Raffles [Hardcover]

E.W. Hornung (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2007 | Series: Raffles

I am still uncertain which surprised me more, the telegram calling my attention to the advertisement, or the advertise-ment itself. The telegram is before me as I write. It would appear to have been handed in at Vere Street at eight o'clock in the morning of May 11, 1897, and received before half-past at Holloway B.O. And in that drab region it duly found me, unwashen but at work before the day grew hot and my attic insupportable. "See Mr. Maturin's advertisement Daily Mail might suit you earnestly beg try will speak if necessary-" I transcribe the thing as I see it before me, all in one breath that took away mine; but I leave out the initials at the end, which completed the surprise.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

An English gentleman's honor is beyond reproach or suspicion even in the case of Raffles, a national cricket star and an utterly charming and accomplished thief who turns to crime to sustain a lifestyle he can ill afford. Alas, our intimacy with this fascinating protagonist and his accomplice is hindered by a labored, often torpid narration, which is heedless to the text's dramatic cues. Although Covell approximates a "top-drawer" English accent, he cannot sustain it; his attempts at regional dialects are inconsistent and lapse into painful parody. Perhaps a native speaker might have succeeded better in capturing the flavor of Victorian society, wherein the appearance of honor and position, so delineated by language, is to be respected above all else. B.M.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: 1st World Library - Literary Society (June 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421847124
• ISBN-13: 978-1421847122
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully entertaining, August 8, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Raffles (Mass Market Paperback)

When Bunny (a public-school nickname) finds himself hopelessly in debt, and on the verge of ruination, he turns to an old school chum of his, A.J. Raffles. It turns out that Raffles can help him, but not in the manner he had imagined. Having found himself in a similar predicament years ago, Raffles took a novel solution, he became an amateur cracksman, that is, a cat-burglar. Remarkably free from any sort of moral qualms, Raffles takes Bunny on as his assistant, and together they lead a life of gentleman criminals. Sometimes they score stunning coups, and sometimes they suffer humiliating defeats; this is the life of Raffles and Bunny.

A man who was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law and friend wrote this story in 1899. This book reflects the more gentle style of Victorian literature (as also seen in the Sherlock Holmes stories), where the emphasis is placed on dialogue and suspense, rather than gunplay and action. Raffles is a gentleman, one without a moral compass, but one does know that there has to be a comeuppance somewhere, right? This is a wonderfully entertaining book, one that I recommend to you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evil thieving Sherlock Holmes, December 9, 2004

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (Audio Cassette)

Yep this book pretty much gives you a take on what would happen if genius detective Sherlock Holmes were instead genius cat burglar Justice Raffles. Raffles commits high collar petty theft for fun and profit. He steals jewelry etc and uses his connections as a gentleman to sniff out new opportunities. At one point as he describes the many middle men involved in reselling a piece of stolen jewelry as he explains to Bunny how crime doesn't pay - financially anyway. Often he steals something just because of the challenge involved in stealing it, which leads to interesting and varied stories for us to read. Bunny is his unwitting and later witting accomplice. He narrates the stoires, as a sort of Watson to Raffles' Holmes.

These were very charming stoires. If you like Sherlock Holmes and other victorian fiction then you will probably like these.