“Because not only will I be replenishing their pension fund, but I would also allow the management to retain control of the Citizen. And we wouldn’t be breaking the law, because the surplus in our pension fund more than covers the shortfall in theirs.”
“I still think they’d put up one hell of a fight to prevent you,” said Tom.
“Not when the Globe reminds the Citizen’s 35,000 former employees every morning that there’s a simple solution to their pension problem. Within days they’ll be demonstrating outside Armstrong House, demanding that the board go along with the merger.”
“But that also assumes Parliament will wear it,” said Tom. “Think of those Labor members who detest you even more than they did Armstrong.”
“I’ll just have to make sure that those same members receive sackfuls of letters from their constituents, reminding them that they are only months away from an election, and that if they expect them to vote…”
Keith looked up to see E.B. standing in the doorway. She stared at him in the same way she had on the first day they met.
“Mr. Townsend,” she said. “Less than fifteen minutes ago, you and I came to an agreement, an agreement on which you gave your solemn oath. Or does your memory not stretch back that far?”
Keith’s cheeks reddened slightly, and then a smile slowly appeared on his face. “I’m sorry, E.B.,” he said, “I lied.”
TITLES BY JEFFREY ARCHER
NOVELS
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
Shall We Tell the President?
Kane & Abel
The Prodigal Daughter
First Among Equals
A Matter of Honour
As the Crow Flies
Honour Among Thieves
The Fourth Estate
The Eleventh Commandment
Sons of Fortune
False Impression
The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot (with the assistance of Professor Francis J. Moloney)
A Prisoner of Birth
Paths of Glory
Only Time Will Tell
The Sins of the Father
SHORT STORIES
A Quiver Full of Arrows
A Twist in the Tale
Twelve Red Herrings
The Collected Short Stories
To Cut a Long Story Short
Cat O’ Nine Tales
And Thereby Hangs a Tale
PLAYS
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
Exclusive
The Accused
PRISON DIARIES
Volume One—Belmarsh: Hell
Volume Two—Wayland: Purgatory
Volume Three—North Sea Camp: Heaven
SCREENPLAYS
Mallory: Walking Off the Map
False Impression
Praise for international bestselling author
JEFFREY ARCHER
“One of the top ten storytellers in the world.”
—Los Angeles Times
“There isn’t a better storyteller alive.”
—Larry King
“Archer plots with skill and keeps you turning the pages.”
—Boston Globe
“Cunning plots, silken style.… Archer plays a cat-and-mouse game with the reader.”
—The New York Times
“Archer is a master entertainer.”
—Time
“A storyteller in the class of Alexandre Dumas … unsurpassed skill.”
—Washington Post
And his novels and short story collections
THE SINS OF THE FATHER
“Will keep your blood pressure high and you’ll risk back injury just from being kept on the edge of your seat … I guarantee that anyone who takes this book from the shelves will not be able to put it down.”
—The Spectator (UK)
“[Archer] is a master of fiction … Jeffrey Archer has the strange gift denied to many who think themselves more serious novelists. He can tell a story, and he does so with such conviction, such appealing naivety, that you suspend disbelief, and read happily on.”
—The Scotsman (UK)
“Archer can plot a story.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The Clifton Chronicles saga, which will eventually span a century, from 1920 to 2020, has all the ingredients of compelling novels—rogue aristocrats, low-life scoundrels, wars, and excellently drawn characters … it, siren-like, lures its readers deeper into the lives of its characters.”
“Captivating.”
—Sydney Morning Herald
ONLY TIME WILL TELL
“Archer delivers another page-turning, heart-stopping saga, with delightful twists, and a surprise ending … readers will surely wait for the next with bated breath.”
—Publishers Weekly
“General readers as well as Archer fans will enjoy this unforgettable tale, which abounds with cliff-hangers that propel its intriguing and intricate plot.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“What appears at the outset to be a straightforward coming-of-age tale becomes, by the end, a saga of power, betrayal, and bitter hatred. The novel ends on a deliberately dark note, setting the stage for the sequel … An outstanding effort from a reliable veteran.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“By the time you make it to the last page, the drama of Harry Clifton’s young life takes the readers to the edge of the cliff, where they must hang until the next Clifton Chronicle.”
—Sunday Telegraph
AND THEREBY HANGS A TALE
“Archer can make you wring your hands in anguish and guffaw out loud, all on the same page, and he does in these fifteen ingenious stories.”
—The Star-Ledger (New Jersey)
“Whimsical … Good enough to turn someone who doesn’t normally read short stories into a fan of the genre. This is the ideal book to pop into a bag or keep in the car.”
—Kirkus Reviews
SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?
“Outrageous and top-notch terror.”
—Vogue
“The only difference between this book and The Day of the Jackal is that Archer is a better writer.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Authentic, literate, and scary.”
—Cosmopolitan
“The countdown is the thing: the pace, the pursuit, the what-next, the how-is-it-going-to-come-out.”
—Boston Globe
“Holds the reader in a viselike grip.”
—Penthouse
A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“A compelling read.”
—Newsday
“Dynamite … plot twists and a slam-bang finale.”
—The Washington Post
“Thoroughly enjoyable.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Compulsively readable.”
—Library Journal
“Gripping.”
—Vancouver Sun
“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)
CAT O’ NINE TALES
“Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages.”
—Boston Globe
“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)
FALSE IMPRESSION
“A worthy successor to The Da Vinci Code.”
—Liz Smith, New York Post
“Archer is back in top form with [this] latest thriller.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“Thoroughly imagined … entertaining … thrilling.”
—Denver Post
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, o
rganizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE FOURTH ESTATE
Copyright © 1996 by Jeffrey Archer.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
ISBN: 978-1-250-02536-4
HarperCollinsPublishers hardcover edition published 1996
HarperPaperbacks edition / July 1997
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / March 2013
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
eISBN 9781466817463