The French Letter
Viewing comments for Chapter 91 "Gone to Ground"A Novel
26 total reviews
Comment from estory
I thought you did a great job creating an eerie, tense mood in this chapter, with the descriptions of the slow traffic in the dark tunnel, the blinding snow storm, and then the sharp crack of the bandit's rifle as he picks off the driver. Charles and Helen are going off into some adventure here, alone up in the blizzard, digging that shelter in the snow drift, still ten miles from Chitral, their destination. They are surrounded by danger everywhere, from the weather and the bandits to the terrorists they haven't met yet. good attention to detail makes the scene come alive and puts us in the middle of the action. Loved all the foreshadowing in these scenes and mood setting. Very James Bond. estory
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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I thought you did a great job creating an eerie, tense mood in this chapter, with the descriptions of the slow traffic in the dark tunnel, the blinding snow storm, and then the sharp crack of the bandit's rifle as he picks off the driver. Charles and Helen are going off into some adventure here, alone up in the blizzard, digging that shelter in the snow drift, still ten miles from Chitral, their destination. They are surrounded by danger everywhere, from the weather and the bandits to the terrorists they haven't met yet. good attention to detail makes the scene come alive and puts us in the middle of the action. Loved all the foreshadowing in these scenes and mood setting. Very James Bond. estory
Comment Written 28-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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Always most encouraging to receive a sixth star from you. Many thanks, both for that and your supportive comments. Best wishes, Tony.
Comment from Sandra du Plessis
A very well-written chapter and a narrow escape from the bandits as well as from the accident. Luckily, Charles had some surviving skills to keep them safe and dry for a while and out if the icy wind.
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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A very well-written chapter and a narrow escape from the bandits as well as from the accident. Luckily, Charles had some surviving skills to keep them safe and dry for a while and out if the icy wind.
Comment Written 28-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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Thank you very much for your review, Sandra. Appreciated. Best wishes, Tony.
Comment from Mystic Angel 7777
Beautiful! As always, you deliver a flawlessly penned and thoroughly compelling piece which captures ad hold the reader's attention from start to finish. You have a few spots that are highlighted and I wasn't sure if you intended them to be as they seemed to me like passages you were mulling over for impact. I thought I'd mention it in case you left them there unintentionally - the finished wording in each was perfect :). Well done and thank you very much for sharing it.
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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Beautiful! As always, you deliver a flawlessly penned and thoroughly compelling piece which captures ad hold the reader's attention from start to finish. You have a few spots that are highlighted and I wasn't sure if you intended them to be as they seemed to me like passages you were mulling over for impact. I thought I'd mention it in case you left them there unintentionally - the finished wording in each was perfect :). Well done and thank you very much for sharing it.
Comment Written 28-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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Thanks very much for your kind words, Mystic Angel. Much appreciated. I?m not sure about the highlighting. It doesn?t appear on my computer.
Comment from Pantygynt
I sensed shades of Alistair MacLean here. He seemed to take a vicious delight in describing the horrors of extreme cold.
Clearly you were drawing on real live experience of winter survival courses. I was never more thankful that my service saw me mainly in hot countries. I got out just in time before the RM became experts in winter warfare and spent great chunks of their time in Norway and the Cairngorms.
This was an excitinbg chapter.
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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I sensed shades of Alistair MacLean here. He seemed to take a vicious delight in describing the horrors of extreme cold.
Clearly you were drawing on real live experience of winter survival courses. I was never more thankful that my service saw me mainly in hot countries. I got out just in time before the RM became experts in winter warfare and spent great chunks of their time in Norway and the Cairngorms.
This was an excitinbg chapter.
Comment Written 28-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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Thanks, Jim. Sea survival and Arctic survival were to be endured rather than enjoyed!
Comment from Sylvia Page
Lots of drama and colourful metaphors likening the overloaded truck to a monster with red eyes leading them on. Was this very same truck the cause of the ambush? I like the idea of digging in to a snow hole. I guess it is only a temporary hideout.
Best wishes
Sylvia
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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Lots of drama and colourful metaphors likening the overloaded truck to a monster with red eyes leading them on. Was this very same truck the cause of the ambush? I like the idea of digging in to a snow hole. I guess it is only a temporary hideout.
Best wishes
Sylvia
Comment Written 28-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 29-Oct-2019
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Thanks, Sylvia. I imagine it would have been the same truck. Not many opportunities to overtake on that road. All good wishes, Tony.
Comment from Cindy Warren
Lots of action in this chapter. I've heard of people digging snow shelters in the Arctic. They're quite warm inside. Of course, the Inuit did it for centuries. The storm will probably drive off whoever was shooting before morning. Was it them they were after, or bandits after whatever they could get?
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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Lots of action in this chapter. I've heard of people digging snow shelters in the Arctic. They're quite warm inside. Of course, the Inuit did it for centuries. The storm will probably drive off whoever was shooting before morning. Was it them they were after, or bandits after whatever they could get?
Comment Written 27-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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Thanks for your review, Cindy. I actually slept in one once. Very warm and cosy. It's surprising how much heat two bodies and a couple of candles can generate.
Comment from Jannypan (Jan)
This was an exciting chapter, full of action and unexpected twists, Tony. I would never go to a place such as where they are heading. You ended with a great cliffhanger. Respectfully, Jan
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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This was an exciting chapter, full of action and unexpected twists, Tony. I would never go to a place such as where they are heading. You ended with a great cliffhanger. Respectfully, Jan
Comment Written 27-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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It's actually a stunning part of the world. Dramatic scenery and friendly people. However, as with almost anywhere in the world these days, you can end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Comment from Spitfire
You certainly have immersed yourself into writing this novel. Do you plan to publish it? Your choice of verbs and
adjectives emphasize the danger:
groaned, rumbled, treacherous and many more.
Also the metaphors: I fancied its taillights to be the bloodshot eyes of a monster luring us into its den.
I saw a hole above his left eye, surrounded by curled vestiges of skin like the petals of a wilted daisy
You spend a lot of time describing the journey and landscape. I felt right in the picture.
A bit of humor tucked in there too with Charles' remark about digging graves.
The last line adds to the secondary plot of a love story.
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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You certainly have immersed yourself into writing this novel. Do you plan to publish it? Your choice of verbs and
adjectives emphasize the danger:
groaned, rumbled, treacherous and many more.
Also the metaphors: I fancied its taillights to be the bloodshot eyes of a monster luring us into its den.
I saw a hole above his left eye, surrounded by curled vestiges of skin like the petals of a wilted daisy
You spend a lot of time describing the journey and landscape. I felt right in the picture.
A bit of humor tucked in there too with Charles' remark about digging graves.
The last line adds to the secondary plot of a love story.
Comment Written 27-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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Thanks very much for your review and supportive comments, Shari. I appreciate them. Delighted that you thought this worth a sixth star. All good wishes, Tony
Comment from juliaSjames
A dramatic and we'll written chapter, Tony. Charles is proving himself extremely capable in the dire straits in which he and Helen have found themselves. I admire your thorough research on snow caves, Tony.
Blessings Julia
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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A dramatic and we'll written chapter, Tony. Charles is proving himself extremely capable in the dire straits in which he and Helen have found themselves. I admire your thorough research on snow caves, Tony.
Blessings Julia
Comment Written 27-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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Thanks, Julia. I appreciate the sixth star. I did actually have to build a snow hole once, though I needed to do a bit of research to remind myself of the details. All good wishes, Tony.
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Wow! You are a man of many parts, my friend.
JJ
Comment from JudyE
Great writing and kept me engrossed from start to finish. Then I went through it again looking for spags, thinking there weren't any but then came across this.
there was the vague shadow of a stationary truck a hundred yards ahead with people were spreadeagled against the side of the vehicle with their hands above their heads - delete 'were' or replace 'with' with 'where'
I like the imagery of the petals and flower. Very powerful.
Best wishes
Judy
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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Great writing and kept me engrossed from start to finish. Then I went through it again looking for spags, thinking there weren't any but then came across this.
there was the vague shadow of a stationary truck a hundred yards ahead with people were spreadeagled against the side of the vehicle with their hands above their heads - delete 'were' or replace 'with' with 'where'
I like the imagery of the petals and flower. Very powerful.
Best wishes
Judy
Comment Written 27-Oct-2019
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2019
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Thanks, Judy. I appreciate your supportive comments and the extra star. Thanks, too, for the spag pick up. Appreciated. All the best, Tony