Review: A QUIVER FULL OF ARROWS, Jeffrey Archer

• this edition published Pan Books 2013
• ISBN 978-1-5098-0729-1
• 266 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Quiver Full of Arrows is a collection of twelve exciting short stories from bestselling author, Jeffrey Archer.

Two friends fall under the spell of a New York beauty – with an unexpected outcome. A casual remark is taken seriously by a Chinese sculptor, and the British Ambassador becomes the owner of a priceless work of art . An insurance claims adviser has a most surprising encounter on the train home to Sevenoaks.

This marvellous collection of twelve stories ends with a hauntingly written, atmospheric account of two undergraduates at Oxford in the 1930s, a tale of bitter rivalry that ends in a memorable love story.

My Take

Stories in this collection

• The Chinese Statue
• The Luncheon
• The Coup
• The First Miracle
• The Perfect Gentleman
• One-Night Stand
• The Century
• Broken Routine
• Henry's Hiccup
• A Matter of Principle
• The Hungarian Professor
• Old Love

Followers of my blog will have noticed a penchant for Jeffrey Archer short stories just recently.
That is simply because they are so good. Sometimes mystery, sometimes just simply quirky, all with marvellously drawn characters.

In this collection Archer says that 11 of the stories are based on known incidents and only one is totally the result of his own imagination. Each of them is 20-30 pages long. Just right for a bit of night time distraction.

My calculation now is that I have read at least 60 short stories by Archer and he really is the master.

My rating: 4.5

The other collections I've read
A TWIST IN THE TALE
4.7, TELL TALE
4.6, CAT O'NINE TALES
4.5, TWELVE RED HERRINGS