Customer Reviews
You can't help loving it - but... - By: Keith Mitchell, 05 Sep 2008 
If you've got this far & avoided the Yankee plot-spoilers, you will have gained the impression that Horace is getting old, tired & a bit repetitive. I can't disagree with that. But just as Hard Times is not good Dickens, not-good Dickens is streets better than no Dickens - & so it is with Rumpole & his terrorist. There are more loose ends than you'd findin a tin of Heinz spaghetti, more improbabilities thanin the Heart of Gold, but it still keeps you turning the pages feverishly until the all-too-soon end. It takes 90 minutes to read if you're a slow reader. So what? Read it again!
Running out of steam - By: J. Thiry, 13 Apr 2008 I agree with a previous poster that this is no longer vintage Mortimer. The rôlein which Rumpole's wife is cast is out of character. In the audio version her voice is not even right: she sounds much too young & not enough like the elderly female bully she is supposed to be. The plot is not a bad one but to Rumpole fans it will sound like a rehash of previous Rumpole plots. What remains of course is a very laudable critic of Today's war on terrorism. Timothy West is the best reader of Rumpole ever: if he reads earlier Rumpole storiesin unabridged version I'll be the first to buy.
Rumpole fights on - By: Major Swift, ret'd, 13 Oct 2007 
Horace Rumpole is to me a familiar friend of many years standing, news of whose exploits I eagely await. This familiarity is re-inforced by the book cover's caricature drawing of Leo Mckern's TV portrayal. This is a typical Rumpole tale used to great effect by Mortimer to take a side swipe at not only the reactionary policies of a reactionary government, but also to remind the bleeding heart liberals thatin truth there really are some very bad people out there. Horace Rumpole of course is gifted with the all knowing eye so that under the withering gaze of old fashioned forensic advocacy, the truth will out & the innocent are saved. There is also a nice coup de plume as Rumpole's memoirs are intertwined with the memoirs of Mrs Rumpole. I do not know if the book has enough substance to win new fans, but there is plenty here to satisfy the existing ones & on that basis I give it top marks.
An Old Story in New Clothes - By: George R Dekle, 07 Jun 2007 Since his inaugural casein the 1970's Rumpole has busily defended one or another of the Timson clan (a large & industrious family of South London thieves) on various charges. More than one of the cases Rumpole has previously chronicled involves a Timson unwisely befriending, trusting, & being betrayed by a Molloy (another large & industrious family of South London thieves). Rumpole brilliantly wins each case by convincing the jury that the Timsons & Molloys are like the Hatfields & McCoys, & that the conniving Molloy has framed the hapless Timson.
This case serves up a slight twist on that old plot, with Rumpole defending a Timson who unwisely befriended another Molloy, & at the same time defending a Pakistani doctor who married a Timson & whose affairs also cross paths with the Molloys. Besides bringing Rumpole, the Timsons, & the Molloys into the 21st Century, Mortimer also manages to mixin huge doses of critique of anti-terrorism laws. He's not too heavy-handed with his criticism, & the political commentary does not detract from the story.
The first Rumpole stories were complex pieces of work, with numerous subplots involving Rumpole's colleagues swirling around the main mystery. Mortimer's later efforts have been less complex, with Rumpole's chamber-mates at Number 4 Equity Court receding to the background as Rumpole's relationship with his wife Hilda (She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) receives more attention. The trend continuesin this latest effort, with Soapy Sam Ballard, Phillida Erskine-Brown, Claude Erskine-Brown, Hoskins, & Henry the clerk receding into cardboard figures with little depth. Still, "The Reign of Terror" was so engaging that I read itin one sitting.
Time for retirement? - By: R. Burgess, 16 Mar 2007 For thirty years & over seventy tales John Mortimer has kept readers entertained & enlightened with his stories of the crusty old barrister, Horace Rumpole, & his dedication to the finest principles of British law. In doing so he has maintained for so long an astonishingly high level of imagination & invention, but to judge from the latest offering it may at last be time to put the warhorse out to grass.
'Rumpole & the Reign of Terror' tells an unlikely story drawn out to book length of a Pakistani doctor framed on terrorist charges, a victim of the government's abolition of normal procedures of justicein its fight against the forces of terror. In fact the book seems little more than a pretext for Mortimer to sound off against current abuses of law.
Few of Rumpole's familiar & endearing character traits emerge here, the plot creaks & improbabilities abound: Rumpole's formidable wife is even made to write her own memoirs on a laptopin the boxroom of their Gloucester Road mansion flat & conduct a half-clandestine romance with Rumpole's arch-foe, the 'Mad Bull' Judge Bullingham.
Rumpole fans will still want to read this & enjoy it, but maybe, Sir John, it is time for you & Rumpole to rest on your laurels? You have given us much delight & we cannot reasonably expect more.
