Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95  ·  rating details  ·  12,574 ratings  ·  394 reviews
The conned:an Oxford don,a revered society physician, a chic French art dealer, and a charming English lord. They have one thing in common. Overnight, each novice investor lost his life's fortune to one man. The con: Harvey Metcalfe!!

A brilliant, self-made guru of deceit. A very dangerous individual. And now, a hunted man.

With nothing left to lose four strangers are about
...more
Paperback, 305 pages
Published May 16th 2004 by St. Martin's Paperbacks (first published January 1st 1976)
more details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
Kane and Abel by Jeffrey ArcherNot a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey ArcherA Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey ArcherThe Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey ArcherOnly Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
The Best of Jeffery Archer
2nd out of 29 books — 126 voters
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsWatership Down by Richard AdamsThe Stand by Stephen KingInterview with the Vampire by Anne RiceThe Princess Bride by William Goldman
Best Books of the Decade: 1970's
81st out of 556 books — 491 voters


More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)
filter  |  sort: default (?)  |  rating details
Anne
Oct 27, 2011 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Anne by: Gretchen
Shelves: rereadable
I come by my love of mysteries and thrillers naturally, as both my mother and grandmother are addicts of such books. This book was among their highly recommended reads. I thoroughly enjoyed it the first time around a few years ago, and it was just as much fun this time.

The story features a Bernie Madoff-type villain named Harvey Metcalfe who, despite all his previously ill-gotten millions, takes the opportunity to con a few naive investors in a stock market scam. Among his latest victims is an A...more
jim
Feb 15, 2013 jim rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: travelers
Recommended to jim by: Brooke Moody
This book (and its author) were wholly unknown to me until I was handed the book to read once a friend had finished it. I had very few expectations or pre-conceived notions of what I was about to read...

First, I'd like to note that this was a very easy and enjoyable read. It rarely, if ever, felt as though I was slogging through something just to advance the story while it still held my attention and made me *want* to get to the next plot point. This definitely made for a pretty smooth read, how...more
David
Jeffrey Archer's first book and a grossly over-rated one at that. Although Archer can write well - I was not much impressed by the plot. Four people swindled by a rich man. But he is so rich (several hundred million rich) that the amount he swindled them out of (a quarter of a million each) hardly seems worth the effort!

They make a mutual pledge to get the money back - and each must devise a scheme for doing so. But the feckless "hero" of the book (presumably based on Archer himself) hasn't a cl...more
Carol
I really enjoyed this one (on audio). It's an old book (1974) with some references to marrying the bonny Prince Charles - then a bachelor. Still, it stands the test of time with its crooks and deceit. Lots of fun on the road.
Rinn Ramli
Masa zaman belajar dulu, kawan sekelas aku sorang ni suka collect buku Jeffrey Archer. She recommended me this book and I'm hooked with Jeffrey Archer's books. Not A Penny More, Not Penny Less diterbitkan sekitar 1974. So bila baca buku ni mesti membayangkan suasana dan prasarana sekitar tahun2 yang begitu lah. Tak der alat komunikasi moden.

Harvey Metcalfe adalah businesman yang mengumpulkan kekayaan dengan cara 'mengenakan' orang. Ada 4 orang yang sudah 'terkena' dengan Harvey Metcalfe ni deci...more
Saurabh Hooda
People duping people is common occurrence in our world. We hear about it from every living soul or we see it in every alternate film\soap opera. In this story a shrewd chap, born out of poverty and moved up to Midas world through his shenanigans, dupe four innocent person by his scheming grey cells. But here all four guys are well established in their respective field and they have guts to stand up and deliver against well known disreputable financial criminal. Story moves around how four of the...more
Indiabookstore
This novel by Jeffrey Archer serves intelligence combined with team work at its best. It very well signifies what a person is capable of doing if he is good at what he is, in fact it would be more precise to say a guy's work can be breathtaking in any field if he has mastered his own. Punishment for a crime doesn't have to be legal or harsh every time. Sometimes it is better served without a proper acknowledgement from the accused. In that way it remains a win-win condition. This first novel by...more
Tom Ireland
Recently, I was in the pub (no surprise there) and I had a very interesting chat with a friend of mine. We were discussing what makes a good book. His view was that the defining criterion for a good book was that it entertain, that it be 'a good yarn'. I begged to differ and suggested a distinction between a good book and good literature. In my view, to entertain is all very well but a truly good book offers something more. After that, we pretty much went round in circles for a couple of pints b...more
Avel
I found Jeffrey Archer's "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less" very entertaining. It begins with the story of a Polish immigrant boy (Henryk Metelski, later becoming Harvey Metcalf) who goes to work as a messenger on Wall Street and acquires a "streetwise" financial education which eventually enables him to become a millionaire. He makes his millions by taking advantage of any poor innocent who stumbles into his path and then shrewdly investing the profits of his schemes. As he grows older he man...more
Tea Jovanović
Britanci su po ovom romanu snimili vrhunsku seriju... davno, davno...
Sadaf
An elaborate plan to get money - in this case, to get money back, is the kind of stuff that Archer writes really well. I thoroughly enjoyed The Fourth Estate, and there was no doubt I was going to like this one.
The book begins with a bit of background on Harvey Metclafe, and as soon as you start to feel proud of his enterprising efforts, you realize he is going to con a few innocent people of a million, and he immediately becomes the 'villain'.
The four men who are duped of their money, are an...more
Jeyaprakash
I am an amateur reader starting with couple of ones from Lee Child, Fredrick Forsyth. I was given a collection of Jeffrey Archer's from one of my pal. It was his suggestion to start with "Not a penny more, not a penny less", after getting exhausted with Fredrick Forsyth "The Afghan", I got myself into a state of tireless after reading 'Not a penny more, not a penny less'. My three words to describe this novel would be awesome, splendid and fantabulous. Archer, in this work had concentrated only...more
Ankit Agrawal
Of all the Jeffrey Archer books I have read, I have liked this one the least. The reason is simply because this was not a typical Jeffrey Archer book. Jeffrey Archer in his own words loves to write simple novels, simple fiction for everybody to read and understand. It doesn't necessarily appeal to people of any particular age group, like or dislike. His books are there for everybody to read and enjoy. He has himself said that he doesn't like to write anything violent, sexual or even extravagant....more
J. Luis
Libro ligero, ameno y de muy fácil lectura. Nos presenta una trama que engancha pero que para mi gusto tiene ciertos altibajos. Al comienzo, por ejemplo, nos presenta a un personaje que aunque va a tener una cierta importancia para el desarrollo de la historia se esfuma tal y como llegó. Es verdad que no deja de ser alguien secundario, pero da un poco la sensación de que el autor no se quiere complicar la vida.
También he tenido la sensación de que las venganzas que preparan para resarcirse de lo...more
Shonali
This was his first novel and a very critically acclaimed one, turned in to a TV series and a movie too. Though his list of bestsellers is long , this one according to me, holds the top spot [OK.. Kane And Abel ties with it for the first place :) ]
Though his later day novels turned in to kind of similar concepts predictable twists and turns , his earlier works were really, really good. Archer knows how to hold the attention of the reader with right amount of surprises at the right time and its ve...more
Michael
Aug 08, 2009 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Englishe mystery fans, Alfred Hitchcock fans.
Recommended to Michael by: Enjoy the author
This is between a three and four star book.
Jeffrey Archer's first novel is basically a novel of revenge and retribution.
Harvey Metcalfe has swindled four men, Stephen Bradley, a mathmetical genius, Dr. Robert Oakley, a society doctor, Jean-Pierre Lamanns, seller of art works, and James Brigsley, an English Lord.
The first part of the novel is a bit slow as we see Harvey's rise from the son of poor Polish emigrants to his ownership of an oil company.
Then he puts out false information on a worthle...more
Shabbeer Hassan
“Making a million legally has always been difficult. Making a million illegally has always been a little easier.”
Henry Metcalfe, a US born citizen of Polish descent, had devised a system of duping people of their money by creating proxy companies. Due to his good marketing skills, he compelled the common people into buying the shares of his company, and then, once he had enough money, escaped with all the money, through loopholes in the law.
On one such occurrence, David Kesler, a Harvard graduat...more
Chris
Not a penny more, not a penny less.

Interestingly, well accidently really, I've read Jeffrey Archers books in anachronistic order. Having read and loved his latest novel last month (Only Time will tell), I was intrigued to read his first novel - which launched his writing career. A novel that thirty years ago had US publishers fighting to grab the rights, and which Jeffrey admits changed his life; but I guess $3 million dollars thirty years ago was considered a lot of money.

So with the luxury of...more
Susan
Having read two previous books by Archer, I must say that I was pleased when my mystery bookclub picked Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less for our October read. Archer delivered another compelling tale that kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. Four unlikely men find themselves swindled by the supreme con man, and instead of taking it lying down they team up to con the con. Archer does a great job at creating such wonderful characters each of whom stands out in their own way i...more
Karen Scott
Harvey Metcalfe basically swindles four people, and this book is about how they come together to each get what he stole from them back, not a penny more, not a penny less.

The plot doesn't sound all that enthralling, four people trying to get back at a crook, however, this book was so much better than that.

This was a smart, smart book. Excellent plotting and story telling from Lord Archer. I loved how complex this story was, and how it managed to fool me at times. I read it years ago, but I'll ne...more
Thomas Acland
This is the third Jeffery Archer book I have read in quite a short period of time and after being initially disappointed with A Matter of Honor and then being taken away with the brilliance of Kane and Abel, this book proves a happy medium, it is good without being spectacular. The plot line of out swindling the swindler is a clever one and the schemes the author has devised are ingenious and was the highlight of the book. Once again the detail within the book was slightly disappointing, I know...more
Johnny Williams
Not a penny more, Not a penny Less—is Jeffrey Archer's very first book, and published back in the mid-1970s. It is really a captivating novel of revenge and steel hard retribution. After ignoring it on for a couple of weeks I started in on it -- and finished it in less than a couple of days. It’s a series of very complex yet believable “get you back” cons, enchanting characters with those extra minute details that make them come to life, and skillfully written and wisely balanced collaborations...more
Jatin
This is the story of four professionals who take up an adventure to retort to being cheated by a corporate conman. The book has fair amounts of twists which I think straighten up to soon to maintain any decent amount of suspense and also none of it hampers "The Team's" plan of action.
Having been duped to buy the shares of a fraud company, their common misfortune brings them together and they each hatch a plan to spin money out of the crooked businessman. They're all men of learning except for a...more
Ritesh Bhagwati
As being a complete novice reader, I dont follow any specific author per say. I usually pick up books based on the average reviews/synopsis etc. I like exploring various authors as I can learn from their way of writing style. In the same way, I happen to pick up this book "Not a penny more, Not a penny less" by JA. One the first thought I wondered its gonna be extremely boring but I had been curious after reading its reviews. I shall say i'm glad that I picked up this book.

Now about the book I c
...more
Srishti
May 13, 2012 Srishti rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to Srishti by: Riya
3.5/5 stars

Jeffrey Archer never fails to amaze me. This is another one of his brilliant books with some unexpected twists and turns. I genuinely liked this book but wouldn't call it Archer's best work...what I liked was the whole concept of 'not a penny more, not a penny less'. They wanted to extract the EXACT amount that was taken from them and the way they get it back is really interesting.
It would've been better if Harvey actually found out what the four men were doing but the ending was real...more
Sndp
Well, It took me short time(though I read it in 10days most of the days I didn't read it due to health.).

This is my first Jeffrey Archer's novel. In an interview I had seen that people think that this is Jeffrey Archer's best novel till date. But I neither liked it or hated it. It was just OK. Just to increase the number of books you read and just to kill some time.

The plot of the story about four guys( aged guys, to say more clearly) who lose their money in a share market fraud which is done by...more
Just My Opinion
Every once in a while, I get on a HUGE thriller/mystery kick. I once spent months reading almost every Kay Scarpetta book by Patricia Cornwell. I'll get to those reviews at some point. So I was looking for another author to fill my thriller fix when I came across Jeffrey Archer.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was an up and down thrill ride for sure. It was filled with plotting and revenge, skepticism and blind trust and lots of money! It's set in some exotic locations which add to it's intrig...more
Jean Barrington
This was a very good read with an unanticipated ending. I liked it a lot. There was plenty of suspense and one grows to love the characters.
Four men, strangers to each other are duped in a stock market ruse and are determined to get their money back from the thief by means that are far from the usual. That old saying, "What goes around, comes around," is played out in spades in this story. The four men who are sure in the beginning if they even like each other and who are quite different in pers...more
Karalee
I have read a number of Jeffrey Archer's books but had never read this one, which was published back in the mid-1970s. It is the story of four men who are swindled out of a large sum of money who decide to get revenge on the swindler and hatch a plot to get their money back. The premise is great and the plot moves quickly. Surprisingly, even though it was published more than 30 years ago, the plot stands up to present day (although it clearly would involve more technology and probably larger sum...more
Michelle
I purchsed this for my mom for Christmas, and then promptly borrowed it so I could have something to listen to on a long road trip.

This particular abridged edition was a big disappoitment to me -- I probably only noticed that some stuff was missing just because I've read the book so many times; however, some of the stuff they cut really added to the story as a whole.

I don't believe there's an unabridged version available -- so unless you are visually impaired (like my mom), skip the audio and ju...more
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 99 100 next »
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less (Paperback)
Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less (Paperback)
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (Paperback)
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (ebook)
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (Kindle Edition)

4820
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English author and former politician.

He was a Member of Parliament and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, and became a life peer in 1992. His political career, having suffered several controversies, ended after a conviction for perverting the course of justice and his subsequent imprisonment. He is married...more
More about Jeffrey Archer...
Kane and Abel (Kane and Abel, #1) The Prodigal Daughter (Kane & Abel, #2) A Prisoner of Birth Only Time Will Tell As the Crow Flies

Share This Book

Your website
“The bastard. It's bad enough knowing he's stolen our money,but it's humiliating having to watch him spend it.” 2 people liked it
“Making a million legally has always been difficult. Making a million illegally has always been a little easier. Keeping a million when you have made it is perhaps the most difficult of all.” 1 person liked it
More quotes…