Cat O' Nine Tales: And Other Stories - Softcover

Jeffrey Archer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312949227 ISBN 13: 9780312949228

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2008

Synopsis

An English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. Another man, an accountant, realizes he's achieved nothing in his life―and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is the author's own favorite, "In the Eye of the Beholder," about a star athlete who has a fateful run-in with a three-hundred-pound woman. Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including "Don't Drink the Water," the tale of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg―with unexpected consequences. Witty, suspenseful, sad, surprising, and unforgettable, Cat O'Nine Tales is Jeffrey Archer at his best.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

“A storyteller in the class of Alexander Dumas. . . Unsurpassed skill...making the reader wonder intensely what will happen next.”
---The Washington Post Cat o’Nine Tales is the fifth collection of irresistible short stories from the master storyteller. Ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and Jeffrey Archer’s trademark of deliciously unexpected conclusions, this new collection has the added bonus of thirteen charming illustrations by the internationally acclaimed artist Ronald Searle.
 
Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including the story of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg---with unexpected consequences. “The Red King” is a tale about a con man who discovers that an English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. In another tale of deception, “The Commissioner,” a Bombay con artist ends up in the morgue after he uses the police chief as bait in his latest scam. “The Perfect Murder” reveals how a convict manages to remove an old enemy while he’s locked up in jail, and then set up two prison officers as his alibi. In “Charity Begins at Home,” an accountant realizes he has achieved nothing in his life, and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is Archer’s favorite, “In the Eye of the Beholder,” in which a handsome star athlete falls in love with a three-hundred-pound woman . . . who happens to be the ninth-richest woman in Italy.

Jeffrey Archer is the only author to have topped international bestseller lists with his fiction, nonfiction, and short stories.Cat o’Nine Tales is Archer at his best: witty, poignant, sad, surprising, and unforgettable.

From the Back Cover:

An irresistible collection of short stories from bestselling author

Jeffrey Archer

An English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. Another man, an accountant, realizes he's achieved nothing in his life―and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is the author's own favorite, "In the Eye of the Beholder," about a star athlete who has a fateful run-in with a three-hundred-pound woman. Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including "Don't Drink the Water," the tale of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg―with unexpected consequences. Witty, suspenseful, sad, surprising, and unforgettable, Cat O'Nine Tales is Jeffrey Archer at his best.

"Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages." ―The Boston Globe

"The economy and precision of Archer's prose never fails to delight. The criminal doesn't always get away with his crime and justice doesn't always prevail, but the reader wins with each and every story."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Illustrations by internationally acclaimed artist Ronald Searle

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0312949227
• ISBN 13: 9780312949228
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 341