Description:

Cometh the Hour is the penultimate book in the Clifton Chronicles and, like the previous novels - all of which hit the New York Times bestseller list - showcases Jeffrey Archer's extraordinary storytelling with his trademark twists.

It opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia. Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain. But is Karin truly in love with him, or is she a spy?

Lady Virginia is facing bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to the hapless Cyrus T. Grant III from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who's in England to see his horse run at Royal Ascot.

Sebastian Clifton is now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank and a workaholic, whose personal life is thrown into disarray when he falls for Priya, a beautiful Indian girl. But her parents have already chosen the man she is going to marry. Meanwhile, Sebastian's rivals Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor are still plotting to bring him and his chairman Hakim Bishara down, so they can take over Farthings.

Harry Clifton remains determined to get Anatoly Babakov released from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated.

From Publishers Weekly

This sixth, and penultimate, addition to the Clifton Chronicles series (after Mightier Than the Sword) continues with the Cliftons and the Barringtons in the 1970s—their family fortunes and travails, love affairs, political dramas, business mishaps and espionage entanglements. The story begins with a libel trial and a suicide note, bringing embarrassment and consequences for Emma and Harry Clifton, Lady Virginia Fenwick, and Sir Giles Barrington. Sir Giles, in love with an East German translator, risks everything to bring her over the Berlin Wall and to England, but is she smitten or a spy? Meanwhile, Lady Virginia, Sir Giles's ex-wife, is becoming desperate after having been financially cut off by her father. She victimizes a wealthy, gullible American in an outrageous scam, but the victim's wife is on to her. Emma's husband, best-selling author Harry Clifton, uses his photographic memory and oratory skills to help the world recognize a Nobel Prize-winning, imprisoned Russian author. Emma and Harry's son, Sebastian, still has a messy love life which now turns shockingly violent. Archer continues his storytelling magic to create characters of spellbinding substance, and readers can count on his surprising twists and shocking conclusion. Here, just when the end seems too tidy, Archer provides a killer cliffhanger. (Feb.)\n

Review

"Archer continues his storytelling magic to create characters of spellbinding substance, and readers can count on his surprising twists and shocking conclusion. Here, just when the end seems too tidy, Archer provides a killer cliffhanger."― Publishers Weekly on Cometh the Hour

“Archer packs a plot with thrills and chills enough for readers to keep turning the pages, saying, What's gonna happen next?...The conclusion's a turbo-charged cliffhanger that'll have fans screaming Arrrcherr!” ― Kirkus Reviews on Mightier Than the Sword

“[ The Sins of the Father ] will keep your blood pressure high and you’ll risk back injury just from being kept on the edge of your seat…I guarantee that anyone who takes this book from the shelves will not be able to put it down.” ― The Spectator (UK)

“Archer knows how to dole out tiny crumbs of suspense right up to the last page, which ends with…a really excellent cliffhanger.” ― The Washington Post

About the Author

JEFFREY ARCHER was educated at Oxford University. He served five years as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons and has served twenty-seven years as a Member of the House of Lords. Now published in 97 countries and more than 37 languages, all of his novels and short story collections―including Kane & Abel, Only Time Will Tell and This Was a Man ―have been international bestsellers. Jeffrey is married with two sons and three grandchildren, and lives in London, Cambridge and Majorca.