Wird dem Klappentext nicht ganz gerecht: Kenner von Frederick Forsyth' Büchern wissen spätestens seit "Das Phantom von Manhattan", dass es dem britischen Autor auf beeindruckende Art und Weise immer wieder gelingt, seine Leser mit etwas völlig Neuem zu überraschen."Der Veteran" macht da keine Ausnahme, denn diesmal sind es vier Geschichten, von denen eine dem Titel des Gesamtwerks entspricht. Doch das Genre dieser Geschichten als "Thriller" zu bezeichnen, wie es der Klappentext des Verlags tut, ist nicht richtig, was aber nicht bedeutet, die in "Der Veteran" gesammelten Werke wären nicht spannend.In der ersten Geschichte erzählt Forsyth die Story eines vermeintlichen Wunders im Zweiten Weltkrieg, während die zweite vom Rachefeldzug eines betrogenen Gemäldeschätzers handelt. "Der Veteran" ist eine Geschichte über Ermittlungen der Londoner Polizei nach dem Mord an einem unidentifizierten Mann. Den größten Teil des neuen Forsyth nimmt die Erzählung über einen amerikanischen Prärie-Scout des 19. Jahrhunderts ein, der in einem Indianermädchen seine große Liebe findet.Lesenswert ist die Romansammlung für all jene, die Forsyth' Erzählstil mögen und auch "Das Phantom von Manhattan" gierig verschlungen haben.

r1hard | Nov 22, 2009 |

5 stories -- Most of the storied started out and even continued pretty slowly and not overly interesting, but the endings were great surprises. (

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missmath144 | Aug 31, 2008 |

The Veteran is one of five novellas included in this book. Each one has an interesting twist. My favorite -- and the longest -- is titled Whispering Wind. It is the story of one of Lt. Col. George Custer's white scouts who survived the Little Bighorn battle. Although the main character is fictional, it is gives a thorough, factual history of the Campaign against the Sioux Indians in 1876. The entire book, however, is hard to put down once you're into any of the stories. (

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nitehawk84 | Apr 24, 2008 |

I liked these stories, especially the last one called "Whispering Wind". Having said that, it was the only one that had an ending that was foreseeable for me. The others surprised me and I really liked that. (

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gmillar | Jul 8, 2007 |

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Amazon.com (ISBN 0312983425, Mass Market Paperback)

Penzler Pick, September 2001: Frederick Forsyth is known as the bestselling author of classic thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File, among others. He is far less known as one of our premier short story writers (even though he won an Edgar for "There Are No Snakes in Ireland"), so it is a pleasure to have a new book from this superb storyteller.

"The Veteran" tells the story of an incident in one of the seedier parts of London. A Ugandan shopkeeper witnesses the mugging of a middle-aged man by two thugs. The shopkeeper has a perfect view of the crime so, when the man dies of his injuries, it would appear that the two thugs, now up on a murder charge, will be convicted. But justice does not always come easily, and it comes in many guises.

"The Art of the Matter" recounts an ingenious and deliciously satisfying art scam. The twists and turns are breathlessly entertaining and just when you think it's over, there's one more way for the bad guys to get their comeuppance. "The Miracle" tells the story of an American couple in Siena on their way to a festival. They are stopped when a stranger tells them the story of the courtyard in which they stand. Some very wonderful things happened right there during the Second World War. Will the couple get to the festival? Will they care?

"The Citizen" is a heart-stopping suspense story set on board a flight from Bangkok to London. We get to know the flight crew and some of the passengers very well, and they are not all who they might appear to be. And "Whispering Wind," the longest story in the book, is a very ambitious piece about the Battle of Little Big Horn and what came later for several of the participants.

Each of the stories in this volume is Forsyth in top form. The writing exceeds expectations, the stories are never less than compelling, and the suspense in each of them is nonstop. --Otto Penzler

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:03 -0400)

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