Customer Reviews

No Comebacks

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Forsyth is best known for his taut thrillers, especially The Day of Jackal, but this collection of short stories reveals him a very competent crafter of clever short stories. Originally written in the early to late '70s (and three of which appeared in Playboy), each of the ten tales is a mini-morality tale, with a lighthearted tone and a twist of some sort. Their unifying theme is revenge/comeuppanceóeach story is about someone getting their just desserts one way or another. The exception to this is "Duty", which is not light at all and quite different in theme and perspective, and for those reasons, feels wholly out of place.

Two of the stories feature wealthy protagonists, including the title story, which tells of a handsome, successful English businessman who can have anything he wants from life and yet is still bored. It's the old "money can't buy you happiness" story, until one day he falls for a married woman. She admits the mutual attraction but won't leave her husband, and so the tycoon decides to send a hitman to solve the problem. The mechanics of the hitman's assignment are very compelling, and it all leads to an obvious twist that reaffirms the moral. "A Careful Man" is another rich man tale, but in this case, the wealthy coin dealer is dying of cancer and has no one he wants to leave his fortune toóleast of all his detestable sister and her family. His solution is fairly clever and the fun is in watching the odious family catch up with what the reader already knows.

Another set of stories feature unassuming hard-working middle-aged men who have yet to reap many fruits from their labors, and are generally married to unpleasant frigid nags. In "The Emperor", a bank manager vacations with his wife on a tropical island for the first (and probably last) time. It's basically the best experience of his life, and on the last day he quite daringly sneaks out for some sport fishing. This is transformative in a fairly predictable way, but satisfying nonetheless. In "Money With Menaces", an unassuming man comes across a "swingers" magazine on the train, and is intrigued by the idea of meeting a woman for sex. He falls right into an obvious blackmail scheme, but for once Forsyth hides the twist until the end, providing perhaps the best resolution of all the stories. "Privilege" starts with a small businessman who has been libeled in the newspaper and seeks redress. His lawyer dissuades him from suing, pointing out that winners of such suits usually incur huge financial costs that aren't worth the satisfaction of winning. Studying the libel statutes for a few days, he spots a possible form of redress. This story seems a little strange, as Britain has some of the harshest libel penalties in the Western world. "Used in Evidence" is about an old man who may or may not have killed his wife thirty years previously.

Three of the stories are set in Ireland, a place Forsyth had a great personal interest in. "There Are No Snakes In Ireland" is a straight-out revenge tale, pitting a hard-working Indian student against his persecutor, a racist UVF thug. "There Are Some DaysÖ" is a comedy of errors about the heist of a truck of French brandy which goes completely pear-shaped. As in other stories, the reader knows more than the characters, and the pleasure comes in watching it all unfold. "Sharp Practice" takes place on a train, where a judge, priest, and humble worker pass the time with a friendly game of poker. Anyone who's knows a bit about con artistry will see the setup and likely result a mile away, but it's still good fun.

All in all this is a very solid, if not spectacular set of stories. No doubt due to his journalistic background, Forsyth is great with the details of the stories, especially how people go about their work. His characters tend to be types rather than individuals, but for the kind of stories he tells, that's all you really need. As morality tales they are all set up and executed quite cleverly. And yet for all that, there's a kind of disposable element to them; none will make you sit up and say "wow".

Frederick Forsyth is an excellent author, and No Comebacks will serve as a fine introduction for readers new to his work. If you're already familiar with Forsyth, this is a collection of short stories similar to The Veteran. The stories in No Comebacks are shorter, usually about 20-30 pages each, ten in all. They are a little more lighthearted than the tone of Forsyth's novels, which are predominantly serious, and most involve an unexpected twist or turn along the way (sometimes saved for the very end). There's a story in here for everyone: a playboy in pursuit of a married woman, a victim of prejudice out for revenge, an answer to a mid-life crisis, a way to handle extortion, a response to a soiled reputation, and a unique way to settle an estate, to name a few. Timeless little episodes that are well-written and delightful to read.

I've read this book many years back and recently I read it again. "No Comebacks" is a real great book. Every story has its' own impression. Amazingly every story gives one common impression of a real fix, i.e. No Comebacks. There Are Some Days, There are No Snakes.. and of course No Comeback are really very good stories. The beauty of the book is that there are soft crimes & no violence. This is probably one of the best work of Forsyth !

The short story demands a special talent and a special market. The diminishing market has, not surprisingly, just about dried up the development of talent. Back when the Saturday Evening Post, Sports Afield, the Farm Quarterly, Colliers and so many other periodicals kept a roaring fire under the genre we took swell short stories and short story writers for granted -- they were all over the place.

Not a single name comes to me from those bountiful years -- I have to go back to Poe and the old master, Ambrose Bierce, to even throw out a couple of examples.

The collection in No Comebacks was a welcome surprise, and I had to stumble onto the volume purely by accident, not knowing that Forsyth had even written short stories. He's got the talent for it, that's for sure.

Any reader who appreciates good, crisp short stories will love every one of these by Forsyth. But maybe the audience for them has ebbed, too. Which may explain why this worthy book is not readily available.

Doug Briggs

The ten stories in the book are on a wide range of premises, from a man plotting to kill the husband of the woman he loves, to an indian exacting revenge on a co-worker. Half of the stories are relevant to Ireland, a country which Forsyth has a great interest in.

The stories are all very believable, and some of them have shocking twists which will make the book unforgettable.

Forsyth is a master of detail, encased in tight, fine prose. In this collection of short stories, his hallmark of fine fiction derived from real-life situations prevails in an assortment of unexpected, even surprising, tales mostly of ordinary people leading ordinary lives. Several command re-reading, especially "The Emperor", which women will hate and men will adore.

I loved the twist endings, some were funny, some insighrful, others a little boring, but the overall effect was good. Great writing style, and interesting enough plots for short stories and the irony of life.

No Comebacks was the first short story collection that introduced me to the dark side of society in a way that felt incredibly real. I was a teenager when I came across an audiobook (read by Frank Muller) from Recorded Books.

I was riveted to these stories of people who--more often than not--get themselves into strange predicaments and have to resort to violence or the like to get out. Often the stories end with a twist on the level of O. Henry (except more dire, of course) where we learn something new about the character(s) that Forsyth had previously held back from us.

I have yet to read any of Forsyth's novels but I keep going back to this collection time and time again, enjoying them as much as the first time (perhaps more now that I am older and can identify with them more).

I have returned to this book time and again, and it never fails to grip... even though I have read the stories before. Forsyth is a master at his craft, and every one of these stories is sure to grab you, to tease you into trying to guess where he is taking you, and finally to surprise you with the twist at the end. I have recommended these stories to several friends, and all have agreed with my judgment. The plots of the ten stories include deception, assasination, blackmail, revenge, confidence games -- but each one is a gem unto itself... guaranteed to entertain the reader. I recommend No Comebacks very highly.

Forsyth's method is almost formulaic. These stories are carefully planned, then meticulously realised. You can see how he has an idea, researches and/or thinks it through, then spells it out precisely, neither skipping nor wasting words. There's no ebullience or flights of wit, surrealism or insight. The characters are all described dispassionately, at a distance, and are frightfully British - reserved, self-controlled, non-demonstrative. A strange way to describe a book that includes several murders, blackmail over illicit sex, and even big game fishing, but Forsyth, while professionally conveying detail, doesn't write in order to make our heart beat faster.

However, he does write with an addictive slow burn. These stories aren't flashy, but they are satisfying and meaty. The twists are generally potent, and occasionally you have the added bonus of the little man surprisingly overcoming.

I first read this collection over twenty years ago, and it says something for the lasting impact of these stories that I could still clearly recall several of them: the irony of `No Comebacks' and `There are no snakes in Ireland'; the epic metamorphosis of `The Emperor'; and the delightful justice of `Privilege' have all stayed with me through the years.

It could be seen as dated, but I'd more see it as an able time piece: you can feel, for example, the 70s society so wonderfully pilloried by the Monty Python TV shows in these pages. Moreover the ideas for these stories (except, perhaps, `Sharp Practise', the weakest of the series: an (obvious) accomplice is hardly a shock twist) are consistently strong, and ably presented.