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The Feather Men
The Feather Men is the riveting story of the efforts by a private British vigilance committee to eliminate a band of coldblooded contract killers. From 1977 to 1990, three hired assassins known as the Clinic tracked down and murdered four former British soldiers, one at a time. Each of the assassinations was carried out in such an ingenious fashion that there would be no hint of foul play, but one clue these killings had in common was that all four victims had fought in the Arabian desert. Throughout those fourteen years the Feather Men—so known because "our touch is light"—were never far behind the hit team. Finally, in the autumn of 1990, on a quiet English country lane, the Feather Men achieved a form of justice. Then—for reasons disclosed in these pages—they asked Ranulph Fiennes to reveal their spellbinding story.
For many months, The Feather Men has been a number-one best-seller in England. It is a fascinating account of a tenacious double manhunt: the assassins stalking their victims and the Feather Men pursuing the assassins. It is perhaps the ultimate vigilante story, a tale that combines the white-knuckled tension of The Day of the Jackal and the revelatory drama of Spycatcher. And, at its heart, this shocking and intriguing real-life adventure raises the moral question of whether private citizens should take the law into their own hands. "However, I for one," says the author, "am truly glad that the Feather Men exist, or existed. As to my reasons ... the reader will learn in what follows."
For many months, The Feather Men has been a number-one best-seller in England. It is a fascinating account of a tenacious double manhunt: the assassins stalking their victims and the Feather Men pursuing the assassins. It is perhaps the ultimate vigilante story, a tale that combines the white-knuckled tension of The Day of the Jackal and the revelatory drama of Spycatcher. And, at its heart, this shocking and intriguing real-life adventure raises the moral question of whether private citizens should take the law into their own hands. "However, I for one," says the author, "am truly glad that the Feather Men exist, or existed. As to my reasons ... the reader will learn in what follows."
372 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 30, 1991
About the author
Ranulph Fiennes
90 books252 followersSir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE, better known as Ranulph (Ran) Fiennes, is a British adventurer and holder of several endurance records.
Fiennes has written books about his army service and his expeditions as well as a book defending Robert Falcon Scott from modern revisionists. In May 2009, aged 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. According to the Guinness Book of World Records he is the world's greatest living adventurer.
Fiennes has written books about his army service and his expeditions as well as a book defending Robert Falcon Scott from modern revisionists. In May 2009, aged 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. According to the Guinness Book of World Records he is the world's greatest living adventurer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
August 16, 2016
I became aware of the novel, THE FEATHER MEN by Ranulph Fiennes after watching the action movie version called Killer Elite. At the end of the movie, it was stated that this movie was based on the 1991 non-fiction true story historical novel by author Ranulph Fiennes. Having enjoyed the movie I decided to read the book.
The novel is well written and is about assassins and victims. It is about a group of contract assassins, The Clinic, who were hired by an Oman sheikh to carry out revenge killings for the deaths of his four sons during the civil war. The objects for assassination were all British SAS officers. The Feather Men was a secret British vigilante organization protecting the families of former SAS members. The Feather Men determined that the deaths of the four SAS was not so accidental… and spent years hunting down the killers. Sir Ranulph was to be the next victim, and decides to write a novel and preserve the truth.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone to read, a good history and action book. I also found that by watching the movie first, I had a better understanding of the depth of this novel.
The novel is well written and is about assassins and victims. It is about a group of contract assassins, The Clinic, who were hired by an Oman sheikh to carry out revenge killings for the deaths of his four sons during the civil war. The objects for assassination were all British SAS officers. The Feather Men was a secret British vigilante organization protecting the families of former SAS members. The Feather Men determined that the deaths of the four SAS was not so accidental… and spent years hunting down the killers. Sir Ranulph was to be the next victim, and decides to write a novel and preserve the truth.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone to read, a good history and action book. I also found that by watching the movie first, I had a better understanding of the depth of this novel.
July 14, 2018
I found this book a slog to get through, and kept checking the percentage progress in the hopes of seeing it leap forward. I only persevered because it was part of a reading challenge so was determined to see it through. This was partly due to the writing style which I found flat and often uninteresting, and partly due to the fact that it didn't seem to know if it was a thriller or a non-fiction retelling of actual events.
It was written like a non-fiction work (every acronym or slightly unusual word was then explained in brackets, frequently quite unnecessarily), and the "exciting" scenes were told in a completely matter-of-fact way, losing any sense of tension. The time-line also jumped all over the place, and between sets of characters, without warning and sometimes almost in the middle of a paragraph, so it took time to realise that the scene had changed.
All that aside, it was well researched, and the background information was interesting at times. If the story is a true one, and clearly elements of it are based on fact, then it should have been told that way. I know I would have enjoyed it far more had I not been second-guessing all the way through whether it was supposed to be a thriller or a retelling of a true story.
It was written like a non-fiction work (every acronym or slightly unusual word was then explained in brackets, frequently quite unnecessarily), and the "exciting" scenes were told in a completely matter-of-fact way, losing any sense of tension. The time-line also jumped all over the place, and between sets of characters, without warning and sometimes almost in the middle of a paragraph, so it took time to realise that the scene had changed.
All that aside, it was well researched, and the background information was interesting at times. If the story is a true one, and clearly elements of it are based on fact, then it should have been told that way. I know I would have enjoyed it far more had I not been second-guessing all the way through whether it was supposed to be a thriller or a retelling of a true story.
January 27, 2015
At first I struggled to get my bearings in this book. Once I’d grasped the plot, I surprised myself in realising that I had actually begun to rather enjoy it; that is if a reader, who in this situation is essentially a voyeur, can actually claim to be favorably interested in seedy sex, brutal violence and carefully calculated cold blooded killing. Not my usual fare, I must admit.
By three-quarters through there was no way that I could have laid this book down unfinished. But I continued to question myself, “How much is fact, how much is fiction?” and “Why”? At the end of the book, Fiennes holds up his hands and justifies his use of his background knowledge and experience to ‘paint’ the scenes for which there was no primary (first-hand) source. By then, I agreed with his use of the creative tool. It is interesting to reflect on how such visualisation does improve the flow of the ‘story’. It certainly makes it clear what a good film this book could make A film was made. I have not seen it. Content such as http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic... makes me wonder if I’d rather not see this book transferred to screen.
I do regret that I read this book either side of November 11th , Armistice Day) , which actually fell on Remembrance Sunday this year. Psychologically that was a mistake. Reality hurts. But, somehow, the uncertainty bred of where the boundary between reality and unreality lies, can, especially at a certain time of year, feel quite sickeningly worse.
By three-quarters through there was no way that I could have laid this book down unfinished. But I continued to question myself, “How much is fact, how much is fiction?” and “Why”? At the end of the book, Fiennes holds up his hands and justifies his use of his background knowledge and experience to ‘paint’ the scenes for which there was no primary (first-hand) source. By then, I agreed with his use of the creative tool. It is interesting to reflect on how such visualisation does improve the flow of the ‘story’. It certainly makes it clear what a good film this book could make A film was made. I have not seen it. Content such as http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic... makes me wonder if I’d rather not see this book transferred to screen.
I do regret that I read this book either side of November 11th , Armistice Day) , which actually fell on Remembrance Sunday this year. Psychologically that was a mistake. Reality hurts. But, somehow, the uncertainty bred of where the boundary between reality and unreality lies, can, especially at a certain time of year, feel quite sickeningly worse.
March 11, 2008
I'm amazed this hasn't been made into a movie. What a suspenseful, complex, and compassionate real-life story this is, a gem of a book. For better or worse, I almost never read a book without finding out what it's about, but I do wish I hadn't read the foreword until I'd gotten into the story. Really, it seems misplaced at the beginning. It would have been enough to know "The Feather Men" chronicles the systematic murder by a team of technically savvy contract killers of several British SAS men who'd all been stationed in Oman, while a British vigilante group associated with the SAS tracks the killers and tries to stop them before they catch their targets. A thoughtful look at honor, revenge, duty, and motive. There were several times I wondered what Truman Capote would have done had he been presented this story to tell, but the basic fact is, Capote would never have found himself in the position this author did. And Fiennes did succeed in making me empathize with individuals I never thought I could have.
August 27, 2007
This is allegedly a true-life account of a group of contract assassins (The Clinic) who were hired by an Omani shiekh to carry out revenge killings for the deaths of his four sons during Oman's civil war against Marxist rebels. The targets for assassination end up all being British SAS officers who were "seconded" to the Sultan's army during the war. Now supposedly there was a secret British vigilante organization (the "Feather Men") looking out for the health, welfare and families of former SAS members. The Feather Men somehow grok that the accidental deaths of four SAS are not so accidental and spend ten years hunting down the killers, killing two and nabbing the ringleader during his attempt on the author's life.
Do I sound skeptical? Only about the true-life part. The final part comes up with a very convenient explanation as to why there's no real documentation for any of these events and how Fiennes theoretically knew such intimate life details about the head of The Clinic. There are copious, indeed sometimes overly technical, details about how the assassinations were carried out (at least one helicopter and one auto was sabotaged) - clearly some research was done.
Fiennes is a respected writer and adventurerI'd shelve this in docu-fiction - truth mixed with extravagant imagination and embellishment. Enjoy it as a thriller, but take it with a grain of salt.
Do I sound skeptical? Only about the true-life part. The final part comes up with a very convenient explanation as to why there's no real documentation for any of these events and how Fiennes theoretically knew such intimate life details about the head of The Clinic. There are copious, indeed sometimes overly technical, details about how the assassinations were carried out (at least one helicopter and one auto was sabotaged) - clearly some research was done.
Fiennes is a respected writer and adventurerI'd shelve this in docu-fiction - truth mixed with extravagant imagination and embellishment. Enjoy it as a thriller, but take it with a grain of salt.
November 25, 2012
My dad recommended this book to me & said I would not be disappointed. It wasn't until I watched Killer Elite & found out the movie was based on this book that I decided to read it. My dad was right it was a excellent read & I wasn't disappointed. The only downside being I wish I read the book b4 I watched the movie. Strong 4 stars & hard to believe that it's based on True Events.
Read
October 5, 2017If it is as non-fiction as it claims to be, this book renders 007’s evil at the Grade school level, and even limits Le Carre to early post-secondary stuff. What Fiennes somehow manages to do is humanize everyone, even when there is no doubt which side he is on. And one of the “good guys” is D Hallett ... have to like that ...
February 6, 2010
Best book I have read in a long time and it is a true story, with a lot of it set in Oman, a country I have never thought very much about. However, Jo is arranging a trip to Oman in October that I have told her I would go on. I found this book in a NY Times book review section on mysteries and did not know it was about Oman, when I started to read it. The review said it was a bestseller in England for years. Interesting how things start to intersect.
July 18, 2012
I enjoyed this book. It is kind of scary to think that these people are out there. I really like how we got so much more back story than in the movie. I came to my own conclusion that I don't feel you can have a retribution killing for something that happens in a war or military encounter, especially when the person being hunted down and killed later wasn't even the aggressor. I also liked how the past and 'current' were blended easily to tell the story.
May 2, 2021
Like a number of other readers, I came to this book via the movie, which was such a success that it caused the author and the publisher to change the book's title from the original (The Feather Men). And partly because of that no doubt, I approached it at first with misconception, as a kind of action thriller, a bit like a Jason Bourne story. And it certainly has a lot of that in it. But, again because of that, I was a bit disoriented at first, because the prelude, the initial chapters, were slow and over-detailed for that kind of fiction, almost the opposite of a page-turner. It was really my interest in the film, and my respect for the author's career, as a former SAS officer and a very adventurous explorer as well as a writer (and brother to the actor Ralph Fiennes) that gave me the impetus to read on. But having passed that initial stage, I was soon captivated - both by the story itself, and by the wealth of detailed inside knowledge it reveals - of SAS actions and training, of a war in Oman I knew almost nothing about, of the mechanics of mounting assassinations so skilfully and stealthily as to make them appear to be accidents. Even then, it wasn't until the final chapters that I fully realised that this is not a work of fiction, but a kind of documentary, and that the author himself became an unwitting actor in it - and that this is what led him to write it. And having finally come to that realisation, I can only recommend the book as highly worth reading. I will certainly read it again one day, before too long, if only to appreciate better the importance of the leading chapters, as well as recapture the thrill of the story itself. As a struggling writer of fiction myself I can only admire the skill of the author in making such a complicated story come to life, and making something so out of the ordinary appear credible. In that respect, it reminded me of The Quiet American, by Graham Greene - set in Vietnam, during the first Indochina war in the early fifties. I happened to read that book in Saigon in 1963, some ten years after it was written, in the city where much of the action takes place, and even though the situation had changed since then the book still struck me as totally true to life. Surely the best mark for that kind of fiction.
Another thing worth noting too - in both cases - is the different treatment given to the story between the book and the film. In the film, Killer Elite, the chief assassin, Danny Brice (played by Jason Statham) is made to appear almost as a hero, a reluctant killer, retired from the profession of contract killer but virtually blackmailed back into it in order to save a friend, Hunter (Robert DeNiro) who faces death at the hands of the Sheikh, who seeks revenge for the death of his three sons, all killed by British Special Forces. Only when Danny provides proof of their execution - which must be made to appear accidental - and a taped confession of their guilt, will Hunter be released. The original Special Forces operatives are made to appear brutal and cynical, no better than killers for hire. There is no mention of a multi-million dollar fee as the main motive for Danny and his two accolytes, Davies and Meier.
This is very different from the book, where the chief assassin, the leader of the small killer cell called The Clinic, de Villiers, is motivated solely by money; and where the British Special Forces involved in the death of the Sheikh's three sons are shown to have been simply soldiers doing their duty in a bloody and merciless war in which the three sons were themselves very willing participants, in a communist-inspired insurrection against the lawful regime in Oman, which the British were defending. The character Hunter does not exist in the book. Spike, played by David Owen in the film, is the real hero in the book, trying to discover why former (and serving) British Special Forces members are being targetted for assassination, for no apparent reason - they were never guilty of anything resembling what might now be called a war crime. And in the end he succeeds not only in foiling de Villiers final attempt but in capturing him as well. The author (and we) do not know what happens to him in the end. But he certainly does not return to his native Australia to rejoin his girlfriend in the Yarra Valley.
In that respect, the film is a complete turnaround of the book, where the villains are made to appear righteous.
(Another parallel with The Quiet American, where the first film to be made of the novel, the 1958 version, with Michael Redgrave and Audie Murphy, not the second version in 2002 with Michael Caine, ends up completely distorting the original story, making the English journalist, played by Redgrave, appear to be a naive and bumbling has-been and Pyle, the American agent played by Audie Murphy, is vindicated as righteous and far-seeing, in working towards the establishment of a 'third force' in Vietnam to defeat the communists and replace the effete and outdated French colonialists with the righteous forces of American freedom. I don't know if the director of that film, Joseph Mankiewitz, was still alive at the time of the final communist victory in Vietnam in 1975, but if he was, I hope he had the grace to feel at least slightly ashamed of himself for having so perverted the original film.)
Having said that, as regards the Killer Elite, both the film and the book are well worth watching and reading.
Claude Renaud
Another thing worth noting too - in both cases - is the different treatment given to the story between the book and the film. In the film, Killer Elite, the chief assassin, Danny Brice (played by Jason Statham) is made to appear almost as a hero, a reluctant killer, retired from the profession of contract killer but virtually blackmailed back into it in order to save a friend, Hunter (Robert DeNiro) who faces death at the hands of the Sheikh, who seeks revenge for the death of his three sons, all killed by British Special Forces. Only when Danny provides proof of their execution - which must be made to appear accidental - and a taped confession of their guilt, will Hunter be released. The original Special Forces operatives are made to appear brutal and cynical, no better than killers for hire. There is no mention of a multi-million dollar fee as the main motive for Danny and his two accolytes, Davies and Meier.
This is very different from the book, where the chief assassin, the leader of the small killer cell called The Clinic, de Villiers, is motivated solely by money; and where the British Special Forces involved in the death of the Sheikh's three sons are shown to have been simply soldiers doing their duty in a bloody and merciless war in which the three sons were themselves very willing participants, in a communist-inspired insurrection against the lawful regime in Oman, which the British were defending. The character Hunter does not exist in the book. Spike, played by David Owen in the film, is the real hero in the book, trying to discover why former (and serving) British Special Forces members are being targetted for assassination, for no apparent reason - they were never guilty of anything resembling what might now be called a war crime. And in the end he succeeds not only in foiling de Villiers final attempt but in capturing him as well. The author (and we) do not know what happens to him in the end. But he certainly does not return to his native Australia to rejoin his girlfriend in the Yarra Valley.
In that respect, the film is a complete turnaround of the book, where the villains are made to appear righteous.
(Another parallel with The Quiet American, where the first film to be made of the novel, the 1958 version, with Michael Redgrave and Audie Murphy, not the second version in 2002 with Michael Caine, ends up completely distorting the original story, making the English journalist, played by Redgrave, appear to be a naive and bumbling has-been and Pyle, the American agent played by Audie Murphy, is vindicated as righteous and far-seeing, in working towards the establishment of a 'third force' in Vietnam to defeat the communists and replace the effete and outdated French colonialists with the righteous forces of American freedom. I don't know if the director of that film, Joseph Mankiewitz, was still alive at the time of the final communist victory in Vietnam in 1975, but if he was, I hope he had the grace to feel at least slightly ashamed of himself for having so perverted the original film.)
Having said that, as regards the Killer Elite, both the film and the book are well worth watching and reading.
Claude Renaud
January 16, 2019
Killer Elite is definitely the best book I’ve read in the last 12 months
One of the overriding philosophies of the book Shantaram is that it is possible to do the ‘wrong’ thing for the ‘right’ reasons. And not only is it ‘possible’ but it is sometimes ‘necessary’ to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. The important thing is to be sure that the reasons are right, and that we admit the wrong, and that we don’t lie to ourselves.
Well in Killer Elite even Chairman Mao is quoted, “In given conditions a bad thing can lead to good results.”
There’s no doubt that, “The very decency of democracy hinders the prevention of numerous crimes,” and that as the law forbids the forces of the law to take them out, so the killers (I.e. drug dealers, muggers and other predators), will strike again. It is a sad fact of life that “in democratic societies that there are no-go areas where crime thrives and innocent citizens are preyed upon yet where the police are powerless to act.”
I’d therefore like to think that there are a group of people who believe that, “When the police cannot provide adequate protection (because criminals are more sophisticated at finding loopholes in the law) then more appropriate methods have to be found.”
You might call them vigilantes, yet they harm no one except characters who would continue to harm others, and if you denounce their existence you’re not stopping to think of the lives they’ve saved or the fears they’ve eased. Call them vigilantes if you like, but I’d like to think their conscience is clear.
This book discusses mostly a group of ex-Special Forces and SAS soldiers who are being targeted and killed by professional assassins. I don’t want to throw any spoilers into this review, just that I’d like to believe the whole book is true. Not, of course, those ex-SAS soldiers are being targeted and killed, but more that there are a group of people whose main object – staying ‘loosely’ within the remit of the law, and only flirting slightly with criminality - is to protect them, which surprisingly proves to be no easy task.
One of the overriding philosophies of the book Shantaram is that it is possible to do the ‘wrong’ thing for the ‘right’ reasons. And not only is it ‘possible’ but it is sometimes ‘necessary’ to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. The important thing is to be sure that the reasons are right, and that we admit the wrong, and that we don’t lie to ourselves.
Well in Killer Elite even Chairman Mao is quoted, “In given conditions a bad thing can lead to good results.”
There’s no doubt that, “The very decency of democracy hinders the prevention of numerous crimes,” and that as the law forbids the forces of the law to take them out, so the killers (I.e. drug dealers, muggers and other predators), will strike again. It is a sad fact of life that “in democratic societies that there are no-go areas where crime thrives and innocent citizens are preyed upon yet where the police are powerless to act.”
I’d therefore like to think that there are a group of people who believe that, “When the police cannot provide adequate protection (because criminals are more sophisticated at finding loopholes in the law) then more appropriate methods have to be found.”
You might call them vigilantes, yet they harm no one except characters who would continue to harm others, and if you denounce their existence you’re not stopping to think of the lives they’ve saved or the fears they’ve eased. Call them vigilantes if you like, but I’d like to think their conscience is clear.
This book discusses mostly a group of ex-Special Forces and SAS soldiers who are being targeted and killed by professional assassins. I don’t want to throw any spoilers into this review, just that I’d like to believe the whole book is true. Not, of course, those ex-SAS soldiers are being targeted and killed, but more that there are a group of people whose main object – staying ‘loosely’ within the remit of the law, and only flirting slightly with criminality - is to protect them, which surprisingly proves to be no easy task.
October 8, 2018
The author, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, has written an explosive account of a very experienced and efficient contract killer company, called The Clinic, headed by Daniel de Villiers. Eventually, it was hired by an Arab sheikh to avenge the deaths of his four sons. Such an action is known as a thraa'r, though seldom acted upon in the Arab world.
The sons of the sheikh had been military combatants in various efforts in Oman and as such were killed in military combat by British SAS (Special Air Services) men.
The Clinic operated at an elite professional level due to their leader's abilities. De Villiers had been a former U.S. Marine. The group would be paid one million dollars for each confirmed revenge killing, which included video recording of the target being accused of the death of the appropriate son. Furthermore, the death had to look like an accident or from natural causes, which The Clinic excelled in doing.
Unfolding over 20 years, the killers are very successful despite the efforts of a private overwatch group known as The Feather Men, a secret group that tried to protect current and former SAS men. At times, they succeeded, but in the endeavor related here they had little.
This is a terrific read, and it's real. Years ago, I was lucky enough to meet and talk with the author. Also, this book was the basis for the movie Killer Elite.
The sons of the sheikh had been military combatants in various efforts in Oman and as such were killed in military combat by British SAS (Special Air Services) men.
The Clinic operated at an elite professional level due to their leader's abilities. De Villiers had been a former U.S. Marine. The group would be paid one million dollars for each confirmed revenge killing, which included video recording of the target being accused of the death of the appropriate son. Furthermore, the death had to look like an accident or from natural causes, which The Clinic excelled in doing.
Unfolding over 20 years, the killers are very successful despite the efforts of a private overwatch group known as The Feather Men, a secret group that tried to protect current and former SAS men. At times, they succeeded, but in the endeavor related here they had little.
This is a terrific read, and it's real. Years ago, I was lucky enough to meet and talk with the author. Also, this book was the basis for the movie Killer Elite.
August 3, 2020
I had heard of this book before I saw the film based on it but it was only after seeing the movie reently that I decided to read it. I had thought it would be a military history type of book and was surprised that it was a "fact or fiction" thriller/ actual event novel. I found it hard going at times because the pace even of the action scenes were a little flat. I realise that the author may have chosen to write it that way so that it comes across as more factual as with the details of driving routes and planning and preparations for each "killing". My main problem though were the sudden jumps in the timeline, sometimes without notice which made me have to stop and consider weather I was now reading about the killers to the Feathermen trying to stop them. At times I wished the progress percentage on the Kindle would jump forward in time too!
September 7, 2017
It's a true story, but the way the author told the story made for a slowly paced narrative and even a bit confusing from time to time. Lots of detail was left in that didn't really need to be there. The story is intriguing - hired killers getting revenge for an Arab sheik by performing hits on the British SAS men who killed one or another of the sheik's 4 sons. It was even made into a movie - The Killer Elite - but that movie veered far away from this narrative. All in all a disappointment.
July 31, 2019
I enjoyed the movie adaptation and as the book had a controversial history I was interested in reading it.
The book is quiet a good read. It is almost like two stories in one as equal time is invested in getting to know the main characters on both sides. Whether or not the story is fact, fiction, or somewhere in-between, it is an engaging story of two groups chasing each other over the years on the fringes of the law.
The book is quiet a good read. It is almost like two stories in one as equal time is invested in getting to know the main characters on both sides. Whether or not the story is fact, fiction, or somewhere in-between, it is an engaging story of two groups chasing each other over the years on the fringes of the law.
September 18, 2022
Killer Elite
A truly amazing and absorbing read. Well written with at times too much detail but on reflection it was needed to ensure the reader understood fully what was going on. I found the film fascinating and discovered the book from the film end. I’m pleased I did. If this story is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then I take my hat off to the “Feather Men” for looking after those that the Law finds it impossible to defend. Thoroughly recommended.
A truly amazing and absorbing read. Well written with at times too much detail but on reflection it was needed to ensure the reader understood fully what was going on. I found the film fascinating and discovered the book from the film end. I’m pleased I did. If this story is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then I take my hat off to the “Feather Men” for looking after those that the Law finds it impossible to defend. Thoroughly recommended.
February 22, 2021
A well structured book that is clearly more fiction than fact albeit some of the characters did/do exist. The building of the story is plausible and exciting but there does seem to be too many coincidences and weak reasoning towards the end which is reached quite abruptly
August 11, 2023
It’s almost too good to be a true story. Is it documentary, is it fiction? Is it a mix of both? I really couldn’t care less, it was a bloody good read. Truth be told, I had to get through the first fifty or so pages, but after that I couldn’t put the book down.
September 21, 2017
gave up
September 3, 2018
been a bit slack the last month and have fallen behind in my reading. finally finished this and have to admit I enjoyed it. How much is real and how much is fictional I don't know
February 15, 2019
A good read been meaning to read this for. a while.
Flows well with interesting middle eastern commentary
Flows well with interesting middle eastern commentary
February 26, 2019
Bought in a charity shop for 50p, so good I read it twice. Amazing insight into a different world of surveillance, stealth and daring. Robert did not expect the ending. Brilliant
October 13, 2019
Absolutely amazing! Really scary, but I couldn't put it down
December 27, 2019
NON FICTION?
February 17, 2020
Mike read: Hard to like the Feather Men themselves, but interesting historically.
December 2, 2021
Not well written and not very memorable.
April 13, 2022
Verrry good.
June 26, 2022
The only problem with The Feather Men is the sneaking suspicion that it is not a work of fiction, but may have really happened. Intriguing tale. I read it at least three times.
August 12, 2022
This was very different from the movie, but in a good way
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews