Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

Only Time Will Tell

by. Jeffrey Archer

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Book Size: 400 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

When I picked up this book I had no idea what to expect. I originally obtained the book up from free from Amazon and it sat on my to be read shelf for a while. I decided to read it for a challenge to read something with green lettering on the cover. Historical fiction is not really my thing, so it was a pleasant surprise that I enjoyed the greater majority of the book. 

The novel takes place in Bristol London in-between the end of the first world war and the start of the second. It chronicles the life of Harry Clifton from his birth to his late teenage years. 

The unique aspect of the book is how Jeffry Archer stitches the plot together. He tells it in sections from several different characters. Each section reviews the previous section from a different point of view and then continues the story. The sections always end on a sort of a cliff hanger. The end of the book is perhaps the biggest cliff hanger of them all - since it is, of course, a series. 

In a way I enjoyed the unique style of writing. It was written so it was easy to follow, but was intriguing all the same. Only certain people had pieces of the story line, and those pieces were not introduced until it was the character's turn to narrate. The downside was that each section was more showing what was already known, it was literally a condensed summary, rather than an intricate weaving of the plot that may have happened if the chapters alternated points of views. The end of the novel also seemed to loose the in depth writing that captivated throughout most of the novel and left with more of a rushed summary. 

While I am interested in Harry's tale it is not enough of an interest to make an effort to actually continue. 

Purchase Only Time Will Tell from Amazon