Archie Meets Nero Wolfe

3 1/2, Robert Goldsborough does a pretty good job of penning this prequel to the wonderful Nero Wolfe series written by the late, great Rex Stout. I read most of the books in that wonderful series, so thought I'd pick this one up. In it we see a young Archie Goodwin. Archie is a young man newly arrived in New York City in 1931. Jobs are hard to find during this time, but he's young and eager and hopeful. He manages to land a job as a night watchman on a pier and he ends up having to stop an attempt made by two men trying to rob a boat in the harbor. They fire on him and he has to return the fire, killing them both. His boss thinks that even though the killing was justified, Archie might be too trigger-happy for the job, so he lets him show more go. While looking for work he happens to find work at Del Bascombe's detective agency. Del is called in to help Nero Wolfe with a kidnapping case, and that's when Archie meets Nero Wolfe and his band of "merry men" — a group of six hard-nosed shamuses who Wolfe calls on to help him find young Tommie Williamson. The style of writing is very similar to the original series, and the hard-boiled aura about the book is also the same as Rex Stout's writing. I enjoyed meeting the young Archie, and for those of you who have read and enjoyed the Nero Wolfe series, this is a book that is worth reading. I think Goldsborough does a fine job of picking up the threads of the original series, and filling in the blanks before the series itself actually started. show less

Despite not having read any of my Nero Wolfe novels for a few years, and never falling for Robert Goldsborough's sanctioned fan fiction back when I did, this 'prequel' caught my eye. The reviews here and on Amazon are mixed, as with all Goldsborough's Nero Wolfe mysteries, which only challenged me to find out for myself. My best recommendation, unfortunately, is that Goldsborough will have fans of Stout's original novels reaching for old copies of the Nero Wolfe 'corpus', while giving any misguided new readers enough of a clue about the characters and setting to start on the real Nero Wolfe. Goldsborough is a poor imitation, whether given the 'support and approval' of Stout's family or not.

My primary complaint is that Archie Goodwin has show more been diluted to within an inch of his life, and then ironed flat. I don't care if this is a prequel, and that Archie, like Wolfe, grows more conceited over the years, he still requires a personality and a sense of humour. The two qualities I loved best about the series were Archie's punchy narrative voice, and his relationship with Wolfe. Goldsborough has other characters hint at Archie's sarcasm but never raises a laugh, and there isn't even a glimmer of the future bond between the two detectives. In fact, Archie comes across more like Scrappy Doo, all 'Don't forget me!' and 'Just because I happen to be the youngest guy here don't mean I haven't got moxie' (seriously). And all the other characters seem to spend most of the time spouting background exposition and foreshadowing Archie's glorious future - 'I still think Wolfe could use a resourceful man like you' - while occasionally dropping in a familiar catchphrase when Goldsborough remembers one, by God!

I can't recall if Goldsborough matches up all the off-the-cuff remarks Archie makes about the early years in Stout's novels, but getting the actual characters wrong is surely the biggest flaw of any prequel/sequel to an established series. Other reviewers have mentioned a better written and more accurate prequel by Charles Burns in The Archie Goodwin files, but personally, the most memorable account I remember reading of 'how Archie met Wolfe' actually is fan fiction - 'The Lost Boys' by 'Nancy'. Look it up! show less

Archie Meets Nero Wolfe is a good Nero Wolfe pastiche, but you would not mistake it for the real thing. The plot is good, well-crafted, the characters are all there, but there is a mysterious 'something' missing. Archie's wise-acre attitude, maybe. Goldsborough has other Wolfe stories, but I think if you are looking for the 'feel' of a Wolfe story you should try the four novels by William F. Love. His characters are different, but they are closer to the 'real thing'.

Well done and quite authentic Nero Wolfe mystery pastiche. Archie meets Nero, let the game and the wisecracks begin. A whiparound the familiar supporting cast and the usual finale in Wolfe's office demonstrate Goldsborough's attention to detail and the atmosphere necessary to continue this fine and fun series. Oh yes, the culprits are brought to justice in the presence of Lt Cramer.

Great to spend time again with Wolfe, Archie and the guys. Have not read Goldsborough's other Wolfe titles, however, I have read all the Stouts. While he nails a lot of recurring shticks, I missed a certain unique edginess of tone & voice. New Archie not as snarky & wiseguy-ish as old Archie, more wordy versus Stout's crispness. Still, an interesting story & believable prequel. (pre-publication review copy via Nook download)

I love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories. It must be difficult to recreate an author's style if not content, so it was with great trepidation that I began this galley written by Robert Goldsborough. It's supposed to be a sort of prequel, explaining how Archie came to be in the employee of Wolfe and in this tale of Wolfe involvement in a kidnapping we meet all the regulars including Orrie, Fred, Saul and a couple of others Goldsborough needed to make the story work. He notes in a note where all the characters originally appeared, and, the kidnapping itself was referenced in one of Wolfe's early books.

There were a couple of oddities. For example, Wolfe gives each his telephone number and Archie dutifully writes it down right after show more Goldsborough has made a point of how Archie has such an eiditic aural memory. So why would he have to pull out the note later when he had to call Wolfe? The exchanges between Wolfe and Cramer are spot on; the repostes with Archie less so.

Nevertheless, it's a fun read, very enjoyable that fits coherently with the rest of the stories.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through NetGalley. show less

Robert Goldsborough has attempted to answer some of the questions many of the Archie and Nero fans have had, and that is how did they meet? How did they become associates? This book shows a very young Archie Goodwin fresh from Ohio to the Big Apple. It is the hard times of the early depression and he is looking for a job, but he has ideas about the sort of job he wants.
Goldsborough uses the clues from Rex Stout novels to imagine how this relationship came about. It is fun, and good to read about all the familiar characters. I don't hear the ringing banter and sparkling wit which I hear in the Rex Stout originals, but I did enjoy the read and being in that time and city.