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Twelve Red Herrings by Archer, Jeffrey is a work of fiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is Twelve Red Herrings about?

From Publishers Weekly Archer does a passable O. Henry in his third story collection (after A Twist in the Tale ), though without that master's depth of feeling or irony. Many of the 12 stories here, all of which feature false clues and twist endings, are based on ''known'' incidents; the fact that the weakest ones are not suggests that Archer's love of plot may exceed his unaided grasp. The leadoff yarn, ''Trial and Error,'' for instance, an original but attenuated tale of a wronged man's thirst for revenge, kicks in only with its predictably wry twist. Also original but flaccid is the last story, which features four rather obvious alternative endings that the reader can tack onto an opening gambit about a man picking up a woman at the theater. The adaptive tales are generally stronger. ''Chunnel Vision'' offers a classic red herring by which Archer uses a jilted woman's revenge on her lover to divert our attention from the real threat to the lover's happiness. Similarly, the chilling ''Never Stop on the Motorway'' plays on our expectations about an endangered woman's plight. Written in strong, clean prose and ranging in tone from charming to achingly suspenseful, these tales, mo

Who reads Twelve Red Herrings?

Author

Archer, Jeffrey

Publisher

St. Martin's Press

Published

1990

Language

EN

ISBN

9780312937713

Category

work of fiction

Subjects

Literary Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

Rating

3.73 / 5 (5,974 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14