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

Predictable but entertaining

Incredibly predictable but hight entertaining - You actually cheer for the main character even if the entire story is trite. It's fun.

Amazing - one of the best

I listen to about 25 books/year. Most are pretty good or at least entertaining.

This one is simply amazing. The story is believable, characters are great and the narrator appears to have been born to read this book!

This is the best book I've listened to so far and is well worth the listen. If you like revenge stories, it's as good as it gets.

Excellent!

This novel demanded willful suspension of disbelief, but it was one of the best I have read in quite some time. Dumas would tip his hat to such a excellent homage to his book.

Superb

It takes a one heck of a book for me to right a review. I just haven't found that many that deserve writing about, perhaps I should right reviews for the bad ones but I get bored real quick and can't aggravate myself further by writing a poor review on a poor book. I listen to many audio books, most are predictable, some have plots that last, some have characters that last a little while, and others I just fast forward or quit listening. But I must admit that this was a terrific and worthwhile story. It had great, unpredictable characters that provided realistic and plausible storylines. I love authors who can take a character and make you absolutely hate them or love them. I give Archer all the credit in taking the time to develop a plot, make it believable and then spin the characters in such a web as to make the entire project just a joy to listen to. When you read or listen to a book and you cannot quit listening or turning pages then you know you've got a winner. This book was a winner. I would highly recommend that you enjoy it.

Jeffrey Archers’ work has never disappointed!

I’ve not read anything yet by JEFFREY ARCHER that I didn’t enjoy. He is definitely one of my go to never be sorry authors! Although with audio having your work performed (not read!) by ROGER ALLAM and you have a win win! His accents are ALL done to perfection! It entertains as well as relaxes me when I listen to RA bring Archers’ world of imagination to life!

Excellent Writing & Performance

I highly recommend this book, either to read or listen to. I enjoyed tbe story and it kept you guessing on where the twists and turns would lead the characters.

A great take on a classic!

Archer continues to demonstrate his literary mastery. I enjoyed this book during my commute every day and by the end, I was even listening to it after I was already home for the day. Its impossible to turn off!

a prisoner in review

The book has many twists & was very entertaining.My only critisim would be the naration continually refers to the people speaking when it was understood.minor iritation

Jeffrey Archer is wonderful

Would you listen to A Prisoner of Birth again? Why?

This is a wonderful story, not original but well written and fun. I love Roger Allam's narration and he has become one of my favorite readers now. This was a good listen while I anxiously await Sins of The Fathers. Certainly worth a credit.

Very good book

Very good audio book. Not predictable but yet entertaining. Perfect companion for my work-outs and long walks.