Be Careful What You Wish For

By: Jeffrey Archer

Narrated by: Alex Jennings

Be Careful What You Wish For, the fourth instalment in Jeffrey Archer's The Clifton Chronicles, opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno?

When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, the egregious Major Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham.

Back in London, Harry and Emma's adopted daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until the future mother-in-law, has a visit from an old friend who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice.

Then, without warning, Cedric Hardcastle, a bluff Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barringtons. This causes an upheaval that none of them could have anticipated, and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle's first decision is who to support to become the next chairman of the board, and with that decision, the story takes yet another twist that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Continue the bestselling series with Mightier than the Sword and Cometh the Hour.

Critic reviews

Probably the greatest storyteller of our age

If there was a Nobel Prize for storytelling, Archer would win

Number four was ad good as the others

I particularly enjoyed listening to this book as it was in original language (I heard the first 3 in Italian). Jennings' reading was superbe making all those accents. I loved it.

The door is still ajar for one more book.

I have been immersed in the Clifton chronicles from the first 30 minutes. Enjoy them

What to listen to next???

next please

make sure you have the next book.... .nail biting entertaining and gripping suspenseful story telling.

nail biting Clifton story .

this was one of the best in the Clifton series...a real life exciting believable story line

OK - But not from the top shelf

Any additional comments?

We all know that Archer is a master story teller. However, in this - the fourth in the Clifton Chronicle Series - one has the feeling that he is writing to a pre-ordained master plan and is manipulating plot development to create the outcome that he wants.And so, while there are pleasant twists and turns, this is not a novel that will be talked about in the future as a noteworthy example of the "saga" genre. It is not in the same class as, say, Ken Follett's Century Trilogy.But don't mistake my assessment as intending to dissuade you from listening to the book. It's a great tale, written by an author whose skill is top tier, and will entertain you. It won't - nor is it intended to I think - tax you though. You'll be able to listen to it, and stop listening when it's time to go to bed. In other words, it won't keep you up all night as a compelling must read!