Of course, famously, Jeffrey Archer was detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, and this is his first major novel to appear following his incarceration. But Archer fans are not likely to desert him for this little setback, and the new book will ensure the kind of attention that made such predecessors as First Among Equals such copper-bottomed bestsellers.

The concept here is one that has exercised writers since Shakespeare--twins separated by the vicissitudes of chance and reunited under very different circumstances. In Hartford, Connecticut, two brothers are denied the opportunity to grow up together. Fletcher Davenport enjoys life as the son of a millionaire, while his brother Nat grows up under less advantaged circumstances, as the son of a schoolteacher and an insurance salesman. The brothers grow to adulthood not knowing of each others' existence, and Nat distinguishes himself as a war hero in Vietnam before returning to great success as a financier. Fletcher goes from a prestigious law career to become a senator. Ironically, the two men fall in love with the same girl, and when murder enters the equation, one brother has to defend the other against the most severe of charges.

Detailing the American background with great gusto, Archer paints his narrative in broad brushstrokes that may lack subtlety but keep the reader transfixed for the whole length of this epic narrative. --Barry Forshaw