No Comebacks

An excellent collection of short stories by Mr. Frederick Forsyth, all loaded with intrigue and ending with fiendishly clever plot twists. The ending of the opening--and titular--story has arguably the most shocking and gut-wrenching ending of them all. IMHO, the most satisfying are "The Emperor" (a bit of "The Old Man and the Sea" meets "The Taming of the Shrew" for lack of a better analogy) and "Privilege" (it's great to see an uppity, seemingly untouchable mainstream media journalist get his comeuppance and poetic justice). The stories also give good insight into the societies and cultures of 20th century England, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland alike A couple of minor nitpicks: (1) "Used In Evidence" ends with a bit of a "WTF?" unresolved feel. (2) On p. 21, Forsyth commits a technical gaffe when he claims that autopistols are mode difficult to silence than wheelguns because "Automatics, unlike revolvers, do not have a closed breech." Actually, most semiauto pistols (including the 9mm Browning used by the character in that particular story) have a locked breech, and moreover, revolvers are more difficult to silence b/c of the exploding gases escaping the cylinder. Those nitpicks aside, a thoroughly enjoyable read, enhanced all the more by some delightfully witty prose employed throughout the stories. A couple of examples: (1) "It is a strange thing about police cars; when you need one they are like strawberries in Greenland. Scrape a few inches of paint off somebody else's bodywork and they come out of the gratings." (p. 122) (2) "It is one of the burdens of the Irish to pass through history being mistaken for the English." (p. 215)

I stumbled onto No Comebacks while looking for another book by one of my favorite authors of spy fiction. Short stories by Frederick Forsyth? Really? Why not? So, I ordered a hardcover copy. Great decision! I read this fine collection of short stories over one week, largely on my Manhattan balcony, during Quarantine 2020. Forsyth, dependably, whisked me away from the quietude and grimness of the COVID-19 pandemic to a variety of locales, mainly in the United Kingdom. From the world of a suddenly smitten playboy in London's West End, to a sadistically supervised demolition site outside Belfast, to the leafy Kentish estate of a meticulous rare-coin dealer, we meet Forsyth's carefully drawn characters in their well-sketched environments. Seemingly routine circumstances develop into intriguing scenarios and, usually, very clever and satisfying conclusions. The story that develops into an elaborate fishing tale didn't thrill me, nor did another that finds strangers on a train playing cards on a ride across Ireland. But Forsyth's other chronicles were concise and captivating. This is a perfect book for quick reads, when your schedule suddenly allows for well-written, imaginative, 45-to 60-minute getaways.

Nice book, prompt delivery. These are some of the best short stories, ones that will stay with you. Thank you.

Mostly light reading. Stories are short enough to polish one off when you have a short break. However, there wasn't anything terribly exciting either.

Don't let the title fool you. "No Comebacks" consists of ten cleverly crafted short stories that are all about comebacks and paybacks as well as carefully laid plans that go awry, unanticipated consequences, ironic twists of fate and surprise endings, some that you might see coming, some that you won't. In several of these stories seemingly powerless individuals find ways of getting back at people who have been making their lives miserable. Let me just say though that because this book was first published decades ago it might be more appealing to older people such as myself, who will be more likely to understand the references to to World War II and "the troubles" in Ireland .

Very few writers are equally good at both novels and short stories. I will not leave you in suspense - Frederick Forsyth is a better novelist. That is not a problem, however, as his novels are strong enough that he can dip a bit below that level and still be quite good. NO COMEBACKS demonstrates this. As one would expect from Forsyth, the stories in this collection often have either a violent or malicious undercurrent to them or explore the inner recesses of man's psyche. Many of the stories have a bit of a twist at the end, with some easy to see, others a bit harder, while still others appear to be apparent only to take a last minute swerve to somewhere else. My personal favorite is Money With Menace because it illustrates one of my favorite principles - you should not mess with someone even if he looks to be a sap because you never know when that other guy is tougher and nastier than you. The story Duty is out of place, which Forsyth acknowledges in a footnote. But as it is claimed to be true, I am glad it is included and the story did stay with me for a while after reading it. Forsyth unfortunately tends to be far too technical with some of his descriptions. Usually this is easily overlooked but becomes irritating in the story The Emperor with its details of fishing equipment. I suppose, however, that one does not earn Forsyth's reputation without an eye for detail and one cannot blame a man for showing it. Get the book to read a story or two between larger and heavier books and you will not be disappointed.

These are ten wonderful, captivating stories. The finest is, in my humble opinion, The Emperor, about a downtrodden British banker, his awful wife, and a really, really big fish. In all honesty, if this were the only story it would still be worth ordering and reading. These are the stories I would read to my father when he was no longer able to read and he loved them, too. Five stars and I wish I could give it six.

Forsyth is a great story teller