Rating: 
Summary: A riveting collection from a master storyteller.
Review: "The Veteran," by Frederick Forsyth, is one of five stories in a new collection written by one of the greatest suspense writers of all time. This collection is so engrossing that I read all 367 pages in one day."The Veteran" is a powerful tale of murder and revenge. It deals with an elderly man who is kicked to death by two thugs during a mugging in urban London. The author describes the legal process during which the thugs are picked up and prosecuted. Shockingly, one of the finest barristers in England decides to defend the muggers. Why is the honorable James Vansittart QC, a brilliant and successful barrister, defending these disreputable criminals? Forsyth brings the case to life with his superb description of London's criminal justice system. I could not put the book down until I read the dramatic and moving conclusion. The other stories deal with such diverse themes as art scams, drug smuggling aboard an airplane, and a miracle in Siena, Italy. These three stories feature vivid characterizations, crisp and realistic dialogue, subtle humor, intricate plotting, and nail-biting suspense. The novella in the collection is called "Whispering Wind," and it is the story of a scout named Ben Craig who survived Custer's Last Stand in 1876. Forsyth brilliantly describes the battles between the white men and the Native Americans whom they victimized without mercy. We get a picture of Custer as a clueless, arrogant, and reckless dandy who had no idea what he was up against at Little Bighorn until it was too late. Ben Craig is a sympathetic character. He is a loner who is completely at home in the frontier and he is a young man of compassion and sensitivity. Craig falls in love with and rescues a young Cheyenne girl who is about to be raped and killed by Custer's soldiers. The relationship between Craig and the Cheyenne girl takes a supernatural turn which gives the story an added dimension. It is wonderful to see that the art of storytelling is alive and well in this marvelous collection.
Rating:
Summary: A riveting collection from a master storyteller.
Review: "The Veteran," by Frederick Forsyth, is one of five stories in a new collection written by one of the greatest suspense writers of all time. This collection is so engrossing that I read all 367 pages in one day. "The Veteran" is a powerful tale of murder and revenge. It deals with an elderly man who is kicked to death by two thugs during a mugging in urban London. The author describes the legal process during which the thugs are picked up and prosecuted. Shockingly, one of the finest barristers in England decides to defend the muggers. Why is the honorable James Vansittart QC, a brilliant and successful barrister, defending these disreputable criminals? Forsyth brings the case to life with his superb description of London's criminal justice system. I could not put the book down until I read the dramatic and moving conclusion. The other stories deal with such diverse themes as art scams, drug smuggling aboard an airplane, and a miracle in Siena, Italy. These three stories feature vivid characterizations, crisp and realistic dialogue, subtle humor, intricate plotting, and nail-biting suspense. The novella in the collection is called "Whispering Wind," and it is the story of a scout named Ben Craig who survived Custer's Last Stand in 1876. Forsyth brilliantly describes the battles between the white men and the Native Americans whom they victimized without mercy. We get a picture of Custer as a clueless, arrogant, and reckless dandy who had no idea what he was up against at Little Bighorn until it was too late. Ben Craig is a sympathetic character. He is a loner who is completely at home in the frontier and he is a young man of compassion and sensitivity. Craig falls in love with and rescues a young Cheyenne girl who is about to be raped and killed by Custer's soldiers. The relationship between Craig and the Cheyenne girl takes a supernatural turn which gives the story an added dimension. It is wonderful to see that the art of storytelling is alive and well in this marvelous collection.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe the best book (of 500 !!) I've read this year
Review: (...) The Veteran is a compilation of five novellas: 78-, 70-, 34-, 36-, and 140-pages in length, to be exact. They have several things in common -- gripping story telling, enough flesh and detail to get involved and hooked in, and a strong twist at the end to surprise and delight. Whether it's vigilante justice, the scammee scamming the scammer, or a delightfully evocative tale about native America, Forsyth may be at his very best as he spins these five yarns spanning gullible tourists to drug smuggling. As a voracious reader, it's rare anymore I turn the pages with such delight and entertainment. This one goes on my top shelf, the one with little company ! Get it -- read it -- enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: The only reason I don't give it more stars...
Review: ... I think this is a good book, with entertaining stories, however my personal prejudices make me give it a 4 star rather than 5 star rating. This is because I always associate Forsyth with another, earlier era. Day of the Jackal is so wonderful because, although timelessly entertaining, it is unmistakably of another era with earlier technologies and earlier political situations. Reading Forsyth talk about "emails," "punker hair" and "piercings" and other 21st Century stuff in The Veteran (and in Icon) kind of jarred with me. Sort of like when you think Herman Wouk (The Caine Mutiny) must be dead, it's totally jarring to hear Forsyth talk about current events when you're so used to thinking of him in the context of a long ago era. Forsyth is just in his sixties, but it was still weird.
Anyway, on to the stories -- I didn't really go for the title story (The Veteran). My favorite in this collection is Art of the Matter because one of the main characters was female (like me) and it's nice to see a female heroine in a Forsyth book and also because it has such an entertaining premise. Art auction fraud isn't a new idea (just watch Antique Road Show to see the shady dealings!) but Forsyth makes it entertaining.
The Whispering Wind story just went on interminably for me and it just got too crazy for me to enjoy. It had a good message, but I kept thinking that the "reincarnation" of Craig's Native American sweetheart behaved in an unnatural way to his advances -- she was sort of drawn to him rather than completely creeped out, which is how almost any girl might react. I guess Forsyth's message was that she instinctively knew that she knew him or something. The rest of the story had a good message too, but by the end I started to forget that the battle at Little Big Horn had anything to do with the story.
The Siena story was pretty interesting but ended in a very cheap fashion in my opinion. I finished it and kind of thought "okay, whatever -- NEXT."
The airplane drug story was entertaining, but I didn't get into it even though I like reading Forsyth's work.
It's worth the price, but I think No Comebacks was a much better collection -- not only because the stories don't seem to go on forever, but also because there are more of them and they are interesting to read repeatedly, where as after reading the exhaustive Whispering Wind story I think it will be a long time before I pick this book up again.
Rating: 
Summary: The veteran writer returns
Review: After taking a break from his normal writing to write a so-so sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Frederic Forsyth has returned to his more comfortable arena of suspense with this collection of five novellas and short stories. The stories are all quite distinct. The title story deals with the murder of an old man by a pair of street thugs and the subsequent investigation and trial. While reasonably good, it is perhaps the weakest in the bunch because the twist is not that hard to figure out. The other stories include a caper story set in the art world, a brief World War II story, a tale about drug smuggling (also with a rather obvious twist), and finally, a short novel about a survivor of the Battle of Little Bighorn. This final story is the best in the bunch, with a radical and unexpected change in the middle of the story. Forsyth's greatest works are in novels, not short stories, but overall, this collection holds up well. Forsyth fans should be pleased as should general suspense fans.
Rating:
Summary: Justice
Review: Almost a police documentary, or maybe like reading an episode of the "Law and Order" TV show. It leads one to think the British justice system shares the same faults as the American, and maybe it does, but justice comes and you won't know how until the last few pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but...
Review: Forsyth is a "monster" writer, one of my all-time favorites, but, as it's often the case, he's already past his prime. That happened with the obnoxious ICON. As for this collection, it's good, but one can see clearly that FOrsyth has the hability to produce stuff like that by the hundreds, even in his sleep!!
The stories in theirselves are good, but you will miss absolutely nothing if you do not read them, even being a Forsyth fan. In short: for the completists only!
Rating:
Summary: Good Collection of Stories
Review: Forsyth is best known for "Day of the Jackal", but this collection of short stories came out in 2001. Like all short stories, these rely on shock endings, twists in the final pages, to achieve their effect. The two best are the title story, "The Veteran", about a British murder victim and the search for his killers; and "Whispering Wind" a story of time and place that is roughly based on the legend of Custer's Last Stand. Forsyth is a good writer, able to pace a story, but he is better in the longer formats. Short stories by any author often feel contrived and forced, and these are no exception. This book is a fun read, but falls short of Forsyth's usual work.
Rating:
Summary: Forsyth's short works
Review: Frederick Forsyth never disappoints. This is a collestion of 5 short stories where characters are developed quickly, and you keep reading to find the tales' final twist. The Veteran deals with the justice beyond a court of law and the honor of former comrades. It is worth the price of the entire book. The Art of the Matter covers greed, swindlers and pay back in a very satisfying manner. In fact all of the stories deal with payback in some form. The Miracle is a great story that justs sucks you into its magic just before the door comes crashing down. The Citizen tells you exactly what is going to happen, but you don't see the truth until the final couple of lines. However, Whispering Wind is the finest story. It is part ghost story and part morality tale. Highly recommended. Douglas De Bono
Author of ROGUE STATE
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: Frederick Forsyth said he'd stopped writing thrillers, and then he tanked with his THE PHANTOM OF MANHATTAN non-thriller, and so learned his lesson, and decided to return to the thriller genre. Thank God he did! He's my favorite thriller writer. This is a great book. I just finished Craig Furrnas' THE SHAPE, and then picked this up, so scored two great thrillers in a row!
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