A review on ’’The Veteran’’ leaves me with Mixed emotions.A collection of Five short stories, the Forsyth magic encompasses the entire spectrum from the Superlative to the below average.
Here’s my objective opinion on the stories.The first on the list is The Veteran.A tale of an unidentified murder in a downtown suburb.The cops find the murderers only to find them being acquitted by the law. Now there is a twist in the tale that I would rather not reveal. This , on my scale of 10 comes in at 5.5.
The Miracle starts off with an old world feel & gets us rivetted for a compulsive read.The tale is told through an American Couple on their Spanish tour. Forsyth reveals his penchant for a taut script & has the reader go through the emotions that the American couple go through.Certainly a 5 on my personal rating scale.
The Art of the Matter has a Jeffrey Archerish feel. ( Forgive my comparison) This tale starts pretty innocuously, where Forsyth lets us into the workings of a large auction house, with his usual panache. It slowly moves on to a swindle of a painting & the subsequent revenge by the victims in the matter.Certainly a cut above the earlier two stories, this one comes in at 7 on my rating scale.
The Citizen, sure does leave me with a little let down feeling.The characters move in at the Forsyth pace, but somewhere in the middle, loses pace.I confess, ith took a lot out of me to finish the tale.Not more than 3 on the Rating scale.
Forsyth saves the best for the last.The Whispering wind, begins in the 19th Century & moves on into the 20th Century.A haunting tale of true Love & Passion, this is an engrossing tale. A little far fetched, but certainly worth the time invested in the read.This would be a 8.75 on my rating scale.
DISCLAIMER: The ratings here are purely based on my opinions. No offence intended to the other Forsyth fans.