Read by David Rintoul. 11 Hrs 3 MinsDescription: Eldritch Swan is a dead man. Or at least that is what his nephew Stephen has always been told. Until one day Eldritch walks back into his life after 36 years in an Irish prison. He won't reveal any of the details of his incarceration, insisting only that he is innocent of any crime. His return should be of interest to no-one. But the visit of a solicitor with a mysterious request will take Eldritch and his sceptical nephew from sleepy seaside Paig...

Glad I checked out this book. The British have always had a lock on the stories about scoundrels who had moral lines they don't cross, dubious heroes, if you like that description, and Robert Goddard's story about Mr. Eldritch Swan falls in that category. Of course the counterpoint is his nephew, the real hero of the story. But in a story that switches between the 70's and the late 30's he manages to spin a very good yarn. Some parts, especially where a government secret service is too ready to

This is my third Robert Goddard book I’ve read so I do not have many to compare it against, but I really enjoyed it. I noticed that it had received a lot of mixed reviews though.I think with Goddard’s books you’ve just got to fall into them and let the story take you. You will be thrown around as if in a tumble dryer trying to work out bits of the story only to be spun round and back where you started. I would love to see how he comes up with the plot and ties it all together. They always seem s...

This could be classified as a "no harm, no foul" book - a thriller should be gripping and I was left ungripped. It wasn't badly written but the most interesting part was that it was written with the background of an attempt by Britain in 1940 to convince Eamon de Valera to join them in the war in exchange for a united Ireland; many were convinced that Germany was going to win so why antagonize Hitler and become the next to fall? The plot line follows a collection of stolen Picassos replaced by f...

Very slow to start but well worth persevering

I want to start out by saying this is my first Robert Goddard read and I was totally blown away by this book. The setting switches between 1940 and 1976 in Europe, primarily in London, Belgium, and Ireland. I like to look up facts about places and events mentioned and this book is loaded with those.The story begins with an old man named Eldritch Swan being released from a prison in Ireland after 36 years. He shows up at the door of the only family he has left, his nephew Stephen and his sister-i...

I used to read a lot of Robert Goddard books and enjoyed them immensely, so when my husband borrowed this from the library and enjoyed it I thought I would read it to before it went back. I got into it very quickly and enjoyed the mystery surrounding uncle Eldritch and why he had been imprisoned for so long as well as the mystery with the Picassos. The story is told from two time frames 1940, which is Eldritch's story and 1976 which follows his nephew Stephen Swan and then his interactions with

3,5 stars a nice enough read, but not outstanding.

I have loved Goddard's writing from day one and have all his books on my shelves. I considered him a great secret, since he was never promoted, but his books would show up on my local bookstores shelves, only one copy, even of a new title. This time, however, we got more than one copy, and it turns out to have been the worst of the lot. The characters missed by a long shot--not realistic in the slightest, nor particularly likeable, any of them, except the old black valet at the end. No, don't go...

Stephen Swan's uncle Eldritch has suddenly shown up after 36 years in prison in Ireland. No one knows for sure why Eldritch was imprisoned and Eldritch isn't saying.Then, one day a lawyer shows up on the doorstep with an offer for Eldritch - one he can't ignore. Suddenly Stephen finds himself in the middle of political intrigue, art theft and diamond smuggling...with a few murders thrown in.Rating: 4 stars

I always look forward to a new Robert Goddard, though don't think I would persist if his earliest ones hadn't been so good. This one vaguely mixes anglo-irish politics with an art scam. I liked how the story moved back to the 1940's and then to the 70's. Usual Goddard convoluted plotting, but I did read another book in the middle so not quite unputdownable as I have found some earlier ones.

Stephen Swan is surprised when his uncle Eldritch, whom he had thought was dead, is released from an Irish prison after 36 years. Eldritch refuses to tell anyone why he was imprisoned or why he's been unexpectedly released. It's not long before other people are trying to find Eldritch and soon Stephen finds himself drawn into a mystery that began in 1940. We discover that just before WWII Eldritch returned to England from Belgium, where he worked for a Jewish diamond merchant and art collector.

The elements of suspense are skillfully orchestrated in LONG TIME COMING. The contemporary (1976) narrative, seen primarily though the eyes of Stephen Swan alternate with the backstory occurring in 1940, primarily from the third-person observation of Stephen's uncle, Eldritch Swan, participant, among other things, in a forgery scam of priceless Picassos. This dual narrative allows the author to approach the problem of creating suspense from different angles. Stephen's dilemmas include a successi...

Good mystery, well written.

Hooray. A thriller finally written by someone who writes in sentences, speaks English, and keeps the plot moving without having to pretend it's the screenplay for an airhead action film! Or maybe I've read too much trash recently?Nicely placed story set in 1970s and WW2, concerning characters, spy plots, smuggled diamonds, and forged pictures. Moves along with good level of detail, and doesn't assume the reader has the IQ of an Ant. Dirty dealings of Gov't in UK and Ireland, and complex sub- and...

There’s the kernel of a good book here: a roguish uncle returns from the dead and soon embroils his nephew in a mystery concerning a long ago art fraud and a very dubious part of English/Irish history. Ostensibly set in the seventies, it flashes back repeatedly to the forties with the two narratives intertwining. If done right – conjuring a good sense of time and place, while revealing its secrets judiciously – then this could be a nifty little suspense yarn.Unfortunately, there’s no way I can p...

By my count, this is number 21 on my quest to read all of Robert Goddard's books, in chronological order by publish date.This one is the best I've read of his for some time. The plot is complex (with, of course, the required hallmark plot twists of a Goddard book), set in interesting and historic times, with chapters moving backwards and forwards between 1976 and 1940. The author does an outstanding job of slowly peeling off the layers of the onion of the plot, and I, at least, did not guess wha...

What do you say? Robert Goddard is the master story teller, he paints a picture and takes you there, unravelling the story one layer at a time rather like the layers of an onion. He is one of my favourite authors and has never let me down, and this is one of his best stories. This book is filled with intrigue, betrayal, espionage, political machinations and a mystery element that is not revealed until the end. What more could you want? What are you waiting for? Read this book! You will not be di...

This mystery spanning decades marginally kept me engaged through the first 3/4 of the book. In the end, I was rewarded with a good conclusion and would recommend this book to a patient reader. Summary: Eldritch swan is released Dom an Irish prison after 35 years. He contacts his nephew Stephen, and together they try to uncover proof that because of paintings were forged 35 years ago. Why was Eldritch in prison? Conditions of his release don't allow him to say, however Oldrich claims that he did

Long Time Coming by Robert Goddard4.5 starsFrom The Book:Stephen Swan is amazed when he hears that the uncle he thought had been killed in the Blitz is actually alive. For nearly four decades, Eldritch Swan has been locked away in an Irish prison and now, at last, has been released. Shocked and suspicious, Stephen listens to the old man’s story and is caught up in a tale that begins at the dawn of World War II, when Eldritch worked for an Antwerp diamond dealer with a trove of Picassos—highly va...