I’m a Forsyth fan and have probably read all his novels and stories. So much for background.
’The Veteran’ is a collection of five short stories. I won’t describe them (please see some of the other reviews for a synopsis), so let me just list the stories and comment on them.
The Veteran
The Miracle
The Citizen
The Art of the Matter
Whispering Wind.
Of the five, The Veteran is my favorite. It’s vintage Forsyth. In order to do right by his men, an ’officer class’ English establishment type uses the system - and then gloriously cocks a snook at it.
The other four stories start brilliantly, develop at the usual cracking pace - and founder a bit at the end.
The Miracle is nice and spooky from start to nearly the end. Pity the end is a bit of a let down - you just feel bad it ended that way.
The Art of the Matter is a mite pedestrian - more Jeffery Archer than Fredrick Forsyth. Its a fairly simple revenge tale of three people who get even against the Art establishment. What detracts is that this rag tag bunch of a clerk, a failed actor, and a punk software programmer suddenly start exhibiting top-of-the class abilities. Then why were they losers in the first place?
Whispering Wind is unusual and develops brilliantly till the 20th century intrudes on the 19th. At which point it loses steam, meanders, and is lost forever.
But my ire is reserved for The Citizen. It starts brilliantly with the usual exacting level of detail, builds up characters - and plants red herrings in classical whodunit style. What gets my goat is that these red herrings are not the sort a reader could have spotted and didn’t - they are impossible to separate from the narrative. By the time you finish the story, you are hopping mad at being ripped off by the author.
In sum, I’m glad I read the book. As as I said, I’m a fan. The Forsyth magic is definitely at work here. But the magician is tiring, and its showing.