Chris Patrick; Stephen Baister

I have to admit to having rather ambivalent feelings about this book. On the one hand it seems to be the only up-to-date biography of William Le Queux. However the authors appear to have little sympathy with their subject and constantly put down his writing and indeed many aspects of his life.
Le Queux was a prolific and popular writer of his day ,who produced over 200 books with subjects as varied as War,Spies and Spying,Crime,Thrillers and Romances. It is obvious that over this large number of works the writing will be uneven and it is easy for Patrick and Baister to find those that are not up to standard and concentrate on those rather than the stronger stories.
A constant refrain running through the book,is that Le Queux mixes the events of his life with that of his fiction and that he is a 'Walter Mitty' figure in this respect. No doubt this is to some extent true,as it is indeed with many novelists to this day. There is however a little too much of 'it is said' and 'probably ' and ' presumably' in the text for my liking.
In fact the author's seem to have only written some travel guide books between them,this being their first effort at 'real writing'.
Don't get me wrong,I am full of admiration for anyone who brings out a book about the life and works of this fascinating and intriguing man. I just wish that a more balanced and considered biography had been produced. I await that definitive biography with keen anticipation,and until that comes along,this will just have to do.
The 5 stars awarded here are for William Le Queux,rather than for the writers of this particular book.… (meer)