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Nero Wolfe #3
The Rubber Band
What do a Wild West lynching and a respected English nobleman have in common? On the surface, absolutely nothing. But when a young woman hires his services, it becomes Nero Wolfe’s job to look deeper and find the connection. A forty-year-old pact, a five-thousand-mile search, and a million-dollar murder are all linked to an international scandal that could rebound on the great detective and his partner, Archie, with fatal abruptness.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
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About the author
Rex Stout
833 books1,030 followersRex Todhunter Stout (1886–1975) was an American crime writer, best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the detective genius from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975 (A Family Affair).
The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century.
The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 317 reviews
March 10, 2019
Rex Stout in "The Rubber Band" gives the reader a misadventure in Nevada in 1895, which has repercussions in New York City forty years later.
A fast moving plot.
A fast moving plot.
December 18, 2017
3.5★
I started with high expectations for this book, as the first chapter was absolutely hilarious!
& the revelation of the chief villain genuinely surprised me, but it was just too talky talky. Of course this is always a characteristic of this series, since the morbidly obese Wolfe never leaves the house, but this time Archie doesn't move around much as Wolfe decides to have other minions do the leg work. & a tad too many characters.
Still an enjoyable romp.
I started with high expectations for this book, as the first chapter was absolutely hilarious!
Wolfe still paid no attention to me. As a matter of fact, I didn't expect him to, since he was busy taking exercise. He had recently got the impression he weighed too much- which was about the same as if the Atlantic Ocean had decided it was too wet...
& the revelation of the chief villain genuinely surprised me, but it was just too talky talky. Of course this is always a characteristic of this series, since the morbidly obese Wolfe never leaves the house, but this time Archie doesn't move around much as Wolfe decides to have other minions do the leg work. & a tad too many characters.
Still an enjoyable romp.
December 9, 2020
I took a break and decided to re-read my favorite detective, Nero Wolfe. You can expect that all books in this 40+ series will get five stars from me since the characters fascinate me. The author was not always particularly strong with his story lines, except for a few, but it is not the stories that started my obsession with Nero Wolfe, but instead, it is the interaction of the characters. The relationship and conversations between Wolfe and his right-hand man, Archie, are a joy to read since Stout had a wonderful way with words.
In this novelette, a young woman hires Wolfe to find five men who were friends of her deceased father who had entered into an oath to share money if they struck it rich in the gold fields of the western United States. It has been 25 years since the oath was signed and Wolfe has his work cut out for him. In the process, two of the men are murdered and it becomes incumbent on Wolfe to catch the killer without leaving the comfort of his home. A typical Wolfe story but as always, an interesting one. There is somewhat of a cult around these books and I am a part of it!
In this novelette, a young woman hires Wolfe to find five men who were friends of her deceased father who had entered into an oath to share money if they struck it rich in the gold fields of the western United States. It has been 25 years since the oath was signed and Wolfe has his work cut out for him. In the process, two of the men are murdered and it becomes incumbent on Wolfe to catch the killer without leaving the comfort of his home. A typical Wolfe story but as always, an interesting one. There is somewhat of a cult around these books and I am a part of it!
March 15, 2024
4 Stars. Not as great as the debut of Nero Wolfe and the follow-up, about snakes and leaguers, but #3 was most enjoyable. The title's a grabber. The term, rubber band, is used by Stout in three ways, only once as an elastic to keep a stack of mail together! But Wolfe does give some credit for resolving the case to Archie Goodwin for doing just that - bringing in the mail. Of course Archie is having his usual difficulties with his boss and telling all and sundry about it, and Wolfe continues to drink an ocean of beer. He even tries to convince the Marquis of Clivers, a British diplomat, that American beer is the best in the world. The story finds it origins four decades earlier when a group of young prospectors in Silver City, Nevada rescue a man named George Rowley from a lynch mob. For that life-saving event, Rowley pledges a significant reward after he gets his hands on the family fortune. Fast forward to 1936 and Wolfe is retained by a beautiful young woman, Clara Fox, to protect her from a charge of stealing $30K from her boss, and to find Rowley and get him to pay the debt he owed her father! If only to delve into Archie's colourful language, it's well worth a read. (Jun2020/Mar2024)
September 21, 2018
In only the loosest sense are the t Nero Wolfe books a series. Though they are numbered sequentially, that is more so for the time frame of each title's publication and the time era of the story. In every other way, these books can be read as stand-alones without missing anything critical to the enjoyment or understanding of the book in hand.
November 11, 2018
Among the firsts in this book, the third in the series:
Wolfe's exercise program.
Sgt. Stebbins tagging along with Inspector Cramer on a visit to Wolfe's brownstone.
I don't recall the use of pfui by Wolfe in the first two books. It appears in this book.
Cramer is still smoking a pipe at times and again refers to Archie as "sonny". Cramer hasn't jelled completely yet.
Wolfe's exercise program.
Sgt. Stebbins tagging along with Inspector Cramer on a visit to Wolfe's brownstone.
I don't recall the use of pfui by Wolfe in the first two books. It appears in this book.
Cramer is still smoking a pipe at times and again refers to Archie as "sonny". Cramer hasn't jelled completely yet.
March 21, 2013
Rex Stout combined the hard-boiled detective of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler with the intellectual master-detective of the Sherlock Holmes stories and came up with a most winning formula for his long series of Nero Wolfe books. While Wolfe cogitates without leaving his home, his legman Archie Goodwin handles the tough guy stuff, as well as the narration. The Wolfe books are extraordinarily entertaining, and THE RUBBER BAND is one of the best. It deals with the collection of a debt owed a disparate group of people from many years before and the murders that arise when that debt isn't paid. Stout so perfectly combines the elements most loved about the Holmes and the hard-boiled dick stories, and he creates such a richly familiar environment, that the scores of novels he wrote never grow boring or common. And his plotting is so intricate that one wonders how he was able to achieve such intricacy over and over again. But he does, and just about every Wolfe book is a wealth of entertainment.
July 18, 2018
I had ordered The League Of Frightened Men, #2 in Stout's series but they shipped me The Rubber Band instead and when the mistake was pointed out I was told to keep the book and they gave me a full refund. The book was in fair to poor shape, a paperback, but the words were legible and that's what matters most of all. If I can read it then it's a good book, all things considered.
I don't know if I read any of the Nero Wolfe novels as a kid. I was living in Brazil from the ages of 11½ to 13 and no school, not many kids to play with and I had a ton of time on my hands, not always spent wisely. But one thing I did was read. I read well above my age level; Steinbeck, Hemingway, Christie and more than my share of cheap so called dime novels. Westerns, adventure, crime (my mother was aghast when she found out how lurid some of those crime novels were) and some history. If I didn't read any of Stout's novels I should have and now I'm making up for lost time.
I had heard of Nero Wolfe but I think my first introduction was the A&E series in 2001-2002, staring Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin. There was an ensemble cast who played various characters in the series which confused me the first couple of episodes that I watched but it didn't take long for me to catch on. And I loved the series.
So when I decided to read some of the older detective novels Stout was an author high on my list and after reading Fer-de-Lance I thought I was spot on in that placement. I still think so after reading The Rubber Band.
This novel is intricate in the plot with various twists and turns. It has Mr. Wolfe wondering until the end but (not a spoiler, everyone knows this) he eventually reveals the culprit.
The interaction of Goodwin with his boss, Wolfe, is always witty. The goings on in Wolfe's house is interesting to say the least, with Goodwin, Fritz the chef and all around handy guy and (the name escapes me for the moment) the botanist. They all live together in the multi storied mansion and eat well. Wolfe himself drinks well and often, but never to the point of inebriation. How he does that I don't know. Just reading about how much beer he consumes at a sitting makes me have to get up and visit the bathroom! And Archie sticks to milk with an occasional shot of Bourbon. The man can't be all bad with his love of two of my favorite drinks.
This story has a damsel in distress who is quite the charmer, an adventure in a past time involving a future British peer who, as time would have it, is currently that peer. We have a scoundrel, and I'm not talking abut the bad guy! Of course there are the cops and the lawyers and the various minions who work as Wolfe's leg men.
And then, as with all of the TV episodes I watched as well as the two books I've finished (more to come I assure you) Wolfe draws the crowd together and reveals the culprit. It's a classic ploy and Stout was a master at it. The language is of the period and the genre and at times a phrase will make you think but so far I've been able to figure them all out.
If you like classic detective stories, the proverbial who done its, don't pass on Stout. Enjoy a glass of milk or a shot of Bourbon with Archie, quaff a beer with Wolfe, enjoy one of Fritz's great repasts. But whatever you do, read and relive this time gone by. You'll be glad you did.
I don't know if I read any of the Nero Wolfe novels as a kid. I was living in Brazil from the ages of 11½ to 13 and no school, not many kids to play with and I had a ton of time on my hands, not always spent wisely. But one thing I did was read. I read well above my age level; Steinbeck, Hemingway, Christie and more than my share of cheap so called dime novels. Westerns, adventure, crime (my mother was aghast when she found out how lurid some of those crime novels were) and some history. If I didn't read any of Stout's novels I should have and now I'm making up for lost time.
I had heard of Nero Wolfe but I think my first introduction was the A&E series in 2001-2002, staring Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin. There was an ensemble cast who played various characters in the series which confused me the first couple of episodes that I watched but it didn't take long for me to catch on. And I loved the series.
So when I decided to read some of the older detective novels Stout was an author high on my list and after reading Fer-de-Lance I thought I was spot on in that placement. I still think so after reading The Rubber Band.
This novel is intricate in the plot with various twists and turns. It has Mr. Wolfe wondering until the end but (not a spoiler, everyone knows this) he eventually reveals the culprit.
The interaction of Goodwin with his boss, Wolfe, is always witty. The goings on in Wolfe's house is interesting to say the least, with Goodwin, Fritz the chef and all around handy guy and (the name escapes me for the moment) the botanist. They all live together in the multi storied mansion and eat well. Wolfe himself drinks well and often, but never to the point of inebriation. How he does that I don't know. Just reading about how much beer he consumes at a sitting makes me have to get up and visit the bathroom! And Archie sticks to milk with an occasional shot of Bourbon. The man can't be all bad with his love of two of my favorite drinks.
This story has a damsel in distress who is quite the charmer, an adventure in a past time involving a future British peer who, as time would have it, is currently that peer. We have a scoundrel, and I'm not talking abut the bad guy! Of course there are the cops and the lawyers and the various minions who work as Wolfe's leg men.
And then, as with all of the TV episodes I watched as well as the two books I've finished (more to come I assure you) Wolfe draws the crowd together and reveals the culprit. It's a classic ploy and Stout was a master at it. The language is of the period and the genre and at times a phrase will make you think but so far I've been able to figure them all out.
If you like classic detective stories, the proverbial who done its, don't pass on Stout. Enjoy a glass of milk or a shot of Bourbon with Archie, quaff a beer with Wolfe, enjoy one of Fritz's great repasts. But whatever you do, read and relive this time gone by. You'll be glad you did.
November 1, 2017
Nero Wolfe novels are just plain fun and I should read more of them. I'm glad I read the first in the series first, as Stout introduced his characters there, but I think the rest of the them can be read in pretty much any order. At least that is the premise I'm going to operate under.
Only Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin are more than caricatures. I will probably always picture them as the actors who played them in the TV series. Wolfe commands a wide network of operators. Though mostly we know only their names, I suspect if I were to read more of these closer together, I would find that they have different strengths, and maybe even a bit of personality. The characters who present the mystery are, surprisingly, somewhat better seen than those operatives. We don't always know what Wolfe is thinking, and we don't always have all of the clues to solve the mystery ourselves. I didn't care. These are told in the first person by Archie, so we always only know what Archie knows. The dynamic between Wolfe and Archie is just too good to fret over what I'll be told later.
The cadence of the prose isn't what I think of as pure noir, but I can't help thinking of it as having a tinge of noir. And it's funny, which isn't really noir at all, of course. If looks could kill, she would at least be a very sick woman. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The genre could never get more than 4 stars from me. This hovers at the line between 3- and 4-stars.
Only Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin are more than caricatures. I will probably always picture them as the actors who played them in the TV series. Wolfe commands a wide network of operators. Though mostly we know only their names, I suspect if I were to read more of these closer together, I would find that they have different strengths, and maybe even a bit of personality. The characters who present the mystery are, surprisingly, somewhat better seen than those operatives. We don't always know what Wolfe is thinking, and we don't always have all of the clues to solve the mystery ourselves. I didn't care. These are told in the first person by Archie, so we always only know what Archie knows. The dynamic between Wolfe and Archie is just too good to fret over what I'll be told later.
The cadence of the prose isn't what I think of as pure noir, but I can't help thinking of it as having a tinge of noir. And it's funny, which isn't really noir at all, of course. If looks could kill, she would at least be a very sick woman. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The genre could never get more than 4 stars from me. This hovers at the line between 3- and 4-stars.
June 16, 2019
The Rubber Band is another intricately woven plot that introduces a couple of new characters.
As usual, the Wolfe household is in a state, but for a change our protagonists are already working on a case while another interesting case falls into their laps. From money stolen from a desk to a last minute rescue of a man heading to the noose to a beautiful new client whose charms work wonders… this case has it all. But what can a fifty year old lynching case have to do with the present? And will Nero be able to handle all the police interference?
This time Nero has more people he can get to do all the legwork for him. As such Archie is in the Brownstone for most parts and it makes for a different kind of entertainment. Archie and Nero’s relationship is the cause of half the humour in the books. I love their dynamics and their banter and as usual they are up to it again. Also, there’s a particular situation in this book where the police search Nero’s house, and without giving any spoilers, it was a brilliant moment on the book.
This is a slow burn sort of a book. It takes a while for the actual plot to take off, but there is plenty in the meantime to keep the reader engaged. The plot in this one is complex and there are quite a few red herrings left along the way for the readers. I almost missed out on the whodunit myself.
All in all, another entertaining book in a series that is yet to disappoint me.
As usual, the Wolfe household is in a state, but for a change our protagonists are already working on a case while another interesting case falls into their laps. From money stolen from a desk to a last minute rescue of a man heading to the noose to a beautiful new client whose charms work wonders… this case has it all. But what can a fifty year old lynching case have to do with the present? And will Nero be able to handle all the police interference?
This time Nero has more people he can get to do all the legwork for him. As such Archie is in the Brownstone for most parts and it makes for a different kind of entertainment. Archie and Nero’s relationship is the cause of half the humour in the books. I love their dynamics and their banter and as usual they are up to it again. Also, there’s a particular situation in this book where the police search Nero’s house, and without giving any spoilers, it was a brilliant moment on the book.
This is a slow burn sort of a book. It takes a while for the actual plot to take off, but there is plenty in the meantime to keep the reader engaged. The plot in this one is complex and there are quite a few red herrings left along the way for the readers. I almost missed out on the whodunit myself.
All in all, another entertaining book in a series that is yet to disappoint me.
September 7, 2012
Only the third of the Nero Wolfe novels, written in 1936, when all the male visitors to Wolfe's brownstone wore hats and overcoats, and the ritzier ones had canes to be left near the front door. A trunk call to Nebraska remarkably took only ten minutes to be put through by a series of long distance operators. Archie has not yet developed the intelligence he will display in later books (30 years later he and Wolfe will not have aged, although they will have changed a little), but his love-hate, passive-aggressive relationship with Wolfe is already on vivid display. The mystery is a good one, with all the usual Nero Wolfe aspects already in place, and not only did I not guess the murderer, I never even had him on my radar screen, despite the carefully placed clues. A wonderful treat.
March 20, 2023
It has been some time that I have picked up a Nero Wolfe book. I missed Nero and Archie. When I saw this one available from my library, I checked to see if I had marked it as Read. I was so happy to see that I had not.
My favorite line from the story:
“The avoidance of idiocy should be the primary and constant concern of every intelligent person.”
This was written in 1934. It should be still be truth today.
My favorite line from the story:
“The avoidance of idiocy should be the primary and constant concern of every intelligent person.”
This was written in 1934. It should be still be truth today.
January 31, 2021
One of the best books of the Nero Wolfe series, in my opinion. Clues, twists, strategies and character descriptions all are splendid.
April 14, 2024
Second Read:
This is not technicaly the second book, but it caught my eye because its one of the few that I don't have in the crime line edition. I searched high and low to see if I could buy one and took a flyer on one without a cover picture and the wrong publication date in the listing. It's a good condition copy though so I read that edition instead of the very old, and falling apart one I also have. This is also one of my favorites.
For being early in the Nero Wolfe body of work it is astoundingly well written. I've got favorite authors and it is often not hard to see their skill growth from early novels to later ones. Stout had been writing for magazines (not the pulps he was proud to say) and only turned to mysteries after a number of other successful novels. Dramas, often with the theme of rational man conflicted by passionate emotions. Flavors of this can be found in the Nero Wolfe books too. Nero is, of course, the most rational of men, and Archie similarly passionate.
The reason this book is one of my favorites is the presence of a woman in the New York brownstone home of Wolfe. A client but one that he is worried will be killed if she shows herself on the street. It starts well enough, with Nero establishing a routine that will both keep her out of public view, but also mostly out of his view. But soon enough that routine falls apart as the events of the mystery are unfolded until at the end the entire household is in an uproar. The end effect of this unease gives the reader a profound feeling of relief when the mystery is unfoled in classic Wolfe style and everyone knows they can go their own ways and the brownstone will return to long standing peaceful routines.
I started #4, The Red Box by mistake and when it referenced a Rubber Band case I realized I was reading them out of order. So I put that one down and picked up The Rubber Band instead.
Stout begins to hit the familiar rhythms of Nero Wolfe stories. Archie is made much smarter in this one than he was in book 2. In order to preserve the mystery exposure until Nero can make his final pronouncement Stout has Archie off doing other things while Nero learns something important. As cheesy as that sounds it works well because of the strenght of the characters and they unique flavor that each one of them bring to the story.
One of the conventions of all the stories is the unique voices Nero and Archie both have. With no other context hints I'll bet fans can pick out which person said what given exemplar lines of dialog. Nero is always pompus and erudite. Archie is always blunt and wry. The other characters also have their own voices too, but it's the strenght of the characterizations of Nero and Archie that makes these stories work.
Now... on to really read #4
This is not technicaly the second book, but it caught my eye because its one of the few that I don't have in the crime line edition. I searched high and low to see if I could buy one and took a flyer on one without a cover picture and the wrong publication date in the listing. It's a good condition copy though so I read that edition instead of the very old, and falling apart one I also have. This is also one of my favorites.
For being early in the Nero Wolfe body of work it is astoundingly well written. I've got favorite authors and it is often not hard to see their skill growth from early novels to later ones. Stout had been writing for magazines (not the pulps he was proud to say) and only turned to mysteries after a number of other successful novels. Dramas, often with the theme of rational man conflicted by passionate emotions. Flavors of this can be found in the Nero Wolfe books too. Nero is, of course, the most rational of men, and Archie similarly passionate.
The reason this book is one of my favorites is the presence of a woman in the New York brownstone home of Wolfe. A client but one that he is worried will be killed if she shows herself on the street. It starts well enough, with Nero establishing a routine that will both keep her out of public view, but also mostly out of his view. But soon enough that routine falls apart as the events of the mystery are unfolded until at the end the entire household is in an uproar. The end effect of this unease gives the reader a profound feeling of relief when the mystery is unfoled in classic Wolfe style and everyone knows they can go their own ways and the brownstone will return to long standing peaceful routines.
I started #4, The Red Box by mistake and when it referenced a Rubber Band case I realized I was reading them out of order. So I put that one down and picked up The Rubber Band instead.
Stout begins to hit the familiar rhythms of Nero Wolfe stories. Archie is made much smarter in this one than he was in book 2. In order to preserve the mystery exposure until Nero can make his final pronouncement Stout has Archie off doing other things while Nero learns something important. As cheesy as that sounds it works well because of the strenght of the characters and they unique flavor that each one of them bring to the story.
One of the conventions of all the stories is the unique voices Nero and Archie both have. With no other context hints I'll bet fans can pick out which person said what given exemplar lines of dialog. Nero is always pompus and erudite. Archie is always blunt and wry. The other characters also have their own voices too, but it's the strenght of the characterizations of Nero and Archie that makes these stories work.
Now... on to really read #4
November 5, 2018
Well, well. Book three, and by now I love the characters. I spare any readers who accidentally stumble over this my review the synopsis of the book, other people did a better job at describing than I could.
As in any good mystery, there is a nice twist and a fantastic solution to the case, but that's not the most charming part of this (and probably any other) Nero-Wolfe-novel. As I stated above, I love the characters. At first I had a hard time liking a guy who hardly ever leaves his seat, because I simply could not relate to him.
By now, I am very fond of his little quirks and often shake my head in wonder about how he manages to not only convince everybody to come to him, instead of coming to them, no, even has them all come at any time other than between nine and eleven a.m. and four and six p.m., when he attends to his orchids and will not be disturbed.
What I needed time to get into and approve of is the fact that his man Friday, Archie Goodwin, tells the story. At first I was irritated, because he is not the genius in the story and can only tell what he sees Nero Wolfe do, and how can Nero Wolfe even solve the cases when not he himself, but Archie talks to everybody outside the house?
But now this does not irk me at all, because I realised that Archie is constructed as an incredibly reliable man who retells all dialogues verbatim to his employer, so the latter can rely on and work with this information. And after all, his voice is much more entertaining than Wolfe's (or even some possible outside observer and story-teller) would probably be.
So, that's it. I will now turn to some other genre, as I do most times after finishing a book, but I will return to the nice New York City brownstone. I have to. How else will I be able to witness Nero Wolfe in action again? He will certainly not lift himself out of his seat and come to me. He never does that for anybody.
As in any good mystery, there is a nice twist and a fantastic solution to the case, but that's not the most charming part of this (and probably any other) Nero-Wolfe-novel. As I stated above, I love the characters. At first I had a hard time liking a guy who hardly ever leaves his seat, because I simply could not relate to him.
By now, I am very fond of his little quirks and often shake my head in wonder about how he manages to not only convince everybody to come to him, instead of coming to them, no, even has them all come at any time other than between nine and eleven a.m. and four and six p.m., when he attends to his orchids and will not be disturbed.
What I needed time to get into and approve of is the fact that his man Friday, Archie Goodwin, tells the story. At first I was irritated, because he is not the genius in the story and can only tell what he sees Nero Wolfe do, and how can Nero Wolfe even solve the cases when not he himself, but Archie talks to everybody outside the house?
But now this does not irk me at all, because I realised that Archie is constructed as an incredibly reliable man who retells all dialogues verbatim to his employer, so the latter can rely on and work with this information. And after all, his voice is much more entertaining than Wolfe's (or even some possible outside observer and story-teller) would probably be.
So, that's it. I will now turn to some other genre, as I do most times after finishing a book, but I will return to the nice New York City brownstone. I have to. How else will I be able to witness Nero Wolfe in action again? He will certainly not lift himself out of his seat and come to me. He never does that for anybody.
June 19, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid 20th Century American Crime
BOOK 187 (of 250)
Hook=2 stars: This book takes a while to get started.
Pace=2: Builds slowly towards some good twists and surprises.
Plot=4: This is a convoluted plot and I had to take notes along the way (Not a spoiler: you'll learn early there must be an imposter or two) but Wolfe unravels it all beautifully without pulling any tricks.
People=3: Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and Fritz the cook make up a household. That's certainly unusual, as detectives in this period were usually lone wolf types. And, as this is just the 3rd of 72 Stout/Wolfe outings, Stout is still introducing us (I assume, as I've only read one) to particular nuances of the characters, and, yes, this is an odd set, memorable certainly. But I think Stout goes easy on character development: after all, he wrote
Place=2: This book could have been set in any big city.
Summary: This belongs definitely in the "why have I never read even one of these outings" category. My rating is 2.6, and I look forward to more Nero adventures.
BOOK 187 (of 250)
Hook=2 stars: This book takes a while to get started.
Pace=2: Builds slowly towards some good twists and surprises.
Plot=4: This is a convoluted plot and I had to take notes along the way (Not a spoiler: you'll learn early there must be an imposter or two) but Wolfe unravels it all beautifully without pulling any tricks.
People=3: Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and Fritz the cook make up a household. That's certainly unusual, as detectives in this period were usually lone wolf types. And, as this is just the 3rd of 72 Stout/Wolfe outings, Stout is still introducing us (I assume, as I've only read one) to particular nuances of the characters, and, yes, this is an odd set, memorable certainly. But I think Stout goes easy on character development: after all, he wrote
Place=2: This book could have been set in any big city.
Summary: This belongs definitely in the "why have I never read even one of these outings" category. My rating is 2.6, and I look forward to more Nero adventures.
July 12, 2015
Can a story be entertaining if there are no car chases, no blood and gore, no raw sex? Yes, if you enjoy working your little grey cells. The Rubber Band is early in the Nero Wolfe cannon and it is fun to see the characters as they begin to take shape, particularly the supporting the cast. However the suspects and the clients are beautifully described, as always, and the reader has no trouble at all picturing Clara Fox in Archie's PJs. All the clues are there and when Wolfe gathers everyone in the office to reveal the killer, we should know whodunnit. In this case, I was almost right but "almost" wouldn't hold up in court or in Archie's eyes.
June 10, 2019
Third book in the Nero Wolfe series and the first to feel tight and polished to me. Would have rated it 5 stars, except that I was able to recognize the culprit in the first quarter. On to the fourth...
January 9, 2018
I will give a full review at a later date.
July 28, 2012
“His narrative and dialogue could not be improved, and he passes the supreme test of being re-readable. I don't know how many times I have reread the Nero Wolfe stories, but plenty. I know exactly what is coming and how it is all going to end, but it doesn't matter. That's writing.”
PG Wodehouse
For those who have never read a Nero Wolfe mystery, there is great pleasure in store. These idiosyncratic detective stories, set in mid-century Manhattan have style, plotting, atmosphere and panache. But they also set the bar for character, with not one, but two excellent detectives, as different Oscar and Felix. I have read that they were based on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (what detective fiction can truly avoid that claim?) but if so, they are more different than similar. Rex Stout gives these two detectives their own universe, with its peculiar rules and conventions that readers of these mysteries come to adore.
In The Rubber Band, these rules are already in full effect. Nero Wolfe’s misogynistic, lazy-persnickety Manhattan brownstone lifestyle becomes so ingrained in your head once you have read these books that you continue to cling to them even when the only rule it consistently adheres to is that its rules are always being broken. This is chronologically the third NW mystery, and most of the elements are already in place – the great man summoning clients no matter how prestigious rather than heaving his bulk out into the world, be they kings of industry or foreign diplomats; making them cool their heels while the genius finishes in his plant rooms once they arrive; the over arching importance of meals, their names thrown off as if I should just know what Chacken Brazilia is; the insulting of people, especially those who come from the 9-5 world of commerce:
“Pleasant afternoon, Archie?”
“No, putrid. I went around to Perry’s office (Company President, Seaboard Products Corporation).”
“Indeed. A Man of action must expect such vexations. Tell me about it.”
“Well, Perry left here just after I came down, but about eight minutes after that he phoned and instructed me to come galloping. Having the best interests of my employer in mind I went.”
“Notwithstanding the physical law that the contents can be no larger than the container.” Fritz arrived with two bottles of beer, Wolfe opened and poured one, and drank. “Go on.”
It is the charm of these books that there are so many aspects to enjoy. It is not just the fencing between the two of them, each quite adept and remarkable, fully developed characters opposing one another, which is enjoyable. And it is not just the use of words like “vexations” in such a biased and determinedly frank statement reflective of Wolfe’s character. But there are several gems of conversational beauty like that last one per book, and they raise the level of simple detective fiction -- not to literature, I would hate to brand it so as it might spoil some of the immense pleasure to be had here -- but to something with a few intellectual teeth anyway.
And of course, one of the cardinal rules: no women in the house, and only at meals if it can’t possibly be avoided. And yet, in this the third novel, a woman is invited to stay despite the fact that the police are searching for her, and she seems to charm the stuffing out of Wolfe despite the fact that her character is undeveloped, seemingly unremarkable. At least in some of the later stories, the women Wolfe chooses to put up with have real character, or Stout is at pains to establish them as interesting in some way – perceptive, charismatic, deadly or compelling. Here we are asked to believe that Wolfe takes her in because Archie likes her looks – and the number of females for whom that holds true in the entire oeuvre would strain the decimal places on your average calculator into a punctuated sentence at least.
Despite the contradictions, The Rubber Band delivers its expected payload of goods, though Wolfe’s lips go in and out (his signature genius-at-work posture) quite a bit more often than in later episodes, where they might be expected to do so once or maybe twice at the outside, and only as a precursor to seminal moments in the story. Then follows the agonizing few hours where Wolfe is directing his other operatives to discover the lynch pin fact without Archie, who is as in the dark as we are, and chafing at it. The plot is like the tangle of wires behind your stereo, and trying to follow just one would take an act of genius – which is what we are there to witness in the denouement, the great unraveling, with the police and principle suspects in attendance, divided among the red and yellow armchairs and the lesser seats according to Archie’s assessment of their merits, according to the sacrosanct (Ha!) conventions of olfe’s world, usually culminating not in an arrest but a climax of sorts; a confession or shooting or escape attempt. Christie likes this method of wrapping up her stories as well, but Poirot was never as exasperating and brilliant as Wolfe despite his mustachios and delicacy and Belgian deference.
This was my third read over the span of twenty plus years, and I suspect I will read it again, just in the way I visit streams where I have already fished too much, knowing where the trout hang out, and what they want to eat before I even begin. But still I enjoy it, even though the mystery has worn off; there is always something new that pops out, and it is as comfortable as spending time again with old friends. I have not outgrown them as we all do some of our favorite books. That is a testament in itself. And who could resist fishing again in a place with such a big fish?
PG Wodehouse
For those who have never read a Nero Wolfe mystery, there is great pleasure in store. These idiosyncratic detective stories, set in mid-century Manhattan have style, plotting, atmosphere and panache. But they also set the bar for character, with not one, but two excellent detectives, as different Oscar and Felix. I have read that they were based on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (what detective fiction can truly avoid that claim?) but if so, they are more different than similar. Rex Stout gives these two detectives their own universe, with its peculiar rules and conventions that readers of these mysteries come to adore.
In The Rubber Band, these rules are already in full effect. Nero Wolfe’s misogynistic, lazy-persnickety Manhattan brownstone lifestyle becomes so ingrained in your head once you have read these books that you continue to cling to them even when the only rule it consistently adheres to is that its rules are always being broken. This is chronologically the third NW mystery, and most of the elements are already in place – the great man summoning clients no matter how prestigious rather than heaving his bulk out into the world, be they kings of industry or foreign diplomats; making them cool their heels while the genius finishes in his plant rooms once they arrive; the over arching importance of meals, their names thrown off as if I should just know what Chacken Brazilia is; the insulting of people, especially those who come from the 9-5 world of commerce:
“Pleasant afternoon, Archie?”
“No, putrid. I went around to Perry’s office (Company President, Seaboard Products Corporation).”
“Indeed. A Man of action must expect such vexations. Tell me about it.”
“Well, Perry left here just after I came down, but about eight minutes after that he phoned and instructed me to come galloping. Having the best interests of my employer in mind I went.”
“Notwithstanding the physical law that the contents can be no larger than the container.” Fritz arrived with two bottles of beer, Wolfe opened and poured one, and drank. “Go on.”
It is the charm of these books that there are so many aspects to enjoy. It is not just the fencing between the two of them, each quite adept and remarkable, fully developed characters opposing one another, which is enjoyable. And it is not just the use of words like “vexations” in such a biased and determinedly frank statement reflective of Wolfe’s character. But there are several gems of conversational beauty like that last one per book, and they raise the level of simple detective fiction -- not to literature, I would hate to brand it so as it might spoil some of the immense pleasure to be had here -- but to something with a few intellectual teeth anyway.
And of course, one of the cardinal rules: no women in the house, and only at meals if it can’t possibly be avoided. And yet, in this the third novel, a woman is invited to stay despite the fact that the police are searching for her, and she seems to charm the stuffing out of Wolfe despite the fact that her character is undeveloped, seemingly unremarkable. At least in some of the later stories, the women Wolfe chooses to put up with have real character, or Stout is at pains to establish them as interesting in some way – perceptive, charismatic, deadly or compelling. Here we are asked to believe that Wolfe takes her in because Archie likes her looks – and the number of females for whom that holds true in the entire oeuvre would strain the decimal places on your average calculator into a punctuated sentence at least.
Despite the contradictions, The Rubber Band delivers its expected payload of goods, though Wolfe’s lips go in and out (his signature genius-at-work posture) quite a bit more often than in later episodes, where they might be expected to do so once or maybe twice at the outside, and only as a precursor to seminal moments in the story. Then follows the agonizing few hours where Wolfe is directing his other operatives to discover the lynch pin fact without Archie, who is as in the dark as we are, and chafing at it. The plot is like the tangle of wires behind your stereo, and trying to follow just one would take an act of genius – which is what we are there to witness in the denouement, the great unraveling, with the police and principle suspects in attendance, divided among the red and yellow armchairs and the lesser seats according to Archie’s assessment of their merits, according to the sacrosanct (Ha!) conventions of olfe’s world, usually culminating not in an arrest but a climax of sorts; a confession or shooting or escape attempt. Christie likes this method of wrapping up her stories as well, but Poirot was never as exasperating and brilliant as Wolfe despite his mustachios and delicacy and Belgian deference.
This was my third read over the span of twenty plus years, and I suspect I will read it again, just in the way I visit streams where I have already fished too much, knowing where the trout hang out, and what they want to eat before I even begin. But still I enjoy it, even though the mystery has worn off; there is always something new that pops out, and it is as comfortable as spending time again with old friends. I have not outgrown them as we all do some of our favorite books. That is a testament in itself. And who could resist fishing again in a place with such a big fish?
January 6, 2022
A classic detective story. I can't say anything new about this book that hasn't been said before. Did I like it? Not much. Was it worth reading? Yes. The only aspect of this book that irritated me: it is a very male story. All the male characters are interesting and diverse. The female characters all play second fiddle, and they all are rather stereotypical and flat. Other than that: not bad.
March 14, 2022
Another fun Nero Wolfe book. I don’t think it is quite as developed as later ones but the plot and intrigue between characters was fascinating and engrossing as layer upon layer of mystery is unraveled by our favorite overweight detective.
August 11, 2017
While this Nero Wolfe installment is not one of my favorites, it still is a strong mystery. Grand Larceny, an English Nobleman, a 50 year old debt, and Murder has the detective spinning and a female staying in Wolfe's house.
Archie's wit and cynicism is fully on display and expect a few laughs, especially when the police execute a Search Warrant on Nero Wolfe's home .
Everything does eventually tie together and the culprit was a surprise to me.
Archie's wit and cynicism is fully on display and expect a few laughs, especially when the police execute a Search Warrant on Nero Wolfe's home .
Everything does eventually tie together and the culprit was a surprise to me.
August 23, 2022
Ah, Nero Wolfe
As usual, I love the witty repartee. Rex Stout is just a master--at creating characters, noir, setting, writing in general, and taking the reader into another world.
As usual, I love the witty repartee. Rex Stout is just a master--at creating characters, noir, setting, writing in general, and taking the reader into another world.
March 23, 2023
I gialli di Nero Wolfe sono leggeri, anzi leggerissimi.
Al bando tormenti interiori, scene d'azione rocambolesche o rompicapo cervellotici: chi si approccia a questa serie lo fa per godersi una lettura brillante e spensierata e per lasciarsi deliziare dalle eccentricità del mastodontico detective e dallo spirito sornione del suo assistente Archie Goodwin.
Questo terzo volume non fa eccezione e vi ritroviamo tutti gli elementi più tipici della saga, da quelli accattivanti di cui ho già parlato fino ai limiti evidenti, perché è ovvio che sull'altare della leggerezza qualcosa deve venir sacrificato: di solito è la trama gialla, che anche in questo caso è piuttosto deboluccia; è più interessante il contorno della portata principale (e trattandosi di Nero Wolfe la metafora culinaria ci sta a pennello).
C'è poco altro da dire anche perché ormai arrivata al quarto romanzo ho capito che sono tutti prodotti in serie, con una formula vincente da cui si distaccano raramente. Non il mio tipo di mystery preferito (di solito apprezzo enigmi più sostanziosi con dei bei colpi di scena) ma indubbiamente piacevole.
Al bando tormenti interiori, scene d'azione rocambolesche o rompicapo cervellotici: chi si approccia a questa serie lo fa per godersi una lettura brillante e spensierata e per lasciarsi deliziare dalle eccentricità del mastodontico detective e dallo spirito sornione del suo assistente Archie Goodwin.
Questo terzo volume non fa eccezione e vi ritroviamo tutti gli elementi più tipici della saga, da quelli accattivanti di cui ho già parlato fino ai limiti evidenti, perché è ovvio che sull'altare della leggerezza qualcosa deve venir sacrificato: di solito è la trama gialla, che anche in questo caso è piuttosto deboluccia; è più interessante il contorno della portata principale (e trattandosi di Nero Wolfe la metafora culinaria ci sta a pennello).
C'è poco altro da dire anche perché ormai arrivata al quarto romanzo ho capito che sono tutti prodotti in serie, con una formula vincente da cui si distaccano raramente. Non il mio tipo di mystery preferito (di solito apprezzo enigmi più sostanziosi con dei bei colpi di scena) ma indubbiamente piacevole.
January 20, 2022
This novel is full of characters and for a short novel, it is really stuffed with them. Archie, by the way, feels similarly as he is running around the house opening doors and shuttling people to and fro. I think the plot is okay overall, but that Stout did let it get away from him a bit. The beginning is a bit slow – and my word, the story that the character Clara Fox tells is really long-winded. By the end, though, the whole thing is sewn up nicely and satisfactorily. I think there ends up being three dead bodies in total, which seems like a lot for a three-day time span of the novel. Unfortunately, the majority of the detection and investigation occurs off-screen and even beyond the scope of the narrator.
If you are a fan of vintage “Golden Era” mysteries AND you have a strong sense of humor, I can recommend this novel (and other Wolfe novels). If you are utterly humorless, well, do not even bother, you will hate them.
If you are a fan of vintage “Golden Era” mysteries AND you have a strong sense of humor, I can recommend this novel (and other Wolfe novels). If you are utterly humorless, well, do not even bother, you will hate them.
November 17, 2018
Anybody who likes Nero Wolfe stories is sure to like this one. Rex Stout essentially hit the ground running when he started writing Nero Wolfe, and this one, only the third book in a long series, is totally up to speed. Some of the long-familiar character traits aren't quite set in stone yet. Inspector Cramer actually lights a cigar. Wolfe is ever so slightly susceptible to his client's feminine charms. Is the roadster parked at the curb outside or in a parking garage? We get conflicting reports. But none of that matters. It's a neat story with some of our favorite detectives. From 1936.
October 20, 2021
This is one of my favorite Nero Wolfe novels. It’s a tale of two apparently unconnected mysteries—one a theft and the other a murder that meld into one of the most fascinating cases of Wolfe’s career dating back decades to an attempted lynching in a western mining town and a debt both real and of honor that was incurred in saving the life of the man to be hanged. But how to connect that long ago act of bravery and good will to the theft and the murder? That’s what makes Rex Stout’s mysteries so wonderful—watching clues be dug up and manipulated but never quite knowing how that incredible brain of Nero Wolfe’s is putting all the pieces together.
Of course, the best part of all of this is Stout gives a clue right up front that would be very easy to miss. If you catch that clue and hold onto it throughout all the twists and turns to come, you will be able to proudly claim that you knew the murderer from the beginning of the novel—but that doesn’t mean you can prove it. That’s up to Nero Wolfe. But then, it’s the Wolfe show at the end of each book that makes these novels so unique, isn’t it?
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
Of course, the best part of all of this is Stout gives a clue right up front that would be very easy to miss. If you catch that clue and hold onto it throughout all the twists and turns to come, you will be able to proudly claim that you knew the murderer from the beginning of the novel—but that doesn’t mean you can prove it. That’s up to Nero Wolfe. But then, it’s the Wolfe show at the end of each book that makes these novels so unique, isn’t it?
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
April 17, 2019
One of my favorite fan theories is that Nero Wolfe is the son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler having had some sort of rendezvous in Montenegro in the late part of the 19th century. Of all the Wolfe stories, The Rubber Band seems most like an homage to Holmes. For starters the author tells us that Wolfe has a picture of Sherlock Holmes in his office. Secondly, the story about a long ago pact between people that intersect again a generation later has parallels to A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four.
This is the earliest story I can remember where a detective is solving two cases simultaneously only to learn that both cases are linked together. Did Stout come up with this or did he borrow this from someone else? I can't think of any Holmes story like that off hand. Now if Stout invented the idea does that mean that Raymond Chandler borrowed it for his book Farewell, My Lovely?
Rex Stout wrote these stories for more than 40 years and the variance in quality is to be expected, but I have come to agree with those who praise the creation of Archie Goodwin. Although he is unlike anyone I can remember from earlier fiction there are pieces of him in so many characters that come later. But unlike a lot of those that come later he is funny without being dark. When he realizes in this story that an Englishman is romancing his would-be girlfriend he quips that it brings out the spirit of 1776 in him rather than start a fight. It's all easy come easy go. Conan Doyle has Dr. Watson in and out of Sherlock's life what with getting married and romancing women. Archie isn't going anywhere. He has his life's work needling Nero Wolfe and bringing the bad guys to justice. Maybe it's not the most realistic portrayal of such a man, but a consistent one for the sake of the stories.
This 3rd entry in the series is the first one that lands around 200 pages where most of the following stories would more or less be. The earlier two books were longer but the extra plot made them no more satisfying. Because I read them out of order the first time without keeping track I missed some of the stories and read others multiple times. My brother and I would buy them and swap them with each other and discuss milestones. When he read the first story that had Wolfe leaving the Brownstone we talked about that detail for something like 30 minutes. What I am saying is that for those readers who get into this series it will be a lifetime of pleasure.
This is the earliest story I can remember where a detective is solving two cases simultaneously only to learn that both cases are linked together. Did Stout come up with this or did he borrow this from someone else? I can't think of any Holmes story like that off hand. Now if Stout invented the idea does that mean that Raymond Chandler borrowed it for his book Farewell, My Lovely?
Rex Stout wrote these stories for more than 40 years and the variance in quality is to be expected, but I have come to agree with those who praise the creation of Archie Goodwin. Although he is unlike anyone I can remember from earlier fiction there are pieces of him in so many characters that come later. But unlike a lot of those that come later he is funny without being dark. When he realizes in this story that an Englishman is romancing his would-be girlfriend he quips that it brings out the spirit of 1776 in him rather than start a fight. It's all easy come easy go. Conan Doyle has Dr. Watson in and out of Sherlock's life what with getting married and romancing women. Archie isn't going anywhere. He has his life's work needling Nero Wolfe and bringing the bad guys to justice. Maybe it's not the most realistic portrayal of such a man, but a consistent one for the sake of the stories.
This 3rd entry in the series is the first one that lands around 200 pages where most of the following stories would more or less be. The earlier two books were longer but the extra plot made them no more satisfying. Because I read them out of order the first time without keeping track I missed some of the stories and read others multiple times. My brother and I would buy them and swap them with each other and discuss milestones. When he read the first story that had Wolfe leaving the Brownstone we talked about that detail for something like 30 minutes. What I am saying is that for those readers who get into this series it will be a lifetime of pleasure.
July 10, 2020
The Rubber Band (1936) (Nero Wolfe #3) by Rex Stout. It is important to recall that this book was written in 1936. The “War To End All Wars” was just little more than a decade over. 40 years before this book there were gold and silver rushes going on out west, laws weren’t very well written or adhered to out there, and destruction of property outweighed manslaughter as a more punishable offense.
Come 1936 and a young woman, Clara Fox, is accused of stealing $30,000 from the company she works for. The president of the company, and a man she has been seen in the company of around New York city, knows she is innocent. The man who “lost” the money while it was in his safekeeping, and who had been thwarted in his attempts to woo the delightful Miss Fox, wants to prosecute, and right now.
Miss Fox and several other interested parties come to Wolfe with the story of a pact made by a small group of men, the Rubber Band of the title, some many years before. They helped a friend escape from a murder charge by setting fire to the place he was being held and securing him a fast horse. In return, the man signed papers saying he would give a great portion of what he was going to inherit for their good turn toward him.
The guy flees, the others go their own ways and years pass. Miss Fox’s father, now a captain in the American military and fighting the Germans in WWI, manages to meet the escaped lad. Seems he is now a British general who again flees as quickly as possible. Now Miss Fox, along with a pair of the original signees of the agreement and the daughter of a third, have come to Wolfe seeking help with the situation. They don’t have the original papers that disappeared with the sixth member of the Rubber Band. But they have a limited amount of faith in him.
This is quite a puzzler. How will Wolfe and Archie get the “inheritance” owed to these people from a person who obviously has no desire to give out a penny, or even so much as a farthing. Will they find the culprit who took the 30 grand from the company and clear Miss Fox’s name?
Of course they will. But how?
An interesting read that harkens back to a Sherlock Holmes story in some matters but does in no way rely on it. The path that is followed is a winding one, truths are achingly discovered, and the so;id truth is finally revealed. A pretty good read that gets better once you get through the complicated setup.
Come 1936 and a young woman, Clara Fox, is accused of stealing $30,000 from the company she works for. The president of the company, and a man she has been seen in the company of around New York city, knows she is innocent. The man who “lost” the money while it was in his safekeeping, and who had been thwarted in his attempts to woo the delightful Miss Fox, wants to prosecute, and right now.
Miss Fox and several other interested parties come to Wolfe with the story of a pact made by a small group of men, the Rubber Band of the title, some many years before. They helped a friend escape from a murder charge by setting fire to the place he was being held and securing him a fast horse. In return, the man signed papers saying he would give a great portion of what he was going to inherit for their good turn toward him.
The guy flees, the others go their own ways and years pass. Miss Fox’s father, now a captain in the American military and fighting the Germans in WWI, manages to meet the escaped lad. Seems he is now a British general who again flees as quickly as possible. Now Miss Fox, along with a pair of the original signees of the agreement and the daughter of a third, have come to Wolfe seeking help with the situation. They don’t have the original papers that disappeared with the sixth member of the Rubber Band. But they have a limited amount of faith in him.
This is quite a puzzler. How will Wolfe and Archie get the “inheritance” owed to these people from a person who obviously has no desire to give out a penny, or even so much as a farthing. Will they find the culprit who took the 30 grand from the company and clear Miss Fox’s name?
Of course they will. But how?
An interesting read that harkens back to a Sherlock Holmes story in some matters but does in no way rely on it. The path that is followed is a winding one, truths are achingly discovered, and the so;id truth is finally revealed. A pretty good read that gets better once you get through the complicated setup.
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