As the Crow Flies

By: Jeffrey Archer

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 20 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Encompassing three continents and spanning over 60 years, best-selling author Jeffrey Archer's As the Crow Flies brings to life a magnificent tale of one man's rise from rags to riches set against the backdrop of a changing century.

Growing up in the slums of East End London, Charlie Trumper dreams of someday running his grandfather's fruit and vegetable barrow. That day comes suddenly when his grandfather dies leaving him the floundering business. With the help of Becky Salmon, an enterprising young woman, Charlie sets out to make a name for himself as "The Honest Trader". But the brutal onset of World War I takes Charlie far from home and into the path of a dangerous enemy whose legacy of evil follows Charlie and his family for generations. 

©1991 Jeffrey Archer (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

A strong story, with an even stronger reader

I'll admit, I'd listen to John Lee read Dixie Joke Cups for 30+ hours and call it brilliant, but his narration of As the Crow Flies, boosts, but just barely, an already awesome story. I say 'just barely' not because of any failing on Lee's part, but because the story is strong enough to sit right up there as worthy of being read by Lee.

Like many other readers, I relate this story to Ken Follett's Century trilogy (also read by Lee). There are some broad similarities (period and narrator), but they are two, separately wonderful titles.

Follett's trilogy is historical fiction, and therefore has more historical insight. I love historical fiction, and I love that trilogy.

As the Crow Flies is more of a period piece. The few historical people and points mentioned aren't inaccurate, but it's not about that. It's a drama set in early 20th century Britain. I would compare it more closely to Downton Abby or Poldark, with maybe a little less romance.

One thing that stands out is the writing style. The story unfolds for a while from a narrator's point of view, then jumps back a little and picks up as if reading one of the main character's memoirs. I've probably made this sound more confusing than it really is; it's not confusing and actually flows quite well. The 'memoir-like' portions of the story serve to fill in detail about previously-covered events, as well as explain the motivations and feelings of the main players.

This is my first Jeffrey Archer book. If his others are nearly this good I've got a lot of good stuff to look forward to. I highly recommend this book to any fan of John Lee, or any of the other titles I've mentioned above. It is a solid listen all around.

Becoming a Fan of Jeffrey Archer

First of all John Lee has always been one of my favorite readers and I believe that only he could have done justice to the many characters that Archer created in this book. Lee is a master of the various English and Scottish accents, and does a good job with American accents too, which added greatly to the enjoyment of the book.

Although the book covers over 60 years and 4 generations, it really is about Charlie, who is the glue in the story and everything centers around him. You soon get to like him and begin to wish the best for him in the various challenges he faces in his life. However, the story is not filled with major intrigue and is therefore relaxing but still interesting enough to hold your attention. The ending is especially poignant.

The book is almost 21 hours long but seemed to fly by, definitely worth the time.

Did not want it to end....

Where does As the Crow Flies rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is in my top two! J
effrey Archer's Clinton Chronicles are up there as well. I became a fan when I read "Kane and Able" at a young age. I could never get them and the story far from my mind. I moved from England when I was 8 years old. To listen to these stories in the voice/dialogue of John Lee is to take a walk back into another time. When I chose this book for my book club, I asked them to write down the words/slang that they were not quite sure of. We had many laughs as I explained them all.
Jeffrey Archer has an extraordinary gift and sincerely reminds me of the way that my father spoke and wrote. It fills my heart and soul. Thank You, Thank You!
Lynne

What did you like best about this story?

Following Sir Charlie..

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The accents and nuances in the dialogue.

Typical Jeffrey Archer

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes indeed. The characters are well developed and inextricably entwined with the ever-present mystery of how will they manage to extricate themselves from the adversaries web...if they can. The heroes and villains match wits and plots and through it all, Archer reveals the true character of each. Some of life's lessons can be learned from the outcomes. Character tests abound and only the righteous score passing grades.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

What one learns may well be worth much more than what one earns.

Any additional comments?

Good stories can contain the odd setback coupled with a good share of victories. This story has a comfortable balance. I think you will find it so. Cheers, Ken

Another good Archer story.

I love Jeffrey Archer's writing style! His characters are fantastic, whether you love 'em or just love to hate 'em. I didn't like this one quite as well as The Clifton Chronicles, but I still really enjoyed it. 5 stars to the narrator, John Lee, for a stellar job with the reading.

Infuriating.

This book is lucky it's in audio format or I'd have thrown it across the room.

The characters are charming and I enjoyed reading about the hard work and tenacity of the two leading protagonists. By the end of the book, however, I couldn't help but becoming incredibly angry with the author. If you enjoy a book where justice is served to truly evil people, you will need to look elsewhere because you won't find it here.

**SPOILER**
The antagonists not only get away with the murder of the main character's best friend, and cause the death of BOTH of his children, but the "hero" of the story seems only interested in making sure that his business survives! And while, yes, seeing the thing that you built with your own two hands be nurtured and grow is a worthy ideal and I'm glad to see this one goal at least to be met by the end of the book- it simply does not justify the careless way the main characters treat the deaths of the people closest to them. By all that is holy, man, WHY did the Trumpers continually let the villains get away with so much!?

** END SPOILER**

The other fault I feel needs mentioning is that Archer relies far too heavily on the old trope of "Let us not let one character tell this other character some vitally important information for asinine (or non-existent) reasons so that later on a really horrific tragedy will strike and we'll just have to see what miraculous coincidence will save our heroes from certain doom."

A wonderful story

I love John Lee as a story teller his accents and life he brings to the characters is truly amazing. This is not my first Jeffery Archer story so I know to expect a believable and wonderful journey to another place. When Charlie is first selling his wares on the market even though his lifetime and my own are seperated by 40

Wow

Another tale so inviting one feels transported to another era. Company in your living room .

predictable, long, infuriating

I've read Jeffrey Archer short stories before and loved them, so I thought I would try a full-length novel. I doubt that I will again. This one was terrible.

Major problems with this book:
CHARACTERS : i didnt even wat to root for the good guys!
NARRATION : it was read like a news broadcast. even the women's voices
REPETITIVE : the same story was told from different characters' pov. this works in comedy or when new info is revealed, but in this book it just made it long
PREDICTABLE : even when it wasnt being repetitive, it was predictable. i knew what was coming next, and just had to wait for the characters to do it.

*spoiler alert*
this was the thing i hated the worst about the book
INJUSTICE : the villain of the book caused the deaths of both of their children, and they knew it, and they did nothing. there was no discussion of this problem. they were content with the way things turned out.
*spoiler end*

this is a great book for sociopaths because there the strongest bond in this book is between a man and his business. If you like reading books where you can build a connection with the people in the book, try a different book, unless youre a workaholic who doesnt talk to your family but expects complete loyalty nonetheless. Ill be returning it.

Boring

Not sure what the point of this book was. The character voices were super annoying too. Bored and Snooty.