Book Review: The Accused (Modern Plays) by Jeffrey Archer

'The Accused' is a play authored by Archer, and in that, I believe it is a disservice to read it. Even so, considering I am highly unlikely to encounter it being performed in my lifetime, I purchased the somewhat overpriced Kindle edition, coming off a highly enjoyable 'Tell Tale' from the same author. The premise of a play that allowed the audience to decide the fate of the protagonist as a jury, also seemed interesting enough to read at least once. The book/ play ends with two potential endings depending on whether the audience/ jury finds him guilty or innocent.

I happened to find a couple of narrative plot holes which bugged me a lot. Archer excels in the interplay of strongly etched characters and the play format where the narrative is carried forward more by dialogue and less by, well, narrative, isn't something Archer is best suited for.

Even so, I didn't mind the faults of the book much. 'The Accused' is enjoyable enough, though it stops short of being an Archer masterpiece.