The Collected Short Stories Read online

  PLAYS

  Beyond Reasonable Doubt

  Exclusive

  The Accused

  PRISON DIARIES

  Volume I: Hell

  Volume II: Purgatory

  Volume III: Heaven

  PRAISE FOR JEFFREY ARCHER AND HIS BESTSELLING NOVELS

  “Archer is a master entertainer.”

  —Time magazine

  “One of the top ten storytellers in the world.”

  —Los Angeles Times

  “There isn’t a better storyteller alive.”

  —Larry King

  “Archer is one of the most captivating storytellers writing today. His novels are dramatic, fast-moving, totally entertaining—and almost impossible to put down.”

  —Pittsburgh Press

  “Archer hits the bull’s eye with an exemplary collection of short stories.”

  —Daily Mail (UK)

  “Cunning plots, silken style … Archer plays a cat-and-mouse game with the reader.”

  —The New York Times

  “A storyteller in the class of Alexandre Dumas … Unsurpassed skill … making the reader wonder intensely what will happen next.”

  —The Washington Post

  FIRST AMONG EQUALS

  “A dramatic plot … An absorbing read.”

  —Detroit Free Press

  “Not since Gore Vidal’s 1876 has there been such a cliff-hanger aspect to an election and to the selection of a head of government … At the conclusion, Archer brings the reader to a moment of truth … a surprising finish.”

  —The San Diego Union

  “This engrossing, well-spun tale of ambition and will-to-power is a pick-hit in the summer sweepstakes. Archer receives his usual high marks for readability and gives his novel a pleasing sense of substance.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  More …

  THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

  “Chalk up another smash hit for Jeffrey Archer … An exceptional storyteller.”

  —John Barkham Reviews

  “Fast-moving and compelling.”

  —Library Journal

  KANE & ABEL

  “A smashing good read!”

  —The Des Moines Register

  “I defy anyone not to enjoy this book, which is one of the best novels I have ever read.”

  —Otto Preminger

  “A sprawling blockbuster!”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Grips the reader from the first page to the last. A smash hit.”

  —John Barkham Reviews

  AS THE CROW FLIES

  “A certified page-turner.”

  —New York Daily News

  “Archer … has an extraordinary talent for turning notoriety into gold, and telling fast-moving stories.”

  —The Philadelphia Inquirer

  “An endearing story.”

  —The Wall Street Journal

  “Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages.”

  —The Boston Globe

  “Top flight … Mr. Archer tells a story to keep you turning those pages.”

  —The Washington Post

  “Great fun!”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  THE FOURTH ESTATE

  “Telling … Triumphant … Proceeds in bursts of energy, like automatic fire.”

  —London Times

  “Well-crafted and accomplished.”

  —The Spectator

  HONOR AMONG THIEVES

  “The action is furious.”

  —Los Angeles Times Book Review

  “Outrageous and top-notch terror.”

  —Vogue

  “Witty, action-filled … Archer’s masterful narrative provides thrills and surprises.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “A taut, international political thriller, professionally crafted and plotted. The action and dialogue move forward seamlessly with no loose ends … Honor Among Thieves has excitement, currency and humor, and is expertly constructed. It will be another in the string of wildly successful novels by Jeffrey Archer.”

  —The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  A QUIVER FULL OF ARROWS

  “Somerset Maugham never penned anything so swift or urbanely witty as this.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Exciting … A Quiver Full of Arrows is everything a reader could want. Archer offers versatility, laughter, inventive plotting and a gift for characterization.”

  —The Baltimore Sun

  “Amusing … Poignant.”

  —The New York Times

  THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES

  Copyright © 1998 by Jeffrey Archer.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  Cover photo by Valerie Gates.

  eISBN 9781429967327

  First eBook Edition : March 2011

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-17260

  HarperCollins hardcover edition published 1998

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / January 2006