The worst book I have ever read
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If I had a pound returned for every character whose 'chin suggested determination', Colin Forbes would need a window cleaning round to fund it. Characters were just appallingly described, with a plot so terribly contrived it is untrue. How he gets a publishing deal is anyone's guess.
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Absolute rubbish
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I find it quite incredible that Colin Forbes is a best selling author.
This is the first book - and the last - that I have read of his and I could not believe what I was reading. The characters are one dimensional and unformed, the plot, totally unbelievable, and the writing is amateur.
All I can say is there is hope for us all as authors if this is anything to go by. I am an avid reader, particularly of crime and thriller novels, and this must be one of the worst books I have ever read.
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Not as bad as the Cell, but still slow and full of continuity errors.
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Two murders, one in England and one in the United States, seem to have been commited by the same person. What connection do the vice president of the United States have to the murders, who is the mysterious person who was recently released from an asylum, and why does the government seem to want to stop the investigation? These are some of the questions that Tweed and his team must find an answer to in "The Vorpal Blade".
Colin Forbes takes our protagonists to Maine and Switzerland, but there is little action; most of the time is spent talking and following up obscure leads. Most of the time, Tweed and his team feel like amateurs, relying more on luck than skill to find the murderer. There are also some rather strange continuity errors. For example, Monica, their assistant do research into the Arbogast family and tell Tweed that the vice president is Roman Arbogast's cousin, and yet Tweed and his colleagues go on talking about how they don't know what the vice president's connection to the Arbogast family is. And they mention how they don't remember who it was that they were told liked to go sailing, when in fact they weren't told until the next chapter. This seemed to be very important but later, when Paula is told who it was, she doesn't reflect about it at all but again the next day she mentions she can't remember who it was. I got the feeling Forbes himself didn't remember several key elements in the story, because there were so many strange errors like this.
Still, there are a few (short) sequences that are almost (but not quite) suspenseful, but most of the time the story is not very interesting at all, although the book was not quite as dull as "The Cell".
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Cardboard
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The characters and plot have more cardboard in them than the book covers. Like comic book characters, on a guided tour of the hotels of Switzerland. The care and attention to the plot is summed up by the luckless British cardbaord cut out policeman who is demoted from Chief Superintendent to Chief Inspector, for no apparent reason within a couple of pages.
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Excellent!!!!!
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Alistair maclean is my favourite adventur thriller writer and i always been on the lookout for someone who is as entertaining,fun,tension thrilling and tongue in cheek.most thriller writers i have read are too boring, weaved in unnecessary details which bog the strory down and their books are filled with dull dialogue and characters which are as boring as a cucumber sandwich.i want great escapist fun and i have got with vorbal blade.
What a riveting read with great characters, who happened to speak in proper english and fleet train to train with their trilby hats on.i love one particularly comic scene where a billionaire has a portrait in the vault which has him snarling, and Tweed asks the painter why did you paint him like that, and she answers, ' oh, thats how he looks most of the time.' great.it's very much like the Avengers or the saint, and i love thjose programme. i think the previous reviewers have missed the point, that this writer is a fun writer and is great to see he isnt swayed from modern trends of writing boring books which read like manuals.we need writers like him, maclean, bagley, wilber smith, and clive cussler to remove the daily boredom of our every day lives, and guys(the previous reviewrs) lighten up.Just sit back and enjoy!!!!
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