Jeffrey Archer is one of my favorite authors and I have gone through most of his books as soon as they were released. The Clifton Chronicles series was exciting and had all the ingredients of an epic Saga. Heads You Win book too brings the same familiar drama and excitement that readers are accustomed to when they pickup Jeffrey Archer book. And although interesting, the book lacks in bringing together a coherent end and leaves some of the threads hanging.
Heads You Win Book
Author: Jefferey Archer
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (November 6, 2018)
ISBN: 1250172500, 978-1250172501
Heads You Win Book Plot
Heads You Win book follows Alexander Karpenko as he struggles in Leningrad and plots his escape to a better life. The book begins with Alexander in Leningrad where he lives with his family under an oppressive regime. His life takes a turn when his father is killed by the KGB to stop him from creating a powerful Union at the docks.
Alexander escapes with his mother on a cargo ship out of Leningrad. The book brings an interesting twist as we follow Alexander as Alex as well as Sasha pursuing two different life – one in America and one in England. We follow his life in these two different countries in a parallel timeline each pursuing his dreams with a slightly different road to a common end. While Sasha enters into politics and goes on to become a member of parliament in England, Alex earns a silver star in Vietnam War and becomes successful Entrepreneur who later on heads a bank.
If you are a believer in destiny and fate, the author tries to send a message that no matter what route you take, you end up at the same place. But then, isn’t life more about the journey than about the destination?
Heads You Win Book Review
There is not a lot to complain about the story or the way it is presented. Jeffrey Archer fans will love the familiar devices of many of his books and sagas. The author brings elements from best of his books like Kane and Abel as we see our Hero struggle in life as an immigrant. Brilliant and deserving, the reader has little choice but to root for this underdog who is morally incorruptible.
The book brings many twists and turns with a lot of drama as author includes economics, politics, and entrepreneurship challenges into this story. And while it sends a clear message that no matter what decisions you make in life the end result would be the same, the book begins to falter toward its end.
I say this because at one time in the book, we find people around Alex meet Sasha and people around Sasha think they have met someone from Alex’s life. While this could have been an excellent twist in a science fiction book, it seems out of place in the drama of this book and the reader is left hanging as to what the author wanted to say when he put these encounters in the story.
While this little bit could be unnerving for some readers, there is no doubt that the book is as entertaining as any of his books and Heads You Win is a gripping tale that all Jeffrey Archer fans will love to read.
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