Long Time Coming

by Robert Goddard

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 valuable paintings that later disappeared. Stephen, who finds his uncle by turns devious, charming, and brazen, then meets Rachel Banner, a beautiful American who may have inherited the Picassos—and is determined to see justice done for her family. But in this tale of revenge and redemption, justice is the ultimate illusion. Eldritch, Stephen, and the woman Stephen has fallen in love with soon find themselves fighting for their lives—against sinister forces still guarding a secret that must never be revealed.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller

391 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

In a writing career spanning more than twenty years, Robert Goddard's novels have been described in many different ways - mystery, thriller, crime, even historical romance. He is the master of the plot twist, a compelling and engrossing storyteller and one of the best known advocates for the traditional virtues of pace, plot and narrative drive.

Reviews

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

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-in-law, Stephen's mother. Stephen Swan had been told his whole life his uncle was killed by the Germans in a London air raid in 1940. So when he shows up alive he wonders what is going on??

Stephen soon finds out he is not going to get many answers from his uncle. As his uncle claims it was part of his prison release that he never disclose why he was imprisoned all those years. Naturally Stephen is leery of his long lost (dead?) Uncle Eldritch.

So through many twists and turns the story goes...trying to find out what really happened to Uncle Eldritch all those years ago and why it still has to be such a secret now. The author did a great job of drawing you in right off the bat and wanting you to keep reading. This was a hard book to put down at night. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who loves a good mystery mixed with some historical fiction. Overall I rate this book a 5 star *****.

[Chris Steeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 so complex when you read them as you are trying to work things out as you go but you do not always have the information required to do that. In the end it all falls into place.

It is difficult going into the plot without giving too much away just to say the action swings between an incident in 1940 and 36 years later in 1976. The incident in 1940 involves a wonderfully named character called Eldritch Swan, a man whose family told others had died during the blitz. World War II, Irish neutrality, the IRA and Picasso paintings (real and forged) are all brought to the fore in a game of cat-and-mouse.

There is no doubt that I will be buying more Goddard books and will look forward to reading them. I always judge a book by how much I want to get back to reading it and this one I was always happy to pick up whenever I could.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 Eldritch and the mystery. The novel also contains a love interest.
The blurb labelled it a thriller, which I would dispute. It is a mystery and the characters are well drawn, if not always particularly likeable, but a thriller it is not! It is however an enjoyable read, although I do think at times it felt that the answers were like the title – A long time coming. However for the most part it kept my interest with lots of twists and turns as you would expect from Robert Goddard, but for mine perhaps not as good as some of his earlier books. But that could be just me.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read by David Rintoul. 11 Hrs 3 Mins

Description: 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 Paignton to London, where an exhibition of Picasso paintings from the prestigious Brownlow collection proves to be the starting point on a journey that will transport them back to the Second World War and the mystery behind Eldritch's imprisonment.

Dual timeline where both strands are good. Churchill and the IRA, Picassos and diamonds, love and war, all couched in Goddard's fab writing. Recommended, yet a little slow to get going.

5* Past Caring (1986)
5* In Pale Battalions (1988)
3* Play to the End (1988)
4* Painting The Darkness (1989)
4* Take No Farewell (1991)
3* Hand in Glove (1992)
2* Closed Circle (1993)
3* Borrowed Time (1995)
TR Beyond Recall (1997)
4* Caught In The Light (1998)
4* Set In Stone (1999)
3* Sea Change (2000)
1* Dying To Tell (2001)
3* Days Without Number (2003)
3* Sight Unseen (2005)
2* Name To A Face (2007)
1* Found Wanting (2008)
3* Long Time Coming (2009)
TR Blood Count (2010)
WL Fault Line (2012)

Max Masted:

3* The Ways of the World (The Wide World Trilogy #1) (2013)
CR The Corners of the Globe (The Wide World - James Maxted, #2) (2014)
WL The Ends of the Earth (The Wide World Trilogy, #3) (2015)

Harry Barnett Trilogy:

4* Into the Blue (1990)
4* Out of the Sun (1996)
4* Never Go Back (2006)

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75 Nederlandse paperback

1976

Quote : Hij zuchtte en trok aan zijn sigaret. " Hij- of zij - wil dat ik bewijs dat de Picasso's in de collectie van Brownlow gestolen zijn van een man die Isaac Meridor heet.

1940

Quote: "Dit, MSN, hier", Cardsle tikte tegen een kop boven een artikel in de krant. "Zie je nou?" En Swan zag het. BELGISCH LIJNSCHIP UITLANDER OP WEG NAAR NEW YORK OP VOLLE ZEE GETORPEDEERD - GEEN OVERLEVENDEN

Het verhaal switched tussen 1940 en 1976 en behelst "gestolen Picasso's van een Joodse familie die zelf wel wat op de kerfstok hadden vóór 1940.

Er is in de tweede wereld oorlog helaas veel achterover gedrukt van gevluchte of opgepakte joden. Vaak als ze het geluk hadden te overleven en terugkwamen naar hun woningen waren ze vaak bewoond door anderen, leeggeroofd of gebombardeerd. Tot op dd huidige dag zoeken nog vele naar hun familie bezittingen.

Het was een "leuk" verhaal maar niet echt 4 sterren waard. Ik vond, in de personage verdieping, had er nog veel winst behaald kunnen worden qua spanningsopbouw.

[Olivermagnus · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. Soon we are following a trail of events through an intricate plot concerning fake Picasso's and Irish politics. The story alternates between 1940 and 1976 and takes us to Antwerp, London and Dublin. Bit by bit we learn about Eldritch as a young man and what led to his eventual imprisonment. Another element to the story is the neutrality of Ireland at the beginning of WWII. Real life characters like Eamon de Valera, a hero of the 1916 Easter Uprising and current Tsoiseach (president) of the Irish Republic are key figures who interact with the fictional ones.

As the plot thickens we can never be sure who is controlling events. It's an excellent book that combines real events with a fictional thriller, and enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, but not too many as to be unbelievable.

[Brenda H · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Trish · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 here if you're looking for Goddard. But you will anyway if you've read Goddard before, probably.

[F.R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 put my hand on my heart and claim this is remotely near a nifty little suspense yarn.

‘Long Time Gone’ is a plodding, obese and weary thriller, which rarely captures any more sense of place than a picture postcard and reveals its secrets in the most dull and perfunctory manner. A thriller which is too reliant on coincidence is always going to struggle, and this once just keeps piling them on top of each other. No character is allowed to be forgotten in this book, they – or their offspring – will all eventually show up. No matter how ludicrous it seems.

What’s worse though is how appallingly written it is. I’m trying to recall the last time I read a novel containing such bland, flat and downright lazy prose. The only variety from this tepid tripe is when a sentence is put together so clumsily it’ll make any sensitive reader wince. Yes, the only time Goddard’s prose stops being really bad is when it gets even worse.

A while back I did read another Robert Goddard and don’t recall his prose style being anywhere close to this bad. If I was being generous I’d maybe suggest that some over-eager publisher snatched this one away before he’d finished polishing it; but, if that’s not the case, then what we have here is a lazily written, poorly thought out and terribly executed excuse for a thriller.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 forgeries, fairly routine stuff, and a man wrongly imprisoned for what he knew. No great shakes this book but it's a pleasant time-waster in the end.

[Martin Fautley · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 side-plots to not make the ending DBO before you get there.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 disappointed. ❤️

[Arnis · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[Alsjem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love how there is enough factual history to make me believe all this really happened.

[Judy A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a great many of Robert Goddard's books and there hasn't been one that I haven't enjoyed. They are all very different from each other and I very much admire an author who can write in that way. This was quite a complex mystery moving from 1940 to 1976 throughout the book and there were many characters involved. Again, very clever writing. As another reviewer has stated, this is really a mystery rather than a thriller but a very enjoyable and satisfying read. Not a book you can put aside and go back to in a few days' time, otherwise you will lose the thread!

[Ms.pegasus · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 succession of leading questions – first and foremost, why was Eldritch arrested in 1940. The chapters from 1940 do nothing to resolve this question. In fact, they add to the puzzle. Characters we meet in 1976 seem to have totally different personalities in 1940, including Eldritch Swan, himself. Finally, Goddard inter-cuts the two stories, after introducing a succession of new surprises. The numerous brief chapters feel like mental cliff-hangers as the author nudges us on to yet another part of the story.

One of the best things about LONG TIME COMING are the numerous interrelated characters. Since so much of the story is told through dialogue, the reader is left to marvel at Goddard's adroit handling of speech, diction, personal tics and timing. One of my favorite characters is a relatively minor one, Bart van Briel, a Belgian equivalent of the “Wolf” from the movie “Pulp Fiction.”

Most pleasurable of all, however, is the seemingly effortless prose. Providing examples simply cannot do it justice – ripping memorable passages out of context strip them of the delightful element of surprise.The reader seizes upon an easy prediction of where the sentence is going. Goddard abruptly changes directions, mid sentence, and the final destination is always both unexpected and satisfying.

This book is almost universally described as a thriller. I felt this was a misnomer. The pace is too convoluted. Impending danger is not so much an element as a series of puzzles. Finally, without dropping and spoilers, the denouement is simply not in that emotional range. Perhaps other readers experienced the book differently.

[GS Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 kill, do ring false, but still, he manages to tie it all up in the end in a reasonably satisfactory manner.

The writing too is different and has a metre and a rhythm distinctly different from the American best sellers. A good change from the more simplistic styles. It seems more complex, darker, and especially...more delicate, more English. Most of the characters also speak in this way, searching for the right words, that perhaps is the author coming through in the story, Once the story moves to its denouement, though, all this fades away and you are gripped by wanting to know how it turns out.

There is also a remarkable reticence to use artificial "story movers". I kept expecting something unexpected to happen, but in the event, the development happened along solid credible lines (except where the secret service people come in).

Torn between giving it 3 or 4 stars. It is more a 3.5, I guess.

[Joe Stamber · Rating 4 out of 5]

While on holiday in Cyprus I discovered a "library" of books that people had left for others to enjoy. I dutifully left Ken Follett's Code To Zero there after finishing it and was delighted to find this fairly new Robert Goddard book. As usual, Goddard delivers an enjoyable and easily readable mystery that jumps between time zones and locations with spanners thrown into the works at regular intervals. The Irish troubles are woven brilliantly into the narrative as Goddard produces another excellent novel.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 not do what he was imprisoned for.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long Time Coming by Robert Goddard
4.5 stars

From 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 valuable paintings that later disappeared. Stephen, who finds his uncle by turns devious, charming, and brazen, then meets Rachel Banner, a beautiful American who may have inherited the Picassos—and is determined to see justice done for her family. But in this tale of revenge and redemption, justice is the ultimate illusion. Eldritch, Stephen, and the woman Stephen has fallen in love with soon find themselves fighting for their lives—against sinister forces still guarding a secret that must never be revealed.

My Thoughts:
A stolen trove of Picasso paintings and a bit of Irish history... that in a nutshell is what Robert Goddard's standalone novel [A Long Time Coming] is comprised of.

It's 1976. Eldrich Swan has been released from a Irish prison after 36 years imprisonment. He returns to England and is recruited to recover the Picasso's which is currently the property of an American tycoon and on exhibition at the Royal Academy of London. His nephew Stephen and the granddaughter of a Jewish diamond merchant... his former employer and owner of the art... help in the recovery. The paintings had been stolen from a vault of a London art dealer in the early days of World War II.

Like most of Goddard's novels, there is yet another story at the heart of this one also. It's the dawn of World War II and the neutrality of Ireland featuring some real-life characters. Eamon de Valera...a hero of the Easter Uprising of 1916... is Tsoiseach of the Irish Republic having served as early President of the Irish Free State. It's June , 1940 and Malcolm MacDonald of the British Legation is in Dublin to try and persuade Eamon de Valera and Ireland to join the war effort. Also in Dublin is the fictional Eldrich Swan searching for a master forger named Desmond Quilligan.

Goddard takes the reader back-and-forth from 1940 Dublin to 1976... and then to Belgium where the matter of the stolen art is finally resolved. It was another truly fascinating Robert Goddard adventur

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read Robert Goddard books off and on, for the best part of 40 years I think. He tells a good tale, his research is always good and his plotting is thorough. His work is possibly a little pedestrian by modern day standards but this, as most of his others, is a very enjoyable read. It was published before the widespread use of internet and mobile phone so it feels dated, but nonetheless kept me fully engaged throughout.
A long lost uncle thought to be dead, returns after nearly 40 years. Where has he been? Answering that question takes us to Antwerp, Dublin and London in the early years of world war 2 and in more recent times. The plot involves the IRA, diamonds and Picassos - fake or otherwise. There is a healthy dose of murders and (mis)adventure.
Very enjoyable.

[Susan Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery, well written.

[Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very slow to start but well worth persevering

[M.J. Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

A good read but though it was well-written and well-plotted, with intrigue and suspense, it just did not resonate enough with me and was too easy to put down.

[Chris Godwaldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tough it finishes with an all-too clean finish, the book is an unexpected and delightful journey! Thoroughly enjoyed and a perfect vacation read.

[Paul Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Love this authors plots and characters

[Okidoki · Rating 4 out of 5]

För glömda synders skull, 2009. ISBN: 9186048058
Det var tio år sedan en thriller av Robert Goddard översattes till svenska. Så den här är verkligen välkommen. Goddard är, som jag, intresserad av arkitektur och historia, här tar han oss till Antwerpen och Dublin, 1976 och 1940. En spännande historia är det, mer mysig än hemsk.

[Bryan Higgs · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 what was going to happen (or had happened) at any time. The protagonist in this one is an admirable character, albeit perhaps being strung along rather too easily. The characters in general are well presented and described, as are the various geographical places (Antwerp, Belgium and Dublin, Ireland, plus London and Paignton, Devon). Goddard always sucks me into his books very quickly and very effectively, and holds my attention for the entire time; that was particularly true of this one.

One skill that Goddard has is a way of writing prose that is distinctive and erudite without being pretentious. The only criticism I would have, at least in this book, is that even his non-native English speaking characters use English that would be extremely rare in those of us for whom the language is native. They all seem to speak flawless, idiomatic, and very well-constructed English.

Here's an example of his prose, chosen somewhat randomly from this book (page 103, in my paperback edition), for those of you who have yet to experience a Robert Goddard book:

"The Red Lion was still quiet at noon, the lunchtime crush at least half an hour away. The pub was close enough to Ryder Street for me to imagine Eldritch had been a frequent customer during his seven weeks of gallery-minding back in 1940. The cramped interior didn't look as if it had changed in a hundred years, let alone thirty-six. Catching my reflection in a mirror, which was difficult to avoid given how many of them there were, I seemed to see Eldritch's younger face, hair slicked, mouth curled, gazing ironically back at me.

Then the old man with the stoop and the furrowed skin and the antique suit that Eldritch had become walked in behind me. And only the irony remained, a ghost in his wary gaze."