Rhinoceros essays

Rhinoceros essays I must say I enjoyed this book more than the last couple. It is full of the usual Forbes' cliches, but the plot is different to the usual megalomaniac style. The ending is rather silly and far-fetched, and obviously reflects Forbes' own prejudices, but that is his right as an author, I suppose. The usual racist undertones are never far below the surface. For instance, a lot of the baddie muscle types are referred to as refugees, normally 'from the East' and I don't think he means Lowestoft! This is similar to Sinister Tide, where the title itself referred to 'Eastern hordes'. To stereotype displaced persons in this way is blatantly racist, and cannot be defended. Sorry, Colin, but it's true. Paula, or rather the portrayal of her, in this book is particularly irritating at times. For instance, on more than one occasion she does not get her own way and stamps her feet in frustration. For an adult woman in her forties, with quite a high-powered job, I don't find this credible. Talking of her age, Forbes has her 'in her late thirties'. I'm sorry, but having been 29 in 1985, in 2000 she must now be 43 or 44. Not that author's can't have licence to do this, of course. And we have the obligatory 'Paula doing her own thing' sketch, where she disobeys orders and nearly gets herself killed for no good reason at all. Of course, afterwards she needs comforting, and nobody tells her off for being stupid. I don't think the Lisa Trent in this book is the same Lisa Trent from Fury, although there are similarities. There is a lot of moving from hotel to hotel, and town to town, in the time honoured manner. The ending was a complete surprise, and unlike similar Tweed books it really could have gone any number of ways right down to the wire. However, the unleashing of the final act was not what one would consider a commensurate response, or indeed credible at all! Don't get me wrong, for lovers of the Forbes' and Tweed genres this book is the b...