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Most of us would probably remember Lord Jeffrey Archer as a criminal, having spent time in jail for perjury. However, if one were to look behind such an ignominious history, you would have to agree that he has a knack for spinning a long tale, as seen by his earlier successes, specifically, Kane & Abel.

Having read most of his other books, I can easily describe to you the style of which he writes. He takes two characters which seem to have next to zero relationships with each other, and follows their trials and tribulations from birth to adulthood seperately. Then, in this period of time, the lives of these two characters who were thought were seperate would somehow be deeply entwined with each other, causing drama and tension for both characters who we have been following. It is no different in Kane & Abel.

William Lowell Kane is the son of a rich Boston millionaire, whilst on the other hand, Abel Rosnovski is a poor Polish immigrant. Both only have one thing in common, their birth dates. In the span of the book, which covers a life to death story spanning nearly sixty years, we see both of these men grow up in their respective homes and countries, before their goals bring them together as partners and eventually, enemies. We will learn about both their families, their loves and even their children, all brought up in juxtaposition to each other.

The story begins in World War I, where Abel is trapped in invaded Poland, while William Kane sits comfortably at home in Boston. Both their lives and difficulties are different from each other, one trying to survive in a dangerous situation that he is in, the other trying to survive in a different environment, his school, his business relationships. Only when Abel finally immigrates to the States, his goals change that of a monetary one, where now both of them now sharing the same goal, conflict each other.

Despite the interesting and long drawn out story given here, some might be simply disgusted at the sheer length of the story. Some readers would prefer to jump straight into the action, rather than go to through a long drawn out life story of both characters, no matter how interesting it is. Furthermore, Jeffrey Archer writing style of using Chekhov's Gun where certain characters or events early in the story may seem unmeaningful and unnecessary, only to be brought up later in the story, causing the reader to flip back to investigate it's meaning, having not paid proper attention to it just now. In addition to that, the story also lacks a major climax. Indeed, it has a number of tense moments at different parts of their lives, a childhood crisis, a teenage nemesis each character might face. This results in a fluctuating tension which does not climax well. In fact, come to think of it, I personally feel that some earlier events might have put me on the edge more so than the final ending of the story.

Kane & Abel, however, is still a decent read to avid readers who are looking for a good, moderate length work of fiction. If you do not mind a fully fleshed out story, perhaps Kane & Abel would be a good choice for you. Even if you are done with this book, the stories of these families actually continue in two seperate "sequels", "The Prodigal Daughter", as well as "Shall We Tell The President?", further following into the lives of these two families in the near future.

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