Ministers Of Vengeance
Conot, Robert E.
£55.00
Ministers Of Vengeance
By Robert E. Conot
Published by William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1965. 1st UK Ed. Hardback with dust jacket. 22cm H x 14.5cm W. 624pp. Grey boards with gilt titles to the spine. Book condition: Used. Very Good. Corners sharp; Outer page edges are lightly dust stained. Inside is tight and bright; No inscriptions; All pages present. Dust Jacket: Light shelf-wear to the edges; Closed tears; Light rubbing; Now under protective cellophane cover. Overall Condition: Very Good
“The kidnapping is done almost on the spur of the moment by two inept would-be gangsters. But once it is accomplished events assume the cast of inevitability and build up – step by ominous step – to a terrifying climax of violence. The scene of this powerful novel is California in the ‘thirties, the era of the Depression and Prohibition. The people are varied, ambitious and passionate: the rich young man who is kidnapped ; the kidnappers themselves, one stupid to the point of feeblemindedness, the other bold and bored; an amoral attorney and his daughter, a beautiful and incestuous blonde; a governor hoping for re-election; a father who by a curious trick of fate, cannot meet the smallest demand from the kidnappers; a young lawyer fighting, in the end, for elemental decency – and the ministers of vengeance, twentieth-century vigilantes who precipitate a tragedy as great as the one they intend to avenge. Mr Conot draws the reader into the story of his first novel with consummate skill. From the inception of the bizarre kidnapping plot, with all its unforeseen and unpremeditated consequences, to the final orgiastic climax, it is a shocking revelation of what can happen when a community surrenders itself to the leadership of the mob.”