Bea Reviews Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer

Series: The Clifton Chronicles #6
Publisher: St.Martin's Press
Source: the library
Release Date: February 16th, 2016
Challenges: Finishing the Series Reading Challenge | I Love Libraries
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Blurb from goodreads:

Cometh the Hour 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 Nadira, 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. Harry's wife Emma convinces her new friend Margaret Thatcher to raise the subject with the Russian President when she visits Moscow. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated.

Cometh the Hour is the penultimate book in the Clifton Chronicles and, like the five previous novels - all of which went to number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list - showcases Jeffrey Archer's extraordinary storytelling with his trademark twists.

My Thoughts:

I enjoy Jeffrey Archer stories and this series has been no exception, It's had ups and downs but overall, it's been good. "Cometh the Hour" was a good story overall, a mix of family drama and politics, with a few twists. Though, Archer always has twists, and cliffhangers; they're his trademarks along with the blend of family drama and national politics that he does so well. 

"Cometh the Hour" covers 1970 - 1978, a fairly brief period time of time for an Archer book but a lot of ground is covered. The story rambled at times as Archer tried to cover too many characters and plot lines, there was just too much going on; he needed to narrow his focus. There were a few characters that I didn't recall from earlier books so I was confused at times. Archer also gets highly political in this story, not that all of his books aren't saturated in politics, but this one felt much more message driven and intense. It was overwhelming at times.  

I don't usually mind children in stories but Sebastian's daughter Jessica was annoyingly precocious, presumptuous, bossy, and not at all believable. She grated and got on my nerves  right from the time we met her all the way to the end. She was a puppet, a cardboard figure, a contrivance to move a plot line forward. It didn't help that the direction Archer went with that story was not the one I wanted. :D I ended up skimming most of the scenes with Jessica in them and I'm not looking forward to her return in the next book.  

Now with all of that, you may be wondering if I liked the book. I did. I like the older cast of characters more than the younger cast; Harry, Emma, Maisie, even Virginia. The intrigues, the machinations, and all of the drama are so very soap opera but well-done soap opera. I had to know what was happening in their lives, what would happen next, and oh my gosh, did that really just happen?! Archer may not be at the top of his game anymore but he still spins a good yarn.

Previous Books in the Series:

#5 Mightier Than The Sword 
#4 Be Careful What You Wish For  #3 Best Kept Secret
#2 Sins of the Father
#1 Only Time Will Tell