The Feather Men (Hardcover)

~ Ranulph Fiennes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Founded in England in the late 1960s, the so-called Committee, otherwise known as the Feather Men, was a vigilante group dedicated to solving crimes that the police could not. This absorbing book details their 14-year struggle to capture the Clinic, a band of contract killers who murdered four former British soldiers. The background was this: Amr bin Issa, sheikh of a tribe in Oman, had lost four sons in his country's civil wars. Although tradition demanded that he avenge their deaths, he did nothing and was deposed as sheikh. Then he arranged with the Clinic to kill the servicemen believed responsible for the deaths of his sons. How the hired killers went about their task (making each murder look like an accident), how they were finally apprehended and how this case in 1990 also put an end to the Committee--or so Fiennes ( Hell on Ice ) contends its members have assured him--makes for a highly suspenseful tale. Readers will be given pause, however, by Fiennes's wont to romanticize vigilante justice and his assertion that for 20 years the British "have had good reason to be grateful for the Feather Men's protective presence." Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is the extraordinary story of a group of Englishmen who provide protection and rough justice for former members and their families of the SAS (Special Air Service). The group, known as the Feather Men because of their light touch, learned of a pattern of assassination of former SAS soldiers and attempted to avert further murders. The story is told from the point of view of both the Feather Men and the Clinic, an independent organization of contract killers. The narrative relates the chilling details of each execution, as well as the secret meetings, bloody guerrilla battles, and gradual discovery of the identity and purpose of the Clinic. The action ranges over half the globe, with such diverse landscapes as the mountains of Oman and the Welsh countryside richly evoked. The denouement reveals explorer Fiennes's very personal reasons for agreeing to tell the story and provides a justification for the vigilante activities of the Feather Men. Although at times stretching credulity, this enthralling page-turner will be a good addition to war and true crime collections.
- Ben Harrison, East Orange P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688121349
• ISBN-13: 978-0688121341
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #425,932 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Feather men, February 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Feather Men (Charnwood Large Print Library Series) (Hardcover)

Could not simply place the book down. Had me gripped from start to finish. Quite a lot to take in with various names being slung around the place early on but if you bare with this and keep concentrating it is greatly rewarded.
I had the pleasure to ask Sir Ranulph Fiennes whether the book was fact or fiction, he said that was up to the reader to decide and he would not say or comment.
great book, great man.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling & True, December 13, 1999

By	Tony ALLWRIGHT (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Feather Men (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a marvellous account of derring-do, very skilfully related. I was living in Oman, the setting of most of the story, whilst reading the book. Discrete checks of many of the facts and visits to Christian cemetries in Muscat where some of the characters lie convinced me that the story is in fact true despite its incredible tortuosity. Unputdownable, and also disturbing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If it's really true, I'll eat a bug! Dwarfs Clancy & LeCarre, November 1, 1997

By	David Edmonds ([e-mail]) (Sonoma County, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Feather Men (Charnwood Large Print Library Series) (Hardcover)

I am absolutely confounded as to why this allegedly true story has never been memorialized on film. I'd bet my entire portfolio on its mega-box office success. True or not, this book is a gripping, stunning story, that, if conjured by ANY other modern day novelist, would surely be his/her defining epiphany. Fiennes is large, a mighty oak amongst wilting thistles. Clancy and LeCarre must demur when Fiennes raps his lectern. This soldier beat these staid pros in short order--about 300 pages. The other reviews have already told you too much. Just get it and be prepared. A MIND BLOWER!!!