Book
Twelve red herrings / Jeffrey Archer.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780060179441 :
- ISBN: 0060179449 :
- Physical Description: 324 p. ; 24 cm. : ill.
- Edition: 1st U.S. ed.
- Publisher: New York : HarperCollinsPublishers, 1994.
Content descriptions
- Formatted Contents Note:
- Trial and error -- Cheap at half the price -- Dougie Mortimer's right arm -- Do not pass go -- Chunnel vision -- Shoeshine boy -- You'll never live to regret it -- Never stop on the motorway -- Not for sale -- Timeo Danaos ... -- Eye for an eye -- One man's meat.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Short stories, English.
- Genre:
- Psychological fiction.
Available copies
- 7 of 9 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Vanderhoof Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 9 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderhoof Public Library | AF ARC (Text) | 35193000080798 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 1994 June
~ With this tiresome collection of stories planted with misleading clues, Archer (Honor Among Thieves, 1993, etc.) fails in his bid to be an O. Henry for the '90s. There is one big giveaway in almost all these stories (some of which were inspired by actual events): If there is a female character, chances are good that she has done something bad, or at least stupid. The narrator of "Trial and Error"--the most suspenseful selection--is an imprisoned man whose wife was having an affair with a business associate and, he claims, framed him for the man's murder. In "Cheap at Half the Price" a woman who is counting on alimony from her past, present, and future husbands, manipulates her husband into paying for only half of an expensive necklace yet still manages to take the piece of jewelry home. The narrator of "Chunnel Vision"--a writer--tells of his dinner with a fellow writer named Duncan in New York, where the latter's soon-to- be-ex-girlfriend joins them and orders lavishly from the expensive menu while Duncan outlines his next novel verbally. "You'll Never Live to Regret It" details an attempted insurance scheme using a neuter-name trick straight out of a "Saturday Night Live" sketch. "An Eye For an Eye" follows a lawyer asked to defend a woman who is accused of having murdered her husband but claims that it would have been impossible for her to commit the crime because she is blind. "One Man's Meat" reads like a writing-class assignment: A man on his way to work spots a beautiful woman entering a theater; he parks his car in the street in order to dash after her and manages to grab the seat next to her. Then Archer offers four different outcomes for their relationship: "Rare," "Burnt," "Overdone," and " Point." The formidable storytelling skills apparent in Archer's novels are more cleverly concealed than the clues here. ($365,000 ad/promo; author tour) Copyright 1999 Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1994 March #1
There's probably not a red herring among these stories from master spy writer Archer. Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1994 June #3
Archer does a passable O. Henry in his third story collection (after A Twist in the Tale ), though without that master's depth of feeling or irony. Many of the 12 stories here, all of which feature false clues and twist endings, are based on ``known'' incidents; the fact that the weakest ones are not suggests that Archer's love of plot may exceed his unaided grasp. The leadoff yarn, ``Trial and Error,'' for instance, an original but attenuated tale of a wronged man's thirst for revenge, kicks in only with its predictably wry twist. Also original but flaccid is the last story, which features four rather obvious alternative endings that the reader can tack onto an opening gambit about a man picking up a woman at the theater. The adaptive tales are generally stronger. ``Chunnel Vision'' offers a classic red herring by which Archer uses a jilted woman's revenge on her lover to divert our attention from the real threat to the lover's happiness. Similarly, the chilling ``Never Stop on the Motorway'' plays on our expectations about an endangered woman's plight. Written in strong, clean prose and ranging in tone from charming to achingly suspenseful, these tales, mostly entertaining but often slight, offer, like much of Archer's work, more craft than art. $365,000 ad/promo; audio rights to HarperAudio. (July) Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.