Rating: 
Summary: Hard-hitting and brilliant
Review: Although the book is a little old-fashioned, which makes the it hard-going in places, it's well worth persevering. I particularly liked the dark, paranoid atmosphere and the single-mindedness of the gunman, which meant he was willing to live in a hole in the ground rather than give up. The way the enemies are unseen and the lack of any major characters except the narrator give the book a claustrophobic feel which is really memorable.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the search
Review: G Household's appreciation of the furtive nature of a quarry being hunted on his own ground is worthy of a naturalist. His zen like descriptions of creeping black shadows on a moonless night, the whisping pant of a disturbed badger and the near silent flight of an owl - all the while as deadly man hunted hidden man in a landscape long since built over. An utterly English work and a book to be read many times.
Rating:
Summary: A classic thriller
Review: Household's upper class hero is both offensive and attractive. He would snub you as a peasant, but we delight in his approach to the Nazis as he hunts the biggest game of all - Hitler and then is hunted by the Nazis. The final sequence in the pit is a delight. A superb book to be read and enjoyed. Both versions of the film are excellent as well.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but a little too antiseptic
Review: I felt this novel would have been more gripping had the author not made the main character so "perfect". From one scrape to another, from one type of surveillance to the next, this character just keeps on going. A little human error here and there might have made an otherwise average read into a dynamic one. While he did get caught by the German agent, the account of his "home away from home" in the mud where he has his tinned beef and whiskey was just a bit too unbelievable. Sorry to let anyone down.
Rating:
Summary: Cat and Mouse
Review: Rogue Male is essentially a game of Cat and Mouse with much political intrigue. It turns out that he is on a revengeful mission to assasinate the Great Man himself, a person we can presume is Hitler. The book from then on is based on complications which arise from this. The Character is pursued for the whole book until at the final, chilling climax when the roles are reversed. The book's weakness is that it does not clearly state why the chraracter acts the way he does. Some of his near-death experiences are extremely lucky as well.
Rating:
Summary: A Refreshingly Different Type of Book
Review: The book set in the early part of this century tells the story of a seasoned famous hunter. The culmination of his hunting passion has a unique nature, the only befitting king of animals - man. But it is not any ordinary man either, it is the most well-protected dictator in the world. But, since Providence has a special hand on the Rogue Male, the hunt is fouled and the hunter becomes the hunted. Now he must think ahead of his enemies to save himself. Through the conflicts of morality and the acts that he is forced to do, emerges a new man. I would heartily recommend this beautifully narrated book to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: 'Rogue Male' will take you there beyond taking you there.
Review: The Pre-Socratic philosophers of Ancient Greece were wonderfully keen to the notion and, dynamic of the 'nous', meaning simply: the mind. These men were the first to postulate on man's capacity to mentally 'travel' (from a stationary body of course) regardless of time and space, into the realm of past, present or future events - actualized or imagined, local or distant.One may embarrassingly state that these ancients were humbly defining the simple mode of 'imagination.' Well yes, they were. However, it was more than that. They were highlighting the power of the 'visceral' and its manifestations. Though all this sounds very basic to just about everyone - it is that kind of manifestation taken to the ultimate degree by Geoffrey Household's 1939 book, 'Rogue Male.' Without my referring to the main character and plot, this impactful short work of historical fiction is saturated with ethereal juice of excitement, melancholy and above all, that classical emotion we've all experienced at one time or another: heart-stopping fear. From beginning-to-end one will have nothing but pure empathy for the protagonist constantly facing a highly-dangerous environment. The 'nous', will surely be exercised by this exceptional thriller. Thank You, Pre-Socratics. And, if you are still alive and well, Thank You Mr. Household. May God keep you warm.
Rating:
Summary: There Is No Escape and There Shall Be No Hiding Place!
Review: The ultimate 'chase' novel. Gripping, absorbing and incredibly realistic. If you ever wanted to know what it would be like to be chased and hunted down like a wounded animal then this is the book you should read. In my opinion it is considerably better than John Buchan's thriller The 39 Steps. The nameless hero 'Rogue Male' is stripped of all identity and forced to flee from the clutches of Hitler's henchmen.He must leave the civilised world behind if he is to survive. His only ally being his finely-tuned subconscious,primitive instincts. This book is definitely one of the classics - one which I have re-read at least 6 times and one which I look forward to reading again in the future. Geoffrey Household's story is so believable that often you are left wondering - did this really happen? The story is extremely well plotted and, if you are reading this book for the first time,you just can't tell what is going to happen next or how the hero will escape from countless near death experiences... Some people may find the story a little slow by modern high-octane hollywood standards. For example, the hero is a reserved 'English Gentlemen' and the death count is minimal (but hence much more realistic). Others on the other hand think the 'old fashioned' style is one of the book's strengths. Basically, if you want something faster paced then try John Buchan or the modern SAS hero Andy McNab. But if you want the daddy of thrillers and one of the most absorbing and intensely rewarding reading experiences of your life then read this near-perfect thriller! Now!
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Summary: A Fugitive from State Terror
Review: This 1939 suspense thriller was his first big hit. It is written in the form of a journal or confession by an Englishman gentleman sportsman who hunted the most dangerous game. The writer was caught, tortured, then thrown off a cliff to make his death look like an accident. But he survived and escaped from a central European country. However, the agents of this country were put on his trail in England.
The unnamed hero withdraws funds from his account, then disappears into the country to hide in solitude. But in his escape an enemy agent dies, and the English police are on his trail too. The foreign agents can now use police reports to locate this fugitive. The story tells how he escapes, how he hides, and what happens after his is tracked down by a secret agent. The good guy escapes, assumes the identity of this secret agent, and lays a false trail out of the country.
This story records the thoughts of the hero. Dialogue is sparse. Parts of this story explain the operations of a secret agent. The author served as an Intelligence Officer in Rumania and the Middle East during WW II. His "Rogue Justice" is the sequel to this book. If you can accept the premise that his captors wouldn't finish him off in the beginning, the rest of the story follow. It reminds me of "The Great Impersonation" by E. Phillips Oppenheim, and a John Buchan story (hunted in the mountains).
Rating:
Summary: Household at his most magical
Review: This is Household's best book. But to truly understand it you have to rewind the decades back to a pre-War England when loyalty, honor, ones word as ones bond, all counted supreme. The protagonist is a Rogue Male, the self-sufficient loner who takes on the world and in this case Hitler and his secret service. It's the 39 Steps, it's Scouting for Boys, and you have to meet it on that level. While Dornford Yates is prissy, Household is visceral. Read the book and then see the Peter O'Toole made for TV movie. The escape from Germany, the tube murder, the flight to Dorset, the eventual showdown between the hero and smooth, smart, accomplished villain, will take your breath away. Read and re-read. Then read the follow-up he wrote 30 years later, Rogue Justice, which is truly a worthy sequel.
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