Books › Twelve Red Herrings
Twelve Red Herrings
First published 1994 · 416 pages
A clever collection of narrative puzzles designed to keep you guessing until the final, unexpected twist.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like engaging in a playful battle of wits with the author. The pace is brisk, driven by ingeniously plotted scenarios that place ordinary people in moments of sudden danger or unexpected opportunity. The mood shifts from tense suspense to wry amusement as each story builds toward a delightfully unexpected turn of events. The prose is cleverly styled to conceal as much as it reveals, inviting the reader to actively hunt for the hidden diversions buried within the text. It is a highly interactive reading experience, perfect for mystery lovers who delight in having their expectations subverted and who relish the challenge of spotting the hidden clues before the final reveal.
- Mood
- intriguing
- tense
- surprising
- Tone
- clever
- inventive
- playful
- suspenseful
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- unexpected consequences · seizing opportunities · hidden truths · problem solving
- The writing
- Cleverly styled and ingeniously plotted, focusing on narrative momentum and interactive diversion.
- The arc
- The reader moves from curious anticipation to sudden surprise as each narrative puzzle clicks into an unexpected resolution.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love interactive mysteries, twist endings, and bite-sized puzzles that challenge their assumptions.
Content notes
- imprisonment
- stalking or pursuit
- political danger
About the book
Jeffrey Archer, the internationally bestselling author of Honor Among Thieves, As The Crow Flies, and Kane & Abel, now serves up this inventive new collection of a dozen short stories -- with a twist. Cleverly styled, with richly drawn characters and ingeniously plotted story lines, each of the twelve pieces ends with a delightfully unexpected turn of events.
An imprisoned man is certain that his supposed murder victim is very much alive....A female driver is pursued relentlessly by a menacing figure in another vehicle....A young artist gets the biggest break of her career....A restless beauty manages the perfect birthday celebration....An escaped Iraqi on Saddam Hussein's death list pays an involuntary visit to his homeland. In each tale, human beings are given an opportunity to seize, a crucial problem to solve, or a danger to avoid. How will they react? How would you? Capping off the collection are two additional rewards. In the final story, Archer offers a choice of four endings. And buried in each story is another diversion -- a red herring which Archer challenges his readers to uncover.
Description from Open Library.
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