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Sir Ranulph Fiennes

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The Feathermen Hardcover – January 1, 1991

by Ranulph Feinnes (Author)

4.3 712 ratings

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The Feather Men

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Book Club Associates and Bloomsbury
Publication date

January 1, 1991
ISBN-10

9780747510499
ISBN-13

978-0747510499
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Ranulph Fiennes
1,804
Paperback
41 offers from $4.74
Ranulph Fiennes
297
Hardcover
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0747510490
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Book Club Associates and Bloomsbury; First Edition (January 1, 1991)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780747510499
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0747510499
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.27 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #269,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Oman History
- #341 in Political Intelligence
- #16,070 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer Reviews:
4.3 712 ratings

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Sir Ranulph Fiennes

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

712 global ratings

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KB

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2023

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Be careful who you cheer for.

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László GB

Good book but the film is far better.

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2016

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This was an enjoyable read but because the thread of the story kept jumping from one character to another you had to keep in mind who they were working for. To me this made the reading staccato like which is not my preference. The story was goo but the movie was far better. If it was a choice between getting the DVD or purchasing the book you can guess my suggestion. The only caveat is that the film has a different ending from the book so you have been warned.

3 people found this helpful

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Doc

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2023

Enjoyed reading it

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2012

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i had been recommended this book a number of years ago but hadnt been able to purchase it in hard back when i purchased my kindle it was the first book i purchased and simply couldnt put it down it seems that that in teh end right did triumph over evil

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Luther R. Norman

Electrifying Accounts of SAS!

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2017

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Anyone that is interested in the use of special assassination squads or 'sas' by the British government over the years, is sure to be enthralled by this writing. The only thing I can say I didn't like was the fact this practice is still allowed to go on, with certain modifications. Once again, I did have to wait but not as log as I thought. The seller made it worth while for the transaction.

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2019

good

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2013

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I first read this book 20 years ago, I loved it then and loved it now. A great read, much beter and different to the film.

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2013

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As is usually the case, the book is better than the movie. It is interesting, however, as to what really happened and what is fiction. All in all, a well-written yarn about events that may or may not have happened. Also interesting to think about the possibility that such a group as The Feather Men really exist....

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Wendy tinsley

Superb service, book in great condition and exactly as I wanted.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2023

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Superb service. Book in great condition. Prompt delivery. Already enjoying reading it. Can’t recommend highly enough.

M. LORIS

I've enjoyed the movie, even more the book.

Reviewed in Italy on January 31, 2021

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The book has been written by one who knows the ropes, that makes the reading more interesting and never boring. That's the reason for, for example, I like also John Le Carré's novels: being them fiction or real history, they let you take a look into the lives of folks that has really been in those particular trades.

I have also appreciated the description of Omani exotic environment, that provides a pleasant and supporting frame to the narration.

The movie's plot, as usually happens, has some differences when compared to the book, but it's no place to spoilers here! Read the book and watch the movie (in whichever order you like much), I've found both of them very riveting and well done.

A pity for the title: I like much the original one, "The Feather Men", because "Killer Elite" tastes too much of rubbish literature, that it's far to be.

Great job Sir Fiennes, I've appreciated it, even if I warmly hope you can still take your rubbish out after dark!

Amazon Customer

Much more than a simple thriller.

Reviewed in Australia on May 21, 2021

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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

carrie52

Exactly as expected

Reviewed in France on February 25, 2014

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Very good book - exactly as described. Worthwhile seller and I will definitely more books buy in the future - delivery good too.

One person found this helpful

Popeye00

Killer Elite

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2022

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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.

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The Feathermen Hardcover – January 1, 1991

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Sir Ranulph Fiennes

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