Raffles (Crime Classics) - Softcover

Hornung, E. W.

3.58

2,476 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1843548542 ISBN 13: 9781843548546

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2011

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Criminal mastermind, man-about-town, master of disguise, and a damn fine gentleman cricketer: Arthur J. Raffles is the classic lovable rogue "Do you think that because a fellow has rooms at this place and belongs to a club or two and plays a little cricket, he must necessarily have a balance in the bank? . . . I have nothing but my wits to live on." Raffles is a public-school cad and master burglar, with an aptitude for cricket and a passion for crime—an immaculately dressed gentleman thief who steals from the rich not to give to the poor, but rather to subsidize his own splendid lifestyle. Along with his sidekick—his former schoolmate and fellow gambler Harry "Bunny" Masters—he embarks on a series of thefts. But will they get away with it? First published in 1899, Raffles was an immediate success. With Raffles, the scoundrel-in-an-evening-suit, Hornung created an irresistible alternative to Sherlock Holmes.

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About the Author:

E. W. Hornung (1866–1921) was a British author whose most famous creation, A. J. Raffles, appeared in such follow-ups to The Amateur Cracksman as The Black Mask, A Thief in the Night, and the full-length novel Mr. Justice Raffles. He was married to Constance Doyle, the sister of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Robert Giddings is an eminent literary critic who reviews for such publications as the Guardian, the New Statesman, and the Sunday Times.

From AudioFile:

An English gentleman's honor is beyond reproach or suspicion even in the case of Raffles, a national cricket star and an utterly charming and accomplished thief who turns to crime to sustain a lifestyle he can ill afford. Alas, our intimacy with this fascinating protagonist and his accomplice is hindered by a labored, often torpid narration, which is heedless to the text's dramatic cues. Although Covell approximates a "top-drawer" English accent, he cannot sustain it; his attempts at regional dialects are inconsistent and lapse into painful parody. Perhaps a native speaker might have succeeded better in capturing the flavor of Victorian society, wherein the appearance of honor and position, so delineated by language, is to be respected above all else. B.M.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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