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Big Four
  
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Big Four (Paperback)

by Agatha Christie (Author) "I have met people who enjoy a channel crossing; men who can sit calmly in their deck-chairs and, on arrival, wait until the boat is..." (more)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)

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Book Description

The Queen of Mystery at her best. Hercule Poirot at his most cunning. A killer at his most deceptive. And Christie lovers at their most delighted.

Agatha Christie is one of our most satisfying novelists. (New York Times)

Agatha Christie's powers of invention...never fail her. (Times Literary Supplement) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Ingram

Hercule Poirot faces what may be his final case in The Big Four, a criminal conspiracy with diabolical designs that brings together the minds of formidable villains who become a terrifying force when united. Reissue. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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I have met people who enjoy a channel crossing; men who can sit calmly in their deck-chairs and, on arrival, wait until the boat is moored, then gather their belongings together without fuss and disembark. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

47 Reviews
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3.8 out of 5 stars (47 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars More parody than mystery, Mar 23 2004
This review is from: Big Four (Paperback)
"The Big Four" is an Agatha Christie mystery where Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings are on the trail of an evil organization whose ultimate goal is world domination through chaos.

Poirot and Hastings are bested by the Big Four at every turn, falling into traps where their death was supposed to be certain. Poirot becomes obsessed by this organization, much like another famous fictional detective and his sworn archnemesis. The ending seems to only have Poirot save face after being outsmarted by this group many times over.

In the end, this book was good not for its plot, which you can see in any espionage book or film, but for the seemingly eerie similarities in Christie's Big Four and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Moriarty. All it needed was Poirot playing the violin!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Christie - but different, Jan 22 2004
By Jeanne Tassotto (Trapped in the Midwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Big Four (Paperback)
This was the 5th Hercule Poirot mystery but is quite a bit different from MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES or many of the more famous later ones like MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS or DEATH ON THE NILE. The plot is more fantastic, involving a vast international conspiracy of supercriminals and has Poirot taking a much more active role than usual.

The story opens with Hastings planning to surprise Poirot by arriving from South America unannounced only to be surprised himself by Poirot's own imminient departure - for South America. A filthy stranger bursts into Poirot's apartment with a cryptic message which sets the two detectives on a long and twisted trail to save the world.

This book was published in 1927 not long after Christie's first marriage ended (and her mysterious disappearance). She was in deep financial trouble and took a suggestion to link together a series of previously published stories. (Information from Agatha Christie's autobiograhy).

This resulting book was immensely popular when it was first released but has not aged that well, in my opinion. If you are, like me, an advid Christie fan, you will probably find this book amusing but if you are new to Christie's work or are only familiar with the later books you probably would be better served with another choice.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Agatha Christie Falters, Aug 19 2003
By Ricky Hunter (New York City, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Big Four (Paperback)
Agatha Christie was out of her element in the spy thriller, The Big Four, in which the villains are fomenting nothing short of world wide conquest. And moving Hercule Poirot away from country houses was not a good idea as he traipses uncharateristically all over the continent. His famous gray cells seem a little slow as well as all the puzzles set before him will be readily apparent to the reader long before the famous detective figures it out. The saving grave of this otherwise dismal entry into the Poirot library is the return of Hastings and the development of the relationship between Poirot and himself. A mystery to be skipped except for the die hard Christie fans.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars James Bond-esque Sillyness
It certainly isn't often that I would criticize an Agatha Christie book, but then again, The Big Four isn't exactly your normal Christie book. Read more
Published on Jul 22 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Poirot vs. Fu Manchu
Nearly all the Detection Club rules are broken in this, Christie's worst book for some fifty years. Poirot faces a group of super-criminals: a fiendish Oriental (a la Fu Manchu),... Read more
Published on Jul 12 2003 by hacklehorn

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of my favorites
The Big Four represents one of Agatha Christie's early attempts at a "conspiracy" type mystery.Those familiar with some of her later efforts in this genre, such as "Passenger to... Read more
Published on Jun 16 2003 by Lisa Bahrami

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites
I have read many Christie mysteries and Hercule Poirot is one of my favorite fictional detectives. He really shines in this book. Read more
Published on Jan 6 2003 by Melissa Bourdius

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly moving
... Anyway, this book would entertain all readers because of its profinity and great danger. You have to like dangerous and surprising plots for this book. Read more
Published on May 8 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly moving
...this book would entertain all readers because of its profinity and great danger. You have to like dangerous and surprising plots for this book. Read more
Published on May 8 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Master Criminals Are Out To Rule The World!
Long before Hitler, Mussolini, or even Osama Bin Laden, Agatha Christie created a number of novels with the master-criminal-out-to-rule-the world theme. Read more
Published on April 27 2002 by Antoinette Klein

2.0 out of 5 stars Agatha Christies Pulp Novel... Still better than most!
Several other reviewers rehashed the plot points already, so I won't do that right now. What I will say is that this book sat on my shelf for a while before I got to it, and when... Read more
Published on Mar 6 2002 by DARBY KERN

5.0 out of 5 stars The Big Four
I have read a number of Agatha Christie thrillers before this one, but The Big Four is right up among the top of my list with the others. Read more
Published on Feb 27 2002 by Jimmy

4.0 out of 5 stars What is lacked is the hideous plot
As far as an adventure mystery thriller went, this book is a success. Hastings, part-time sidekick to Poirot, is back and the tale is narrated through his eyes. Read more
Published on Nov 28 2001 by snowy

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