this audiobook to the quality of The Help. I was completely engrossed every minute.

Jeffery Archer has a new fan. Roger Allam has a new fan too. BRAVO

One of the Best

The story captured me from the Prologue and carried me through to the end. Jeffrey Archer once again painted the story like an artist on canvas and it was well worth the visit. I have been a fan of his for years and this is one of his best novels to date.

Awesome!

Great book & narration, fantastic plot and book flowed easily. I very much enjoyed running while listening to this book. The plot had some curves and the ending was really good.

I highly recommend this book!

A Prisoner of Birth

It's a long time since I read a Jeffrey Archer novel but this one - I just could not stop listening. I loved it from beginning to end.