The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe Mysteries) [Paperback]

Rex Stout (Author)

Book Description

Series: Nero Wolfe Mysteries | Publication Date: January 2, 1995

Paul Chapin's college cronies never forgave themselves for the prank that crippled their friend. Yet with Harvard days behind them, they thought they were forgiven -- until a class reunion ends in a fatal fall. This league of frightened men seeks Nero Wolfe's help. But are Wolfe's brilliance and Archie's tenacity enough to outwit a most cunning killer?

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is always a treat to [hear] a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore." -- The New York Times Book Review

Rex Stout's League of Frightened Men presents a fascinating new Nero Wolfe mystery read by L.A. actor Michael Prichard, who brings to life this fine story of an eccentric detective's investigation of a classmate's potential for murder. A man left crippled by a college hazing prank seems out for revenge upon his fellows in this gripping saga." -- The Midwest Book Review, August 1997 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Rex Stout (1886-1975), inimitable master of detective fiction, wrote 73 mysteries. His career also included writing three novels, chairing the War Writers' Board, and mobilizing public opinion against the use of nuclear devices. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (January 2, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553762982
• ISBN-13: 978-0553762983
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Form, October 7, 2004

By 

John P Bernat (Kingsport, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe Mysteries) (Paperback)

I really loved this book even before I read "Stout Fellow" by "O.E.McBride." Her insightful analysis of all of Rex Stout's work confirms what I already suspected: Rex Stout's earliest books were his best.

This one can be forgiven some narrative excesses (the pink tie and soup, for example) in fair exchange for some of Wolfe's best Wolfeisms. The one about membership in the Hardvard Club is in this book.

And finally, Paul Chapin is a much better "Moriarty" than Arnold Zeck. He's much deeper and more complex, in fact, than virtually any other of Stout's other characters, doubly subtle by the way in which his villainy is propounded.

Fetishism, kinky stuff - all here more so that in anything else of Wolfe's that comes to mind. And it is expertly read in audio.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The League of Atonement versus the Literary Avenger, July 26, 2002

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe Mysteries) (Audio Cassette)

A hazing accident at a Harvard dormitory leaves a young man hopelessly crippled. The 35 men responsible for the injury form a League of Atonement to help support their victim. Eventually the victim discovers he has great literary ability and becomes a lionized author. All his books have as their theme the murder of various characters modeled after various members of the League of Atonement. The victim has become a Literary Avenger. Then one member dies violently at a reunion while in close proximity to the Literary Avenger. The survivors receive an anonymous poem suggesting the Literary Avenger has become a literal avenger. Another dies of poisoning shortly after a meeting with the Avenger. Another group of poems goes out. A third disappears without a trace. Another anonymous poem goes out to the League. They have transmogrified from the League of Atonement to the League of Frightened Men.

They consult with Nero Wolfe, and he undertakes to relieve their fears for an obscene fee. Wolfe feels that all he needs is the answers to three questions and he can corkscrew a confession out of the Literary Avenger. Before Wolfe can pull it off, his target gets himself arrested for the murder of a fourth member of the League, and it looks like an open and shut case. Wolfe stands to lose his fee. If the Avenger gets electrocuted for the fourth murder, the League won't owe him a cent.

Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's confidential assistant, sees the problem quite simply. All Wolfe has to do is exonerate the Literary Avenger in the fourth murder and get confessions to the first three. The pair of detectives travels a complex path to achieve Archie's simple solution. Archie gets poisoned, Wolfe gets kidnapped, and it all culminates in one of the most Machiavellian maneuvers ever to spring from Wolfe's fertile imagination.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better read over coffee than listened to in a snowstorm, January 13, 2003

By 

kir talmage "metasilk" (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe Mysteries) (Audio Cassette)

January 8, 2003: Finished listening to this on the way to work today. It ends with a gentle insult that cracked me up. Otherwise, I think I would recommend reading this over listening to this. I think it would go faster, and the conversations would be easier to follow. This particular reader is advertised as having a golden voice; not on my system, he didn't.

A man, Paul, was injured in college. Some number of fellow students felt responsible and guilty enough to undertake some degree of lifetime support (more or less) of him. He was not always fond of this. Some 20 or 30 years later, some of those fellow students begin dying, and later evidence indicates to the remaining that Paul has killed them.

Straightforward (in as much as any of them are) mystery with the twist that you don't know whether the deaths are, in fact, murders--and some may be, some may not be, there may or may not be more, and Paul himself may or may not have been the murderer. I liked that; it presented complications. Some other events (data) laid forth drew me to really basic conclusions ... which were wrong. But appropriately wrong: I had missed something or not been devious enough in my thinking. I had concluded on too little evidence, maybe. I liked that, too.