I have been reading this novel:
"The Fourth Estate" for about a month. Finally finished it yesterday. As expected from Jeffrey Archer, it is a well plotted and riveting story with a good measure of twists and turns thrown in. My verdict is a definite thumbs up, though there are somethings I wasn't convinced with.
First the plot. It kinda reminds me of the plot of an earlier novel by Archer, named "First Among Equals". There it was a battle of 4 politicians for the top chair in England, here it is a battle of two ruthless publishers- Keith Townsend and Richard Armstrong- to become numero-uno in the world publishing and newspaper industry. The real beauty in this novel is that you keep changing sides throughout this battle for supremacy- one moment you support Keith Townsend, another moment you go back rooting for Richard/Dick Armstrong! The reason for this wildly swinging loyalties is hidden in the basic human nature. Both of the chief protagonists demonstrate strengths unique to them and at the same time manifest common vice- a complete disregard for the means to achieve the ends. And thats where the famous Archer twists come in as you never know who of them might stoop to new lows to outsmart the other.
Coming to the writing style, its atypical of Jeffrey Archer. Keeping the readers guessing till the end of novel is a skill which is now mastered by many authors but doing the same continuously with each event in a 450 page novel is perhaps mastered by few like Archer. The novel begins from the end of the story and then ensues a long flashback after which the story comes back to the present.
[******Spoiler warning******* skip the next paragraph to avoid it.]
The end of the novel however left me a bit unconvinced. I didn't expect Armstrong to commit suicide, specially after the solidarity he showed in his end days. In the last board meeting in which the chariman resigned, he was as steadfast and ruthless as ever and didn't show any sign of surrender. It is also difficult for me to digest that a fighter like him who fought all his life would not look for any rescuer like Keith got in EB. He knew he was in mess and he knew he needed $50 mn to survive. Why he made no attempt to generate that money, with the exception of thinking of selling his stake in NY star to Keith, is not very clear to me. He simply gives away his empire and disappears in disgrace and oblivion.
As someone who is interested in business side of our world, I wonder why Townsend and Armstrong were always after acquisitions of big established names in the newspaper industry. Townsend was in fact so desperate to buy newspapers that he could be sold coal mines at an exorbitant price in a package deal. Also, in most of then novel we are told only about the insane expenditure by the leading men- how they got so rich is kind of not clear. The figure of $3 billion, which Townsend offers for a major media firm in USA, looks a little too inflated to me, more so considering that it was supposed to happen in early 1980s.
One more thing. I like Jeffrey Archer novels for the learning opportunity they provide. I remember in my early days I was told by him about how Swiss banks work. Then, his short stories had me appreciate tiny tid-bits about life- legal loopholes, politics, etc. In this novel, I learnt more a range of topics- Nazi torture camps, Hitler's nickname- "der Fuhrer", menace of labour unions, etc. It makes the reading so more interesting!
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
My other verdicts to give you some idea my rating scale and my literary tastes:
1. Atlas Shrugged: 4/5
2. Fountain Head: 4.5/5
3. 32 Short Stories by Archer: 4.5/5
