Archer hitstarget with revenge thriller

Traitors Gate By Jeffrey Archer, Harper Collins, hardback $47.95 .. .. .. ..

.. .. .. .. Once a year the Metropolitan Police must carry out the most secret operation in their armoury when they transport the Crown Jewels from their secure position in the Tower across London for the opening of Parliament.

For four years this operation has been entrusted to Chief Superintendent William Warwick together with his trusted second in command Inspector Ross Hogan. For four years it has run like clockwork.

It has always operated without incident except for a case circa 1672 when a certain Colonel Blood attempted a heist which was unsuccessful. He and his co-conspirators were imprisoned in the Tower, but for some reason, unbeknown to historians, Captain Blood was pardoned.

Warwick’s children have entered an essay competition and after a visit to the Tower with their father, the retiring Governor relates this story to the fascinated children.

However this year sees the return to London of Miles Faulkner, a master criminal and Warwick’s nemesis.

Faulkner is out for revenge against Warwick and Hogan. A stint in prison as a result of some sleuthing by the pair is not sitting easily on his mind. He is out for serious revenge.

The trusted police driver of Warwick’s Jaguar, used every year for this top secret mission, now has serious money woes and sees his chance of a better future — and so the story unfolds.

This is the sixth novel by Archer with Warwick and Hogan as the main characters, and the first I have read. Master criminal Miles Faulkner is

Warwick’s nemesis in a similar way to Rebus’s Cassidy. Although Faulkner is the brains and the master planner behind the heist he has made sure his alibi is foolproof.

I can’t see how he could be convicted and I feel this is the author’ plan for book seven.

Jeffrey Archer had a rogue for a father and in a former life has had rather a chequered career, but has gone on to be a successful crime writer. Through his time in politics and his later life in the heart of the British Establishment he is able to provide insights to a way of life not always available to most readers.

I have always been a bit cynical about his novels, feeling he churns them out in much the same way as Tom Clancy and James Patterson, but perhaps not so. Traitors Gate was an easy read. In many ways it reminded me of an Elizabeth George detective novel — not too much obvious violence

and rather nice police officers. —