No Comebacks

The book grows on you. Initially, you don't know where the story is heading but after a while, you know that each story is not as it is and there will always be some twist. My favourite story is "Privilege", about a small-time businessman who was defamed by a national newspaper but recourse is expensive and not guaranteed. He did not give up and educated himself on the law. Finally, he got himself airtime in court following an assault on the journalist in question, and cleverly got his story told. It's a reminder (to me) to persist and not give up even when faced with seemingly intractable issues.

Superb collection of short tales. The common theme if there is one, is the strength of the underdog, and or common man. the atles feature the usual list of suspects for contempary thriller - murderers, poisenings, cheats and frauds etc, however the hero usual wins through by leverness of mind rather than brute force. In fact for a thriller there is hardly any action at all, mearly a well placed world and an unexpected ending.

Great writing, clever snapshots of the human condition. My favourite though perhaps least typical is 'The Emporer' a sort of re-telling of Hemmingway's classic the Old Man and the Sea.

very enjoyable, fairly light reading, better than many of the novels.

Wie deze bundel, daartoe aangemoedigd door de achterflap die het heeft over een onnavolgbare auteur die hier opnieuw zijn meesterschap bewijst, gaat lezen met het idee in deze verhalen de auteur van o.a. "De dag van de Jakhals" en "De honden van de oorlog" terug te vinden, zal bedrogen uitkomen. Immers, de zeven verhalen, waarvan er één niet in Ierland speelt, zijn op zich best aardig, maar meer ook niet. Ze lijken wat verteltrant betreft op die van Somerset Maugham zij het dat de intrige hier nogal voorspelbaar is, waardoor het boeiende er al gauw van af is. In feite zou iedere andere auteur ze ook geschreven kunnen hebben. - J. Joosse

Slightly dates, but an entertaining selection of stories.

A COLLECTION OF MASTERFULLY CRAFTED TALES WHERE BETRAYAL, REVENGE, AND UNEXPECTED TWISTS LEAVE LASTING IMPACT.

Short & sweet. Always amazing endings.

Very good short stories by Frederick Forsyth.