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kingabrit's review against another edition
3.0
Rather 3.5 (but just because I am very partial to AC).
This is Agatha Christie's attempt to write a James Bond type thriller, Hercule Poirot being the "James Bond" character. If that sounds hilarious and silly, well... it IS kind of hilarious and silly indeed. But because Agatha Christie is a good writer, you are taken through the book quite smoothly and very, very quickly The speed is quite there so you don't have too much time to think about how preposterous and comical the story line is; it just occurs to you after you read the last words and close the book...
This is Agatha Christie's attempt to write a James Bond type thriller, Hercule Poirot being the "James Bond" character. If that sounds hilarious and silly, well... it IS kind of hilarious and silly indeed. But because Agatha Christie is a good writer, you are taken through the book quite smoothly and very, very quickly The speed is quite there so you don't have too much time to think about how preposterous and comical the story line is; it just occurs to you after you read the last words and close the book...
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
2.0
I've read many of Agatha Christie's books over the years, she's one of my favorites, and I felt like reading a Poirot mystery, well listening to one actually. I chose poorly with The Big Four. Poirot is his usual dapper self, eccentric and fastidious. He's as vain as always, but with faithful Hastings as the narrator, he doesn't become overly-egocentric. Hastings humanizes him some, makes fun of his quirks and appreciates his friendship.
But the mystery here let me down. It's too big, but not big enough. The audio version, read by Hugh Fraser, comes in at only 5 hours and 33 minutes. There's just not enough room for that kind of world domination conspiracy, and even if it were, it's just too cartoonish, with the stereotypical criminals, the matermind Chinese man, the multimillionaire American, the brilliant French scientist and, and their assassin, the elusive "Number Four," and their secret meetings. The "twists and turns" are silly, unbelievable or both. It's not the smooth mystery, where Poirot works through everything using his "little grey cells," and then has a denoument scene at the end where he spells out the solution. Instead, it's more a series of episodes, each having some connection to the Big Four.
It's not up to Christie's usual work.
But the mystery here let me down. It's too big, but not big enough. The audio version, read by Hugh Fraser, comes in at only 5 hours and 33 minutes. There's just not enough room for that kind of world domination conspiracy, and even if it were, it's just too cartoonish, with the stereotypical criminals, the matermind Chinese man, the multimillionaire American, the brilliant French scientist and, and their assassin, the elusive "Number Four," and their secret meetings. The "twists and turns" are silly, unbelievable or both. It's not the smooth mystery, where Poirot works through everything using his "little grey cells," and then has a denoument scene at the end where he spells out the solution. Instead, it's more a series of episodes, each having some connection to the Big Four.
It's not up to Christie's usual work.
gina_gina's review against another edition
2.0
Full disclosure: I "read" this as a book on CD. It is an excellent narration, which may have influenced my feelings about this book.
Does it feel cobbled together and disjointed?
Yes, but it is cobbled together from several serialized publications. Maybe the publishing company should have taken some editorial license.
Is it a bit far-fetched?
Yes, but everyone outruns bombs, aliens, monsters, and natural disasters in film... why not in fiction?
Is it Agatha Christie's best work?
No, but it beats some of the intellectual, navel-gazing, mastubatory, self-important, pointless drivel that I try to slog through. *cough*The Argonauts
Does it feel cobbled together and disjointed?
Yes, but it is cobbled together from several serialized publications. Maybe the publishing company should have taken some editorial license.
Is it a bit far-fetched?
Yes, but everyone outruns bombs, aliens, monsters, and natural disasters in film... why not in fiction?
Is it Agatha Christie's best work?
No, but it beats some of the intellectual, navel-gazing, mastubatory, self-important, pointless drivel that I try to slog through. *cough*The Argonauts
jamy_ane's review against another edition
2.0
Definitely not my favorite Agatha Christie book. Poirot is so annoyingly omniscient, and the events often don't make sense--like why would one of the big four spend months posing as a servant just to kill a guy who was going to write a book that mentioned one of them and make it look like an accident? With the power and influence that these guys supposedly had they could have done something that didn't use that much of one of their main guy's time. And somehow they could manage all these complicated schemes, but couldn't manage to kill Poirot who was their #1 enemy. And it was all just too conspiracy-theory-esque for me.
jj2001's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
marenkae's review against another edition
1.5
gotta be the worst poirot yet. i get that it was originally published serially which explains the choppy pacing and weird reveals but that doesn't make it enjoyable as a book. very racist at points. VERY heavy on hastings being annoying. i can respect agatha christie diving outside of the usual comfort zone of poirot solving a little intimate murder but tbh that's what i enjoy and that's what i want out of a poirot book. i dont care about this international crime ring! it just wasnt fun!
caety_lane's review against another edition
4.0
It's Hercule Poirot, what can I say. I love every story of Poirot and this one includes a fantastic twist.
kscatsnbooklady's review against another edition
2.0
I am really glad I chose to read some of the other reviews of this book when I was about 1/2 way through.
Personally, found the book improbable, redundant, and quite boring. Being the first AC book I've read in a number of years, I was about to give up on her completely until I read comments from others. I will read more, but this one... no. Definitely not.
Personally, found the book improbable, redundant, and quite boring. Being the first AC book I've read in a number of years, I was about to give up on her completely until I read comments from others. I will read more, but this one... no. Definitely not.
mattp_guatshakes's review against another edition
4.0
The way this book came together--a number of Poirot short stories--makes it one of the more structurally unusual of the Poirot novels. It's more episodic, less linear than the classic detective novel. Add to that it shifts mode from the usual detective story to more of an espionage story, with Poirot battling against a group of four super criminals (somewhere between the earlier Professor Moriarty and the villains from James Bond novels, which of course came later), and this is really quite unique among the Poirot novels. It's entertaining, if imperfect--it's not entirely successful in unifying the source stories into a totally cohesive, coherent whole, and the resolution is perhaps a bit rushed.