A Prison Diary: Books 1 -3 - Jeffrey Archer aka FF8282 Audiobook

Written by Jeffrey Archer aka FF8282
Read by Jonathan Keeble
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

On July 19, 2001, Jeffrey Archer - international best-selling author and a member of the British House of Lords, - is sentenced to four years in prison for perjury. He becomes Prisoner FF8282 and spends the first twenty-two days of his sentence in a high-security prison that house some of Britain’s most violent criminals. During those twenty-two days, Archer contemplates suicide; he is allowed out and followed by 100 reporters on the day of his mother’s funeral; he’s moved to the Lifer’s wing because of the security it provides; he becomes a trusted confidant for fellow convicts; and his cell mate sells a story about him to the British tabloids, A Prison Diary is Archer’s account of these events.

Hell
Series: Prison Diaries, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
Release date: 04-21-21
Publisher: SAGA Egmont

This memoir is about his first three weeks in prison, focusing on his daily life, the prisoners’ lives and the state of the British penal system. An old hand at plotting novels and developing stories, Archer moves his memoir at a captivating pace, a credit to his storytelling skills considering the book’s characters are in their cells for 22 hours a day.
Deftly using mundane hour logs, he relates the slow passage of time without falling into the trap of recounting events minute by minute. Knowing that his story as a wealthy, educated celebrity with high-powered attorneys pales in comparison, Archer focuses on the sad, strange and even silly tales of his fellow inmates, a cast of hardened criminals and smalltime crooks. Concentrating on others also serves to help Archer avoid extended fits of melodramatic and self-serving prose (as when he compares himself to Oscar Wilde), which occur when he writes about his own case. But balancing this small flaw with his humorous descriptions of prison food and listening to a cricket match that seems as long as his four-year sentence adds a needed bit of humanity to this controversial politician. Of course, some of Archer’s observations and the inmates’ tales can’t be taken as gospel since Archer is a convicted perjurer and his secondhand stories come from the mouths of murderers and other felons. But those caveats do not override the strong narrative and good writing that make this memoir an intriguing and engaging version of the often-trite prison journal.

Purgatory
Series: Prison Diaries, Book 2
Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
Release date: 04-21-21
Publisher: SAGA Egmont

Long days of boredom in confinement, the general inefficiency of prison bureaucracy and a critically over-stretched prison service. The tediousness of prison life kicks in for prisoner FF8282, also known as author Jeffrey Archer, in the second volume of his best-selling series The Prison Diaries. Still his fellow inmates show inspiring spirit and courage, amid an otherwise gloomy prison landscape, revealing that even in the darkest hours light can always be found.

In 2001 August 9th, Jeffrey Archer is transferred from HMP Belmarsh, a double-A Category high-security prison in south London, to HMP Wayland, a Category C establishment in Norfolk. Though more relaxed in terms of rules prison life still is no picnic, but rather a purgatory.

Heaven
Series: Prison Diaries, Book 3
Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
Release date: 04-21-21
Publisher: SAGA Egmont

A flicker of light almost appears at the end of the tunnel for prisoner FF8282, as he is transferred to North Sea Camp near Boston, Lincolnshire, a D-category prison. Under a less strict regime, the prisoners can enjoy a more relaxed set of rules, while slowly preparing to someday rejoin the world outside the walls. However, a minor breach of conditions gets him sent off to the notorious HMP Lincoln facility for twenty-two days, where more traumatic experiences await.

Heaven is the third book in Jeffrey Archer’s bestselling series The Prison Diaries. In this final volume Archer reflects on his time spent in prison, leading up to his release on parole in July 2003.

An eye-opening insight into prison life, exploring the humanity to be found behind bars, while simultaneously highlighting a system failing society as a whole and as individuals, where inmates leave worse off and more dangerous than when they first entered.
Jeffrey Archer is a bestselling British author and former politician. He was educated at Oxford and went on to become a Member of Parliament, the deputy chair of the Conservative Party as well as sitting in the House of Lords. His political career ended after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt and he turned to writing in 1974.

SAGA Edgemont is not an American or British company, it is Danish and instead of the obnoxious “Audible hopes you…” at the end you get a more pleasant auf Wiedersehen, or similar.

I wish Martin Jarvis had recorded the entire series instead of just the one book I previously uploaded.