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Incredible stuff. A big game hunter decides, on what he tells himself is a mere whim, to stalk somewhat bigger game than usual - the dictator of a certain central European nation. He is caught, tortured and left for dead. Only, he refuses to die, battling against crippling injuries and skilled pursuers to make his way back to his native England where he goes to ground - literally - and waits out the chase. It's a harrowing story of self-realisation as the hunter turns hunted and draws on previou
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I love books where the hunted digs a hole in the ground or hillside and hides there with his supplies. I also have the urge to burrow, so I’m enthralled by the measurements from floor to ceiling, what the walls are made of, the tools, food, as well as the methods of going to the bathroom and enjoying a cozy fire without suffocating oneself. Such a going to ground is a particular fantasy of mine (and also one of the reasons I also liked JM Coetzee’s “Life and Times of Michael K.") and surely one
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Are you into the genre of chase books? This book has to be the originator, not just of the books but of movies too. And if not it is definitely the best example of the chase genre that one could hope for. But there is a lot more than just genre fiction here. Though the moral conflict between "does one kill an evil dictator who is bound to kill many others?" or "does one maintain the Kantian virtue of not pulling the trigger" is a bit lame and overdone (though this reader is generally pleased whe
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I read this some time ago, but realize that I never wrote it up here. The Goodreads blurb is enough to be getting on with, but I thought I would mention something I learned from Victoria Nelson's foreword. She explains what Household meant by 'Class X' in the novel. The term had seemed to have a sort of snobbish possibility in it that I was wary of as I read the book, but in fact I did Household a disservice. In his own life, Household was quite a traveler and one night shared dinner in a restau
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An anonymous wealthy Englishman heads to Europe to shoot the head of a brutal dictatorship. Read by Michael Jayston.
Fantastically fast-paced and gripping adventure story.
This is a classic of the thriller genre. Uniquely, the thriller doesn't really get going until our "hero" gets back home and then it really ramps up the tension. Will he get away? Who can he trust? I loved it. My only criticism is that there are no chapter breaks. (Aargh!)
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Dec 04, 2014
lisa_emily
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review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-noir,
2014-read
