Million dollar sting plus expenses (Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less - Jeffrey Archer)

Member Name: WallaceSP

Product:	Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less - Jeffrey Archer
Date:	04/09/01 (322 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good story, exceptional characters, an enjoyable finale.

Disadvantages: Slow start

Harvey Matcalfe is a self-made multi-millionaire, he?s also a crook dealing very expertly in fraud. Harvey takes on a new deal ? Prospecta Oil ? and once again he is successful, selling off all of his shares at high prices for a company which is worth very little. As usual, nothing can be traced back to him, technically what he has done is totally legal.

The only drawback to this plan is the people who he has just made penniless. His victims in this escapade are the viscount James Brigsley, heir to an earldom, Dr Robin Oakley, a Harley Street doctor, Jean-Pierre Lamanns, a Bond Street art dealer and Stephen Bradley, an Oxford don.

Stephen Bradley, the brains behind foursome, learns the identity of the three other large investors when being interviewed by the police. He also learns the amount which Harvey had acquired from them.

Stephen get in touch with the others, and he tempts with an offer they can not refuse; the opportunity to get their money back from Harvey Metcalfe, and without him knowing it. They agree, and start the process of getting back $1 million, not a penny more, not a penny less (plus expenses, of course).

The deal is this; each member of the team must come up with a plan to get their share of the money back, using the other members if necessary. They all go back to their lives to think up their plans.

The next time they meet they all have their plans ready, except James, he can not think of any way to sting Harvey for the money. Never the less the other plans are to go ahead. They are all to take place during Harvey?s usual tour of Europe, and the only weapons that they have is Harvey?s very predictable habits and the fact that he has never met any of them. He loves to give money to the big Universities, his generosity to Harvard is well known. He loves impressionist paintings, and still needs to complete his collection. He races horses and dreams of winning the King George VI and Elizabeth stakes at As
cot. And he always stays in Monte Carlo for some gambling during his tour, in his opinion there is no finer casino.

One by one, the team must deploy their plans and get their money back, they must play Harvey Metcalfe at his own game, only they will have to be good, and they will have to be careful...


This story seems to be slow to start. This is mostly because the setting of the scene takes a while, and Archer has paid a lot attention to the details, explaining how Harvey Metcalfe started to earn his riches and detailing the workings of the Prospecta Oil deal.

Also there is much detail on the organising of the individual plans, and explaining in great detail the lives of the ?Team? members.

It is not, therefore, until the plans are actually set in motion that the real exciting stuff starts. Nothing goes exactly to plan and the team frequently finds themselves having to improvise due to Harvey?s tendency not to do what they expect (unfortunately, giving an example would ruin the story for those who have not already read it).

James Brigsley?s acting talents are used to great effect, thus ensuring that the team does not feel to let down by his apparent inability to come up with his own plan, making up for this by starring in the other plans.

The most exciting events occur at the end, with a surprise which some may have been expecting.

Sometimes I feel the surrounding scenery could have been detailed a little further, although this would perhaps make the book too lengthy.

After a slow start, and perhaps too much emphasis on the money, Jeffrey Archer creates a stunning finale.

Summary: