Shall We Tell the President?

Kane & Abel, Book 3

By: Jeffrey Archer

Narrated by: Lorelei King

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Master storyteller Jeffrey Archer keeps the pace sizzling in this final installment in the Kane and Abel trilogy. Shall We Tell the President? is a daring political thriller where treason and betrayal threaten to topple an American dynasty.

After years of great sacrifice and deep personal tragedy, Florentyna Kane has finally become the first woman president in America. But on the very day that she is sworn into office, powerful forces are already in motion to take her life. The FBI investigates thousands of false threats every year. This time, a reliable source has tipped them off about an assassination attempt. One hour later, the informant and all but one of the investigating agents are dead. The lone survivor: FBI Special Agent Mark Andrews.

Now, only he knows when the killers will strike. But how can he alone unravel a ruthless conspiracy - in less than one week? The race to save the first woman president begins now....

©2013 Jeffrey Archer (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Truth in advertising, please

So here I was, thinking I was reading a book written in 1977 and thinking what a wonderful political gamer Archer was with some of the events he thought might happen in the near future. Then the prognostications went a step too far--too close to events that actually happened in the early 1980; this book just could not have been written in 1977. I was not reading the 1977 version that I read and loved so many years ago and still have on my bookshelf--and the version that I thought I was buying because honestly, it has been so long since I read the book that I could not remember who the President was in that version.

It turns out that Archer revised the book in 1986 making it Book 3 of the Kane and Abel series, which came out after the original Shall We Tell the President? At first, I thought the changes had been made in 2013, inferred from the copyright info in the Audible description. It wasn't until I did some research that I learned that the changes were made in 1986. I really would have like Audible to tell me this up front. I feel mislead--and like it was my fault because I didn't know that Archer had revised the book. Well, everybody, now you know.

The big changes in the story were to make Florentyna Kane the President of the United States and to change the year from 1981 to the early 1990s. Beyond that most of the original text remained intact; I followed along for a few chapters with my 1977 paperback once I realized what was going on. There were some changes in phrasing, some changes in the US Senators whose names appear in the story and the addition of events from the Reagan presidency. Hopefully, this clears up the confusion: written in 1977; revised in 1986; new audio release in 2013

Now to the story itself. For me, this is a nice little thriller. It is light on the graphic violence--not absent but kept to a minimum. The body count is low. The tension isn't heart stopping and I do want to keep reading to see how it turns out. I find it to be classic Archer and I actually prefer his early thrillers and sagas to what he has written in the past decade and a half.

Finally, I agree with all the complaints about the narrator. Wrong voice for this story and she definitely needs to learn how to pronounce Birch Bayh's name properly--it's not like it hasn't been in the news for the past 40 years. Drives me nuts when narrators don't do their homework; fingernails on a blackboard!

A dated waste of time

Not Archer’s best. A high paces suspenseful last hour. A main plot line totally unresolved.

Good read

This was probably the weakest of the three books. It led you to believe it was going to be about Florentyna Rosnovski; however, that wasn't it at all. The plot was about the FBI investigation into the potential killing of the President. It was a good solid read; however, it wasn't quite what I'm used to when I read Jeffrey Archer.

Good transition from original story

Nice to have competent President! First female for US. Mix in FBI , also competent and you have a very good story.

Not Archer's best;and NOT a Kane & Able, Book 3!!!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Absolutely--I'd change the title which is misleading--this is NOT a Kane & Able Book3--any fans of Archer's knows the 2 Kane & Able books and this is not a continuation or remotely related. Was this just a cheap ploy to gain readership? Shame on you. I'd change the reader--this is not a book to be read by a woman--it sounds like a kids fairytale and you can't take the plot seriously. She performed well but this book should be read by a man--sorry--not a chauvinist, but it's a fact.

If you’ve listened to books by Jeffrey Archer before, how does this one compare?

I've read and listened to all of his books--this would be on the low end

What didn’t you like about Lorelei King’s performance?

She performed well but the type of book she should be reading. Her impressions of males were terrible. If you are going to have a woman read this type of book, then have them just read it straight out and not try to imitate a deeper male voice.

Was Shall We Tell the President? worth the listening time?

It is if you are on a long drive and nothing else to do. Actually the story line was good, but Archer has fallen into the recent trend of building in stupidity on the part of the heros to allow them extra danger and adventure. My God, what kind of FBI agent keeps saying to himself I've seen that guy in the rear view mirror without realizing he's being tailed! Or what kind of FBI agents are stupid enough to recognize someone different tailing the hero, besides themselves on a top secret assignment without checking it out--give me a break.Again, I'm a big fan of Jeffery Archer--at least the way he used to write books.

Shall we Tell the Presidentl

The first book in this series, Kane & Abel was originally released in 1980, the last by 1982. At minimum, read Kane & Abel, it is super – an extremely popular 1980s book, made into a mini-series in 1985.

Book three, Shall We Tell the President, a short audiobook, is less than eight hours in length. also Macmillon Audio, also narrated by Lorelei King. The story begins with Florentyna (Abel’s daughter, Kane’s daughter-in-law) winning the position of POTUS, a roll she has fulfilled since the untimely death of her predecessor. An assassination is rumored and the story is off an running. Much better than The Prodigal Daughter. An interesting aside: When this book was written in 1982, President Kane is confronted with gun control – and is concerned about ‘a house divided’ on this volatile issue. Sound familiar? Although the story is fiction, a British author pointed out in 1982 what we Americans argue today, close to 40 years later. *sigh*

No issues with narration in any book.

General opinions: Kane & Abel is an excellent story, and highly recommended. The rest of the series is not. Archer should have started with Chapter 23 of The Prodigal Daughter and combined an abbreviated Shall We Tell the President. In summary, book one is great, book two a look into how the ridiculously wealthy live, book three is a decent who-done-it, albeit short for my taste.

Book review

The narrator, story and characters were all very good. I have read and will read more of the author's work.

Why is this Book 3?

I really enjoyed this book (it was better than Book 2) but I’m having a hard time seeing it as Book 3 of a trilogy.

It’s a story of a rookie FBI agent who discovers a plot to assassinate the president and in a race against time he must uncover who is behind it and stop the plot. The president just happens to be Florentyna Kane and therefore this is supposed to be seen as another instalment in the Kane and Abel series? That’s a weak tether – you could have plunked any name in there and there would have been zero impact in the plot of this book. It’s really just a cameo appearance by a character of the series.

It’s a good book in it’s own right, if the idea was to link it to the series in order to increase the amount of likely readers, it was not necessary. I’ve read enough Jeffery Archer books that I pick them up because he is the author, not necessarily because it’s more of the same story.

Once again, Archer doesn't disappoint.

An intriguing and well-woven thriller with multiple layers of plausible misdirection and suspense. Well written and enjoyable.

My thoughts

It was okay. It did not captivate in the least. it was not great, not bad.