Cat O’Nine Tales, the fifth collection of irresistible short stories from the master storyteller. These yarns are ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and deliciously unexpected conclusions, plus the added bonus of illustrations by the internationally acclaimed artist, Ronald Searle.

Leningrad, Russia, 1968.

Alexander Karpenko is no ordinary child, and from an early age, it is clear he is destined to lead his countrymen. But when his father is assassinated by the KGB for defying the state, he and his mother will have to escape from Russia if they hope to survive. At the docks, they are confronted with an irreversible choice: should they board a container ship bound for America, or Great Britain? Alexander leaves that choice to the toss of a coin...

In a single moment, a double twist decides Alexander’s future. During an epic tale of fate and fortune, spanning two continents and thirty years, we follow his triumphs and defeats as he struggles as an immigrant to conquer his new world. As this unique story unfolds, Alexander comes to realize where his destiny lies, and accepts that he must face the past he left behind in Russia.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Archer demonstrates his mastery of the short story in It Can’t Be October Already. In this engaging and funny episode, Pat O’Flynn returns once again for his annual internment in the London jail system. Along the way, he’ll reconnect with the staff and inmates of his sometime-home and perhaps even reach the punchline of his favorite joke. Archer is at his best in this delightful and surprising story.

This classic story will have readers’ hearts racing along with single mother Diana, attempting to escape a dangerous van on the highway. However, the unplanned high-speed journey is not the only surprise in this hair-raising and riveting story, and Archer keeps his readers guessing until the last moments.

From Wall Street messenger-boy to president of his own multi-million-pound company at dazzling speed, though not without a few dubious deals, Harvey Metcalfe rose to dizzying financial heights and was determined to stay there.

Harvey loved England. Every June he sailed over in the QE2 to reinstate himself in the Royal Suite at Claridge’s for the two weeks of Wimbledon. From there he flew down to Monte Carlo to join his yacht for two weeks before returning to London to watch his filly Rosalie from his private box at Ascot.

He had also found Britain an excellent place for one of his shadier ventures: the massive sale of shares in a fraudulent non-producing North Sea Oil company, conning the heir to an earldom, a Harley Street doctor, a Bond Street art-dealer and a Harvard Fellow at Oxford.

But for once Harvey Metcalfe had conned the wrong men. The Oxford mathematician in particular had a methodical, ingenious, complex mind, the like of which Harvey Metcalfe had never yet come up against. When he next checked into Claridge’s Royal Suite, Harvey was unaware of the four young men watching his every move, intent on retrieving their million — not a penny more, not a penny less.

Nearly a decade after his last volume of short stories was published, Jeffrey Archer returns with his eagerly-awaited, brand-new collection TELL TALE, giving us a fascinating, exciting and sometimes poignant insight into the people he has met, the stories he has come across and the countries he has visited during the past ten years.

Find out what happens to the hapless young detective from Naples who travels to an Italian hillside town to find out Who Killed the Mayor? and the pretentious schoolboy in A Road to Damascus, whose discovery of the origins of his father’s wealth changes his life in the most profound way.

Revel in the stories of the 1930’s woman who dares to challenge the men at her Ivy League University in A Gentleman and A Scholar while another young woman who thumbs a lift gets more than she bargained for in A Wasted Hour.

These wonderfully engaging and always refreshingly original tales prove why Archer has been described by The Times as probably the greatest storyteller of our age.

Connor Fitzgerald is the professional’s professional. Holder of the Medal of Honor. Devoted family man. Servant of this country. The CIA’s most deadly weapon. But for twenty-eight years, Fitzgerald has been leading a double life. And only days from his retirement from the Agency, he comes across an enemy even he cannot handle. The enemy is his own boss, the Director of the CIA. And she has only one purpose: to destroy him. Meanwhile, the United States is faced with an equally formidable foe: a new Russian President, determined to force a military confrontation between the two superpowers.

Ranging from the Oval Office in the White House to a Russian Mafia boss’s luxurious hideaway outside St Petersburg, The Eleventh Commandment sets new standards in contemporary thriller writing. Jeffrey Archer scoops his readers up in the first paragraph, and doesn’t let them go until the last. The pace, the ingenuity, the twists, intertwined with a moving love story, show Britain’s bestselling writer at the peak of his page-turning powers.

At first glance, Richard Armstrong and Keith Townsend seemed to have little in common. One was the son of an illiterate peasant, who emerged from the most backward corner of a Europe ravaged by a bitter war. The other was raised in a mansion on the far side of the world while the war was just another piece of news.

One was a hustler, a thief, ready to change his story, even his identity, if it would gain him a momentary advantage. The other was the scion of a well-known family, groomed for a public role from his earliest years, a rebel who didn’t care if anyone approved of what he got up to.

One craved wealth, recognition, status. The other quickly discovered that real power comes from anonymity. But they did have one thing in common. Both of them were gamblers. Both were prepared to risk everything in their battle to control the biggest newspaper empire in the world.

Only one of them could triumph...

In The Short, The Long and The Tall the master storyteller joins forces with renowned illustrator Paul Cox, to re-imagine twenty of Jeffrey Archer's most popular and feted short stories alongside beautifully rendered watercolour illustrations.

Find out what happens to the hapless young detective from Naples who travels to an Italian hillside town to solve a murder and ends up falling in love; and the pretentious schoolboy whose discovery of the origins of his father’s wealth changes his life forever. Revel in the stories of the woman who dares to challenge the men at her Ivy League university during the 1930s, and another young woman who thumbs a lift and has an encounter she will never forget. Discover the haunting story about four men whose characters are tested to the point of death. Finally, a short parable about how pointless war is, and how decent people are caught up in the crossfire of their leaders’ ambitions. This will be a must-buy for dedicated fans of both the author and illustrator’s work.

The latest short-story collection from Britain’s bestselling writer, ‘the greatest storyteller of our age’.

The fourteen new stories in To Cut a Long Story Short follow in the tradition of Jeffrey Archer’s storytelling.

An elderly man who doesn’t know which of his relations to leave his fortune to, declares himself bankrupt to find out who really cares about him — only to be surprised by the results.

A man listens in on a conversation on a crossed line, which changes his whole life.

A South African, a long-standing believer in apartheid, has a change of heart.

A criminal who wants the police to catch him so he can live off his ill-gotten gains.

Two old friends find themselves on opposite sides in a murder case.

A Henry Moore statue disappears and reappears in a different form.

A study of seven men, each of whom believes he should have the job of the man immediately above him.

This collection is Archer’s finest to date.

Джеффри Арчер (р. 1940) — самый популярный британский писатель, друг Маргарет Тэтчер, отставной парламентарий, мультимиллионер.…Можно обмануть страховую компанию, мужа и любовника, судью и присяжных; можно дорого купить безделушку и дешево — истинный шедевр; можно слыть дилетантом, а быть мастером…«36 рассказов» — это сборник историй о крупных сделках и мелких аферах, вечной любви и долгой вражде, о благодеяниях и преступлениях, словом — о жизни, захватывающей, как шахматная партия.

Джеффри Арчер (р. 1940) — самый популярный британский писатель, друг Маргарет Тэтчер, отставной парламентарий, мультимиллионер.…Можно обмануть страховую компанию, мужа и любовника, судью и присяжных; можно дорого купить безделушку и дешево — истинный шедевр; можно слыть дилетантом, а быть мастером…«36 рассказов» — это сборник историй о крупных сделках и мелких аферах, вечной любви и долгой вражде, о благодеяниях и преступлениях, словом — о жизни, захватывающей, как шахматная партия.