“The Sins of the Father” by Jeffrey Archer – Shackled in Another’s Suffering

The Sins of the Father is the second book in the Clifton Chronicles written by Jeffrey Archer, and it picks up where the last one left off as Harry Clifton has joined the Merchant Navy. Unfortunately, his ship ends up being attacked by a German boat and gets sunk, with most of the people aboard drowning.

Fortunately, an American cruise liner passing closely by rescued the remaining sailors, with Harry being amongst them. Aboard that ship Clifton makes the acquaintance of an American officer, Tom Bradshaw, who unfortunately passes away during the night. Seeing the perfect opportunity to get rid of his past, Clifton assumes Bradshaw’s identity, being blissfully ignorant of what awaits the officer upon his return to New York.

Going in a somewhat similar direction as his previous book, Archer once again mainly focuses on the adventures lived by Harry Clifton, with the only difference being that things get a bit darker this time around. Harry was visibly changed by all he learned and experienced during the first book, going from a potential scholar to someone who assumes a dead man’s identity.

I have to say that in the previous book Harry’s naivety made him a tad unlikable in certain instances, but this time he doesn’t mess around. The child in him has grown into a decisive man, but one who hasn't really learned to think straight.

Though the book certainly contains its fair share of twists and turns in the plot, it has to be said that it doesn’t contain any definitive conclusions or anything of the sort. It really is the middle child of the trilogy, ending on a large cliffhanger to set up some kind of epic finale. Not to say that it’s a bad thing, but I guess the readers were expecting something a little different.

Nevertheless, The Sins of the Father is still written with a lot of style and poignant, being quite moving and entertaining at the same time. Archer doesn’t beat around the bush and takes you on a thrilling emotional rollercoaster, one fans of the first book will definitely enjoy.

If you haven’t read the first part though, I highly suggest you do it as you’ll probably get lost reading this book as a standalone.

---

Jeffrey Archer Personal site Jeffrey Archer is not only the author of the Clifton Chronicles and a number of other novels, short stories and even autobiographical prison diaries, but he is also an active politician and even officially titled the Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare.