No Comebacks

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'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 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.

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

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.