Customer Reviews

Payment Deferred

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
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Payment deferred is a superbly written crime novel. The main charachter is well developed and the dark plot leads to the excellent final twist. Truely a milestone in crime fiction this book was unfortunatly overshadowed by Agatha Christie's 'Murder of Roger Ackroyd ' published the same year. In my opinion this book is second only to ' The general ' as forester's best work and shows that Hornblower is only a small part of the man's literary achievments.

This early novel by the creator of Horatio Hornblower is a little gem of suspense. Nicely done, in a spare style, this moves along a nice clip. Hitchcock might have done a good film of this - attention filmmakers - it's not too late. Of course it would work best as a period piece, set like the novel between the wars. No spoilers here - just a nod to a terrific writer near the beginning of his illustrious career. Ignore the naysayers - you'll like it.

This was the first succestfull novel by C.S. Foresterand I believe the only mystery that he wrote which is unfortunate! It is well structured with many plot twists and a classic ending!

As to the style of this work, one is reminded of H.G. Wells. William Marble is surrounded by debt. His circumstances cause him to be short with his son and his daughter. Out of the blue, his nephew, Jim Medland, recently orphaned, arrives from Australia. He is a graduate of Melbourne University and is in funds.

On the day following the visit Mr. Marble wants Annie Marble, his wife, to fire the washerwoman because he does not want a strange person hanging laundry in his garden. He instructs his wife to pay the grocer. Mr. Marble becomes fascinated with a library book called CRIMES AND CRIMINALS.

William Marble seeks to involve a bookmaker, a customer of the bank employing him, in a currency scheme since the franc is rising in value. He wants to buy his house with the proceeds. When Mr. Marble tells his family he has made a lot of money, (speculating in francs), his wife does not believe him. Marble resigns from the bank because the bookmaker is pretty free with reports as to how he gained his riches. Marble purchases the freehold at his address, 53 Malcolm Road.

When new furniture is delivered the neighbors are baffled. A French dress maker hastens to compliment the Marbles on their new dazzling Empire-style furniture. When Marble's son discovers that his father is having an affair with the dressmaker, he goes off on his motorcyle and becomes involved in a fatal crash. Later Marble is compelled to pay for the dressmaker's trip to France. The ending of the book is a surprise.

C. S. Forester was one of the greatest storytellers of the 20th Century. His Horatio Hornblower novels are the best works in their genre. All of the Forester novels are easy to read and well crafted. Unfortunately, the time Forester spent writing Payment Deferred would have been better spent on another Hornblower novel. This is a mediocre work by a great author. It is only of interest to those of us who want to read everything written by C. S. Forester.