READING FREDERICK FORSYTH

 

Mr. Forsyth

 

‘For most of those now nudging sixty the first memories were those of the second world war. Heroes were either the great sporting giants or the war heroes. The games we played were cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, goodies and baddies. By common consent we protested at being cast as the baddie because the goodies always won.’

- Frederick Forsyth writing the Foreword for Simon Murray’s Legionnaire

 

In just about all Frederick Forsyth book reviews, the depth of technical detail with which he writes draws mention. That is probably the reason why some readers can’t read more than the first few pages of his books. The sheer quantum of detail is somewhat over-whelming. It is also the reason why serious readers would seek out all his other books once they’ve started. 

 

Mr. Forsyth’s first novel - The Day of the Jackal is a firmly established classic. The idea for the book began when the author was a foreign correspondent covering De Gaulle in France. FF realised that the OAS couldn't assassinate the French President without the help of an outsider. When the book comes up in conversation, those who have read it will probably mention that the assassin in the novel exploited a loophole in the British passport application process to procure a false identity. To research the subject the author contacted a forger to establish how identity theft could be carried out in real life. He also met professional mercenaries.

 

‘I do not have the kind of imagination to spin a character out of the air,’ Forsyth admitted. ‘I met the Jackal, although he did not have the smoothness and style of my Jackal. He was simply a professional killer.’

 

The book - The Day of the Jackal gave Illich Ramiraz Sanchez the nickname of Carlos the Jackal by chance when it was found in the terrorists alleged possession; but the assassin of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1995) and the would-be assassin of the American President George W. Bush (2005) referred to is as a how-to guide by design.

 

Mr. Forsyth’s complicity in the failed attempt at overthrowing a sovereign African government in the 1970s became research material for a future novel (The Dogs of War), which was called a ‘textbook’ on the subject (How to Stage a Military Coup by Hebditch and Connor). Not to mention the parallels between the failed military coup of Equatorial Guinea of 2004 and this very novel which preceded the real-events by many years.

 

Let’s just say that the man sees a pattern, a real one. That’s why David Frost interviewed him on the Al-Jazeera to get his opinion on the assassination of Alexander Litvinanko - the dissenting and former Russian security officer.

 

What are his books about? Mercenaries, assassins and spies in times of political turmoil. They’re a behind-the-scenes look at espionage, war, assassination and politics.

 

A quick at his bibliography will tell you that the underlying topic or setting of the book was in the news a very short time ago. ‘The Devil’s Alternative’ was written in ’79 and pitted the Russians against the Americans in a high-stakes negotiation during the Cold War. ‘The Fist of God’ was written shortly after the first Gulf War (’90-’91), in which a British Special Forces officer is placed in Iraq to spy on Saddam Hussein’s growing arsenal. And ‘Avenger’ written in ‘05 was set in the aftermath of the Bosnian War (‘92-’95).

 

Around the time of writing this Mr. Forsyth was said to be researching for his new novel in Guinea-Bissau. Co-incidentally on the day after his arrival in the African state the Chief of the army and the President were killed. He told the BBC that his upcoming novel had nothing to do with killing generals or presidents but he might use the incident in his book nevertheless. He also assured the BBC that he too had nothing to do with the coup d'état.

 

The Forsyth Point-man

 

‘And then when a lot of men have died, perhaps you will have won your freedom.’

- Proximo, from the film ‘Gladiator’

 

Do the goodies always win? Most of the protagonists in his books have already lost a lot in life. They are all loners and few have love-interests. One is a hen-pecked husband, another lost his wife to suicide, yet another never realised that he never stood a real chance.

 

Q. What then, drives the heroes?

A. Competence, duty and pain.

 

The Forsyth point-man is a consummate professional, experienced in some or the other war (probably part of a special forces or mercenary unit), and an outsider or loner. A pleasantly calm (Sam McCready, Cal Dexter) or ice-cold (The Jackal, Cat Shannon) exterior hides a turbulent past or tremendous responsibility. The characters are a mix of man-hunters (The Day of the Jackal, Avenger) , saboteurs (The Fist of God, The Dogs of War) and saviors (The Devil’s Alternative, The Deciever) in their vocation but patient and meticulous planners in their methods.

 

The Women

 

The women in his books are dead. Or sex-spies. Or used by sex-spies. Or brilliant back-room power players.  Enough said.

 

At his best

 

Mr. Forsyth doesn't use the internet for research, doesn't trust it - he says. He probably calls up someone he knew back when he was a journalist and they put him in contact with the person who has the right expertise - forger, mercenary, sniper…

 

That’s why his works are dangerously close to reality.

 

Other than The Day of the Jackal and The Dogs of War as mentioned above, the following books in my opinion are the most fun reads.

 

1. Avenger

2. The Fist of God

3. The Deciever

4. The Devil’s Alternative

 

References and further reading

 

1. FF’s Official Site

2. FF on Wikipedia

3. Frederick Forsyth’s column in the Daily Express

4. Alan Ford’s Unofficial Frederick Forsyth page

5. FF books on mostlyfiction.com

6. FF books on fantasticfiction.com

7. FF on IMDB.com

8. 2006 Interview with Spiegel Online discussing ‘The Afghan’, terrorism & technology, a real-life soldier behind his character, torture and the assassination of the ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

9. ‘The Contract’ a short story by FF

10. FF ‘You ask the questions’ The Independent, 2003.

11. David Frost interview on Al-Jazeera

12. FF talking about his book - The Phantom of Manhattan on ‘Meet the Author’

13. An article - Dogged by Precision on FF at the time of release of ‘Avenger’.

14. FF interview - Forsyth prefers grey, by a Russian website at the time of release of ‘Icon’.

           (FF explains the difference between Tom Clancy and his own books)

15. FF interview with Books at Transworld

           (What are the top five books in your genre?)

16. Larry King interview transcript at the time of ‘The Phantom of Manhattan’

17. When Guinea-Bissau's President was assassinated, guess which novelist happened to be in the country?

18. Frederick Forsyth Links in the News

19. The Way of the Jackal

 

All Copyrights reserved by the Author/Publisher of the book.

The Day of the Jackal at A1Books

Avenger at

A1Books

The Dogs of War at A1Books