The King of the Rainy Country [Import] [Mass Market Paperback]

Nicolas Freeling (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 157 pages
• Publisher: Penguin; 1st Printing edition (1968)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0000CPO9S
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,652,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a bit banal, May 28, 2006

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Freeling's Dutch police inspector Van der Valk is directed to take on a missing persons case appropriate for private detective, making the plot a little unusual. However, certain complications aside, this short novel (without chapter headings) has little action. There is a small amount of suspense in the last few pages--though spoiled a bit by the flashback at the start of the book. There is much meandering, extraneous detail, little character development (though Anne-Marie was interesting), considerable unimpressive mental activity, & many unfamiliar literary (?) allusions. The title of the book is from a Baudelaire poem. There are a few good turns of phrase: p. 103: "Everybody is out of the ordinary if you look deep enough" & p. 109: He still had to clamp the teeth of patience on the bullet of chagrin." The protagonist states repeatedly that he isn't very bright--I agree. He could have checked, for instance, to see if the French police had the rifle rather than just speculate, & avoided chasing an armed person unarmed himself. In short, it was not an impressive effort IMHO.