The Veteran

"The Veteran" by Frederick Forsyth was next on my reading list. Actually I was getting rather tired of reading one whole book. I also knew that I won't get time to read such a book so I chose this book which has 5 different stories.

The first story is "The Veteran". An old man is found mugged on a pavement in a seedy area of town and succumbs to his injuries later in a hospital. There is an eye-witness - a Mr. Vijay Patel (Why do so many Indian characters in novels have last name of Patel? Guess it's a matter of numbers really!) - who identifies the 2 thugs responsible for the murder. Just when the cops in charge of the investigation are assuring themselves that they will be able to "put away" the murderers this time, in walks Mr. Bright Barrister who "turns justice on its head" by making sure that they get scot-free. And the end of the story reminds you of Jeffrey Archer's "A twist in the tale".

"The Art of the Matter" tells the story of another of those faceless, nameless "extras" who had come to the movie industry in search of name and fame but didn't get anything except for raw deal. Trumpington Gore is barely able to make both ends meet when he remembers an old painting his aunt had bequeathed on him. This brings him to the famous House of Darcy for valuation. He is swindled out of his fortune and a staff member who could have been a "potential witness" is sacked as the sacrificial lamb by one of the high-flying guys at Darcy's who is out to make money for himself. The rest is a delightful story of how these two team up to hand the guy his come-uppance. The story becomes complicated at some points - especially for those of us who are not familiar with Renaissance and stuff J but it's hugely satisfying as the bad guy is punished for his evil deeds :-)

The next story "The Miracle" is about an American couple who has come to see some kind of religious celebration in Siena. The wife twists her ankle on the cobbled streets of the ancient city and the German guy who treats her tells them a story of Caterina of Mercy - a ghostly nun who moved about the injured soldiers in the city during WW2 and didn't let even one of them die despite poor medical help. Though I found the description of the religious celebration rather complicated, I liked the story and could guess the ending before turning the last page. :-)

The 4th story "The Citizen" happens aboard a flight returning to UK from Thailand. One of the passengers is a witness to a midnight rendezvous between a hippie in an economy class and a well-dressed gentleman in 1st class. A conscious citizen that he is, he sends a note to the pilot. The authorities in London smell cocaine and turn up in full force to nab the smugglers with their cache as the touchdown happens at Heathrow. There's a twist in the tale again which I am happy to report I figured out in advance :-)

I think the last story is "Whispering Wind" though I could be wrong because the name's kind of stuck in my brain. I read through the first 4 pages of this story and thought of going to the library to return the book - honest to God! Was this supposed to be a lesson on Native American tribes? What's with the Sioux and Cheyenne and all that? I was hopelessly lost. It was sheer laziness and reluctance to return any book without fully reading it that made me read it to its conclusion :-(

And in the end I felt sorry for myself for wasting so much of time and sorry for Whispering Wind for what the Craig character does to her life. :-(