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The Veteran: Five Heart-Stopping Stories  By  cover art

The Veteran: Five Heart-Stopping Stories

By: Frederick Forsyth
Narrated by: Bruce Boxleitner, Christopher Casenove, Patrick McNee
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Publisher's summary

A collection of five suspenseful gems by master storyteller Frederick Forsyth, best-selling author of The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File. Justice does not always come easily, and it comes in many guises. On the seedier side of London, a shopkeeper witnesses a brutal beating in The Veteran. In a better neighborhood, a famous London auction house is scammed in The Art of the Matter. And there's more. The other stories venture to a persecution in 16th century Sienna, a mid-flight drug smuggling heist, and the lone survivor of Custer's Last Stand. The voices of narrators Patrick MacNee, Bruce Boxleitner, and Christopher Casanove truly compliments the author's genius. Mixing together the elements of great suspense - revenge, mystery, murder and deception - this collection is Forsyth at his best.

©2001 Frederick Forsyth (P)2001, 2014 New Millennium Entertainment, Phoenix Books

Critic reviews

"The five stories in this book...deserve to be classics themselves. Combining sharp detail, fully realized characters, and clever last minute twists, these small gems are polished to perfection.... Forsyth has always been a masterful plotter, with a special affection for using elements that appear to come from out of left field but somehow work just perfectly. Fans of his novels will be utterly thrilled by this collection. Readers unfamiliar with his writings couldn't find a better introduction. Revenge, mystery, murder, deception - all the main themes of Forsyth's best novels are represented here in stories that showcase the author's ability to capture character and generate suspense in remarkably few words." ( Booklist)
"A good read. What is surprising is the thematic and geographical range of these pieces, all narrated in a solid realist style with sharply observed detail and engrossing, sometimes surprising plots. Always suspenseful, the stories take us into disparate worlds." ( Library Journal)
"Lucid, vivid and delightfully readable, Forsyth is a master word-spinner and a master of meticulous detail." ( The Los Angeles Times)

What listeners say about The Veteran: Five Heart-Stopping Stories

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Here is the index to the five stories

Since the publisher has not yet provided an index, here it is:
THE VETERAN - CH 1-26 - READ BY MCNEE
THE ART OF THE MATTER - CH 27-48 - READ BY MCNEE
THE STORY ABOUT SIENNA - CH 49-56 - READ BY CASENOVE
THE CITIZEN - CH 57-65 - READ BY MCNEE
WHISPERING WIND - CH 66-99 - READ BY BOXLEITNER

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

awful performance ruins some good stories

Patrick Macnee is a good actor but his reading for Audible is unbearable. He puts pauses in the wrong place and emphasis on incorrect syllables. He adds extravagant emotional content where clearly none was intended. I will not buy another audible book with him as the reader. unfortunately the audible table of contents does not note where one story ends and another one begins. As a result there's no easy way to get through a story you don't like or a reader you don't like.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

never disappointed by forsyth

5 great stories with a wonderful twist only forsyth could write. Highly recommended. expect to be surprised by each ending

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great stuff will work listening great stories

great stories and excellent narration
deserves 10/10 even the least story seemed unlikely to hold my interest but did

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not engaging

From a boring narrator to unengaging plots, this was a disappointing purchase. Day of the Jackal it was not.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Engrossing!

I thought I had the best of the best with Tom Clancy and LeCarre’. I’m so glad to have discovered Forsyth. He’s right up there with the best of them, at least in my humble opinion.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good fun

If only for the first perfect story this is well worth the credit. Recommended highly

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Masterful

Five brilliant short stories by the master, Frederic Forsyth. Highly recommended. Five stories are each completely different, but all have the Forsyth hallmarks of well-researched and gripping stories.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Ed
  • 02-25-15

Strong collection of stories

Really enjoyed this collection of shorter works by Forsyth. He proves once again why he's one of the great storytellers of our time.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A mixed bag

5 varied stories by Forsyth . While entertaining and filled with details typical of Forsyths extensive research most of the stories were just OK Each had a twist ending but I would not have called any of them “heart stopping”
The narrators were also a mixed bag Of the 4 different ones 3 were British but the lone American Bruce Boxleitner was by far my favorite

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