Only Time Will Tell

Only Time Will Tell

Jeffrey Archer

The first novel in the Clifton Chronicles, an ambitious new series that tells the story of a family across generations and oceans, from heartbreak to triumph, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Archer

The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the words "I was told that my father was killed in the war." A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father and expects to continue on at the shipyard, until a remarkable gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys' school, and his life will never be the same again...

As Harry enters into adulthood, he finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question: Was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line? From the ravages of the Great War and the docks of working-class England to the streets of 1940 New York City and the outbreak of the Second World War, this is a powerful journey that will bring to life one hundred years of history to reveal a family story that neither the reader nor Harry Clifton himself could ever have imagined.

“Outrageous and top-notch terror.” —Vogue on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?

“The only difference between this book and The Day of the Jackal is that Archer is a better writer.” —Chicago Tribune on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?

“Authentic, literate, and scary.” —Cosmopolitan on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?

“The countdown is the thing; the pace, the pursuit, the what-next, the how-is-it-going-to-come-out…” —Boston Globe on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?

“Holds the reader in a vicelike grip.” —Penthouse on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?

“A compelling read.” —Newsday on A PRISONER OF BIRTH

“Dynamite…plot twists and a slam-bang finale.” —The Washington Post on A PRISONER OF BIRTH

“Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages.” —The Boston Globe on A PRISONER OF BIRTH

“Thoroughly enjoyable.” —Publishers Weekly on A PRISONER OF BIRTH

“Compulsively readable.” —Library Journal on A PRISONER OF BIRTH

“Gripping.” —The Vancouver Sun on A PRISONER OF BIRTH

“An exercise in wish fulfillment. The good may suffer, but the bad will get theirs in the end. The fun is watching it unfold.” —St. Petersburg Times (Florida) on A PRISONER OF BIRTH

“Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages.” —The Boston Globe on CAT O'NINE TALES

“The economy and precision of Archer's prose never fails to delight. The criminal doesn't always get away with his crime and justice doesn't always prevail, but the reader wins with each and every story.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on CAT O'NINE TALES

“A worthy successor to The Da Vinci Code.” —Liz Smith on FALSE IMPRESSION, New York Post

“Archer is back in top form with [this] latest thriller.” —Library Journal (starred review) on FALSE IMPRESSION

“Thoroughly imagined...entertaining...thrilling.” —Denver Post on FALSE IMPRESSION

“Murder and a high-stakes art-world theft are cleverly blended [in this] exciting...global thrill-ride.” —Vancouver Sun on FALSE IMPRESSION

“Sail along from one high crime to the next....Archer is a great plotter....[and] in the middle of the action, [he] drops research gems.” —Liz Smith on FALSE IMPRESSION, New York Post