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: 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: 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: 5 Great Reads
Review: It had been a long time since I read any short stories. After the first of four in this collection (the fifth and last story is listed as a novella) I recalled the surprise ending format of the classic short story. Only one of the five stories rated a "very good." The others were excellent. The stories are all very different in time, place and subject-matter which makes the collection more interesting and difficult to characterize as a collection. the stories were so good that when I was finished with one I would immediately start the next even knowing that: a) it was toime to shut off the light; and, B) the next story would be completely different and need a new mindset. The writing is very strong and the story-lines are intriguing and captivating to say the least.
Rating: 
Summary: I expected better
Review: The first two stories weren't bad, but the fourth was little but an excrutiating amount of minutia with a very thin plot thrown in, and the fifth story, the novella, started with the premise that a human could hibernate for over 100 years and just got more ludicrous from there. I'd be willing to suspend disbelief a little, but very little else about the story was believable, either--the characters, their motivations, ect. I'd recommend that others not waste their time on this book.
Rating:
Summary: entertaining short fiction
Review: The Veteran is a collection of five short stories/novellas by Frederick Forsyth. Unlike The Deceiver, they are not unified by a single character or overall scheme. What they are unified by is Forsyth's ability to tell a good story, and he tells each in a unique setting of place and time including modern-day Britain, World War II Italy, an international airliner, and the American West. "Whispering Wind" is the real gem in this book. It's a simple but delightful tale about a lone survivor from Custer's Last Stand. Each of the stories in The Veteran has a twist somewhere along the way - sometimes more obvious than others and sometimes revealed closer to the end too. Each also has a significant amount of detail for its setting, showing Forsyth's ability to pay attention to the little things in his writing. Mainly these stories are a pleasure to read and that's what makes The Veteran worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: entertaining short fiction
Review: The Veteran is a collection of five short stories/novellas by Frederick Forsyth. Unlike The Deceiver, they are not unified by a single character or overall scheme. What they are unified by is Forsyth's ability to tell a good story, and he tells each in a unique setting of place and time including modern-day Britain, World War II Italy, an international airliner, and the American West. "Whispering Wind" is the real gem in this book. It's a simple but delightful tale about a lone survivor from Custer's Last Stand. Each of the stories in The Veteran has a twist somewhere along the way - sometimes more obvious than others and sometimes revealed closer to the end too. Each also has a significant amount of detail for its setting, showing Forsyth's ability to pay attention to the little things in his writing. Mainly these stories are a pleasure to read and that's what makes The Veteran worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: The Veteran is a great read, especially to those who haven't yet read Forsyth. The last story dragged on a bit, but the rest of the book more than made up for it. Though not one of Forsyth's best, worth reading nonetheless.
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