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Amazon.co.uk Review
Forsyth changed the face of the modern thriller with The Day of the Jackal, and the marriage of brilliantly realised detail and tight-as-a-drum narrative has become the industry standard ever since. This collection of five tales shows he has not lost his skill, and each reads like a perfectly turned mini-novel, rich in sharply drawn protagonists and wasting nary a word in delivering the goods. In the title tale, a canny lawyer finds himself acting for guilty men after a savage inner-city killing; in The Art of the Matter, destructive double-dealing is dispensed within the plush board rooms of a prestigious auction house; and in The Miracle a traveller en route to the brutal experience of the Palio horse race in Siena has his life changed by a supernatural incident. The range of these pieces is wide (even including a tale about a survivor of the massacre of Custer's troops at Little Bighorn), but all are brought off with the effortless skill that has always been the author's trademark:
From even closer range a Sioux warrior rose from the long grass, pointed an ancient flintlock musket at Craig and fired. He had clearly used too much black powder in an effort to achieve the increased range. Worse, he had forgotten to remove the ramrod. The breech exploded with a roar and a sheet of flame, shattering the man's right hand to pulp. If he had been firing from the shoulder he would have lost most of his head...--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
The book kicks off with an Indian shopkeeper in London witnessing the mugging of an elderly man (who later dies) by two street thugs. The story is followed through the police inspector assigned to the case, who must locate the two killers and find out who the old man was. Once this is accomplished, the case proceeds to the courts, where it looks to be an open and shut case with the eyewitness, fingerprints, everything. However, when a high-powered barrister takes the case of the two thugs pro bono, it becomes a lot more uncertain whether or not justice will prevail. I won't give away the resolution, but it's excellent.
The second story is just as strong, and takes place in the rarified world of London auction houses. Here we meet a struggling middle-aged bit player in films, an odious piece of the upper crust, and a self-made young man from the hinterlands, whose intersection results in a classic con caper with a lot of humor. The inside look at auction houses is fascinating, and the supporting cast of appraisers, computer hackers, forgers, and others completes the rich setting. Those who enjoy tales of scams, cons, and greedy people getting their just desserts will love this.
"The Miracle" is mostly a lengthy monologue delivered by a man in Siena to a pair of American tourists who happen by his courtyard on festival night. He weaves them a tale about World War II and the Allied drive up Italy that pushed the Germans out of Sienna, and the miracle that occurred in that very courtyard. As with all the stories, there's a twist, but just not a very surprising one. "The Citizen" attempts to build suspense from a trio of passengers on board a flight from Bangkok to England and the question of which of them might be smuggling drugs. The red herrings are all too obvious and the story kind of fizzles out.
The final piece, "Whispering Wind", starts off as a fairly standard slice of historical fiction about the lone white survivor of Custer's army at the Battle of Little Big Horn. This time the twist is in the middle however, and the reader suddenly finds himself in a Rip Van Winklesque time-travel story. The conceit is that a century later, the characters from the first half of the story must play out unfinished business. Forsyth has obviously researched the old West and is having fun with the sci-fi elements of the story, but it is utterly lacking in the fine characterization that made the first two stories in the book so fun to read. Instead, the protagonist, his love interest, his foes, and basically all the characters, are archetypes, and thus it's hard to get too involved with them.
So, while all are enjoyable on a certain level for the atmospheric detail Forsyth brings to them, only the first two are really worth reading. Those with a strong interest in Siena may enjoy "The Miracle" and those with a strong interest the old West may find "Whispering Wind" diverting, but most will be better served skipping those.
Two of the stories were previously published, which suggests that Frederick Forsyth's publisher asked him to scour his odds bin for material to flesh out a profitable new release. Or perhaps the author just needed something to forestall the demands of his publisher made cranky by a delay in the contractual delivery of a feature-length novel. Or maybe Forsyth just needed an infusion of funds to refurbish his home's loo.
All five tales revolve around a veteran of some profession or another: "The Veteran" (British Para trooper), "The Art of the Matter" (bit-part actor), "The Miracle" (WWII Wehrmacht medical officer), "The Citizen" (British drug enforcement cop), "Whispering Wind" (19th century U.S. Seventh Cavalry scout).
All stories were above average in their ability to engage and retain my interest even so far as to attract my attention between snaps during yesterday's USC-Notre Dame football contest. (USC 38, Irish 3. Fight on!) All five had a plot twist, and the author's attention to detail gave added value. In particular for those with no prior knowledge of Custer's Last Stand in 1876 in the present state of Montana, Forsyth's summary of the U.S. Army's greatest defeat at the hands of the native tribes provides a very nice introductory overview.
The first four stories take place in more or less the present and, unlike the fifth and last, completely exclude any paranormality. This sudden change in direction may be slightly disconcerting, much like finding an otherworldly Sci-Fi plot rounding out a collection of sagebrush Western shoot-'em-ups.
THE VETERAN is the perfect accompaniment for that flight home for the holidays or the wait through the wash and spin cycles at the launderette.
The Veteran
- a war veteran gets robbed and kicked to death by two small time roughs. I felt really good when I reached the unsuspected nice ending.
The Art of The Matter
- a poor actor and a employee gets ripped off by an art dealer.
The Miracle
- a fantastic war story about two tourists in today's Italy, with an intriguing ending. This is a very good piece of work.
The Citizen
- a family holidaying in Thailand going home to London by air. Also a quite unexpected ending.
Whispering Wind
- one of Custer's young scouts who survives the battle of Little Bighorn and his life through the following one hundred years (yes) searching for his true loved.
This last story is now my absolute favourite. It could also become a great film script, just by being true to the story.
Great work Mr Forsyth!
Whispering Wind being the longest of the five but with no doubt the best. Read more
I loved the way the book was written and it made me realise there was so much research that had gone it... Read more
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