2 comments about The Shepherd And Other Christmas Stories: The Gift Of The Magi, The Cricket On The Hearth, Yes, Virginia There Is A Santa Claus, Hoodoo Mcgiggin And Christmas Cake Recipe.

1. In Canada people start calling the CBC in early December to ask when they will broadcast the story, "The Shepherd" read on the radio by the late Alan Maitland. I suspect that much of Canada was quiet the last half hour when they just played it on Radio One.
   It is a tense & beautiful spirit/ghost story about a young RAF pilot lost over the North Sea on Xmas Eve.
   I highly recommend it for its expert narration, as an event for the whole family to listen to, ages 10 & up, & as just a darn good story.
   
   The rest of the stories, each w/a bit of irony or a bittersweet taste, are well done, too.



2. While living in the Bay Area of California we were lucky enough to have a radio station that rebroadcast Canada's CBC radio station. "The Shepherd" read by Alan Maitland was a special on Christmas Eve for a number of years and we made sure to tune in each year. Living now in an area we cannot receive the broadcast we have bought the disk and now have our own tradition playing it for ourselves and friends on Christmas Eve. Makes a wonderful gift and stocking stuffer. Recommended highly.

5 comments about The Fourth Protocol.

1. I've read all of Frederick Forsyth's novels, most of them more than once, and this is far and away the best he's ever done.
   The plot is very plausible, remember it was written during the Cold War confrontation between Thatcher and Reagan on the one hand, and the Soviet Union on the other.
   The smuggling a nuclear device into the UK with the intention of exploding it near a nuclear arms base makes for a very intricate series of events.
   The false-flag recruitment, and the subsequent chase, from London to South Africa, and back to London, with the professional "Shadowers" team, is gripping.
   The car and motorbike chase for the Soviet spy throughout England, all of it hingeing on a traffic jam, is one of the best I've ever read, even better than most scenes in movies.
   Most of all, Forsyth's ability to bring all the threads of his novel together at the end, is unparalleled.
   Thank you, Mr. Forsyth !



2. The year is 1987. The place, London. Someone in the British Defense Ministry is funneling top secret military information to the Soviet Union. John Preston, a British intelligence agent of considerable skill, is handed the rather daunting task of finding out who is doing it and why.
   
   Meanwhile, in Moscow, a diabolical plot is being hatched to bring Communist rule to the British Isles using the most nefarious of tactics.
   
   Frederick Forsyth masterfully interweaves these two storylines using a narrative style that is detailed to the nth degree. The Fourth Protocal is highly suspenseful and filled with unexpected plot twists. Moreover, Forsyth dares to employ the unusual and somewhat risky technique of using a real life historical figure as one of the main characters....in this case the notorious double agent Kim Philby.
   
   The Fourth Protocol is an extremely engaging, well crafted and meticulously researched cold war thriller that does not disappoint. It ranks right up there among the genre's finest.



3. This is really good. I am not much of a reader of thrillers, and the last one I remember really, really enjoying was Day of the Jackal, which I read about 30 years ago, or whenever it was new. This book was a tremendous cause celebre at the time and caused the word "jackal" meaning a professional political assassin to enter the popular language.
   
   I read Forsyth's next couple of books, and they were OK, but not exceptional. And then I read no more Forsyth until I picked this up in the Desoto County Public Library and was hardly able to put in down for the whole of the weekend.
   
   There are lots of writers of spy thrillers, but I think what makes Forsyth exceptional is the detail he goes into to describe how you might do something, like maybe disabling a burglar alarm, or famously (in Day of the Jackal), how to get a false British passport. This book is meticulously researched in terms of various criminal techniques, physical locations, structures of intelligence services, and even contains clear instructions on how to build your own small nuclear weapon. (Please do not try this at home; it may be injurious to your health.) I'm not sure how true all of this stuff is, but it seems as plausible as hell to me, and fact and fiction are so cleverly blended that you really can't tell where one starts and the other stops.
   
   What strikes me now, reading in 2005, is how much new technologies like cell phones and Internet communications have changed everything. I really doubt that spies still have to have secret radios hidden in the attic, or that their signals are triangulated by vast monitoring stations, so to some extent the story is already dated.
   
   But the threads of the story are wonderfully told and spun together to reach a lip-biting climax.
   
   I highly recommend this book. It would be ideal for airport reading and to pass the time on an intercontinental flight, but don't try it for bedtime reading, or you will be up all night.
   
   My rating scale:
   
   ***** A not-to-be missed classic of the genre.
   
   **** Excellent work, the artist at his best.
   
   *** A good buy if you like the work of this artist.
   
   ** Some good bits, but not worth going out of your way for.
   
   * Awful, not recommended at all.



4. I read this one for thrills in the summer of 1985 when I was in chemsitry grad school. I found alot of things clever in that book. The part about the former Soviets smuggling in an atomic bomb piece by piece into a British port and then letting a man with a MS in Physics put it together and blow up an American air base in England to get the US nuclear weapons out of Europe was also nifty. The national news now speculates that terrorists would simply load an atom bomb onto a shipping container, put it on an ocean liner and blow it up in a major port like New York.
   Back then I was also into shortwave radio and had read an article in POPULAR COMMUNICATIONS about Cuban pirate numbers stations and the possible use of what they called a "one time pad" to decipher the coded number messsages really intrigued me. I had even logged a few pirates like that myself. I could hear some strange generator motor sound in the background! I even figured out how to count from one to nine in Spanish for awhile! But in thie book, Forsythe explained that the Soviets had sent compressed recorded messages in little chirp sounds coming from Radio Moscow on the top of the hour, The agent suppsedly recorded the message on a special tape recorder that played back the message at a much slower rate that the spy could understand. I had even wrote info for a resume back then on the back of some legal pad paper with those five number groups on them that my ex-wife had taken to a resume service for me; and she claimed she had met some older man in a fancy business suit in the lobby of the resume service when she came to pick it up! Was she messing with my head or was this for real?
   I know from Shotwave that the EC had wanted a nuclear free Europe as well.They did not like those Cruise and Pershing II missiles there, either.



5. A spy thriller set in the Philby, Burgess and Maclean era of MI5.
   
   Here, a thief happens to discover secret documents outlining a plot to get a very hard left pro-Soviet government elected in the United Kingdom.
   
   With Philby involved, not just by your usual democracy, either, of course, so, fun and games for an MI5 agent who has been involved in investigating this far left sort of thing.
   
   The title of the novel refers to a nuclear treaty.

5 comments about Day of the Jackal.

1. The Day of the Jackal, by Frederic Forsyth
   
   This fast-paced 1971 novel is based in part on the actual events that occurred in 1960s France. The revolt in 1954 Algeria created troubles that brought Charles De Gaulle to power in 1958. The French army put an end to the revolt in Algeria, but the expenses resulted in a peace settlement and an independent Algeria. France lost one of its oldest and closest colonies. Elements in France and Algeria blamed De Gaulle for this political decision. They formed the Secret Army Organization (OAS), and decided to remove De Gaulle from power. Chapter One tells about the 1962 assassination attempt. The French Secret Services soon put an end to the OAS. This book imagines another plot by the OAS to assassinate De Gaulle, and story develops this idea to its logical conclusion.
   
   Since all the supporters of the OAS were known to the French Secret Services they decided to find a foreigner who was unknown and could travel freely in France to do the job. The only way to keep this plan secret is to let only a few know of the plans. This hired assassin will not be cheap. The Englishman explains why a professional is superior to an amateur. June and July 1963 saw a huge amount of armed robberies in France. Any Belgian can buy a pistol or rifle at any sports or gun shop. Brussels had a long tradition of forging official documents. The Jackal sought a sniper's location on the sixth floor near the plaza where De Gaulle would visit on August 25, the anniversary of the Liberation of Paris in 1944. A fire escape would allow an escape. Preparations for his disguises continued. We learn that industrialists and bankers would put up the cash to pay for the assassination. The book tells what a mercury-filled bullet would do: explode on contact.
   
   The French Secret Service captured and questioned a guard for the OAS; Victor talked. Colonel Rolland figured out the plot and warned his superiors. De Gaulle orders no publicity; the search for the Jackal would be kept secret. They will use the best detective in Paris, Charles Lebel. Lebel knows that slow, precise, methodical investigation solves crimes. The OAS has planted a spy close to a high-level Minister who learns about the plans and sends a warning to her contact. But the OAS high-command cannot recall the operation. The Jackal receives this warning but decided to continue the operation. The police continues the search but the Jackal seems to be forewarned and escapes their traps. The French police appear to be closing in on their target. The Jackal knows all the tricks to disappear in a Paris where the police searched high and low. Organized crime was also looking for this individual, but neither had success. Lebel figures out that August 25 is a major holiday. President De Gaulle will appear in public places during the day. That is when the Jackal will strike and then make his getaway. Detective Lebel goes around questioning the gendarmes on crowd control. One tells of letting an old one-legged man pass. Level know this is his man, and they race to the top floor. Lebel gets to personally say goodbye to the Jackal. [Would this detective be on the job unarmed?]
   
   This is an interesting story in itself. It has eerie parallels to the events of November 22, 1963 in Dallas. A hired assassin will always use a rifle to he can escape while the police are trying to figure out where the shot came from. This story glides over the implausibilities. What if the gendarme on crowd control refused to let the old one-legged veteran pass?



2. This was unfortunate for Freddie Forsyth, because he was never able to match it. But then, neither was anyone else. Set in the aftermath of the Algerian crisis in the early 1960s in which an entire Foreign Legion paratroop regiment mutinied and formed the OAS (Secret Army Organisation), there was an attempt on the life of French President Charles de Gaulle and France trembled on the edge of civil war, the story is meticulously put together and excitingly told, with a bit of repetition of language (Mr. Forsyth seems to like trains; several times he described the demolition of someone's expectations or his person as if hit by a train). The Jackal, hired by the OAS to assassinate De Gaulle, is a cold-blooded killer who's in it purely for the money, yet curiously you find yourself rooting just a little for him. And you KNOW that Charles de Gaulle died in his bed in Colombey Les Deux Églises in 1969, so the Jackal can't possibly succeed, yet the book keeps you reading right to the end - and the O. Henry-type twist that has become somewhat of a Forsyth trademark. By the way, most of the French politicians mentioned were real people in De Gaulle's government.
   
   All in all, a brilliantly-conceived and -presented thriller. I have yet to find a better one. (For what it's worth, Fred Zinneman's film of the novel, with Edward Fox as the Jackal, is also excellent. Avoid like the plague the appalling US remake starring Bruce Willis).



3. After many failed attempts to assassinate Charles de Gaulle by the local French militant organization, an outside professional (the Jackal) is hired. The way in which Forsyth puts together a story, it has us even rooting for the assassins.
   
   Forsyth's observant mind is at full force: with detailed detective work and the assassin's planning stages. Wonderful visualization and knowledge of the French culture and architecture. My only gripe is the French dialect slows down the reading pace. This is a complete and well thought out novel.
   
   Wish you well
   Scott
   



4. I usually don't describe books as something "I couldn't put down" but this is an exception. "The Day of The Jackal" is a page-turning thriller from start to finish.
   Frederick Forsyth puts his keen newsman's eye and pen to describing the intracacies and frustrations of police work. The author builds the French assassination plot/worldwide manhunt into a crescendo before making one final U-turn that leaves you knowing there was more to the story.
   I could write a book about the ending itself but I'll resist doing that here so as not to spoil things for those who haven't read the book.
   I'm tempted to look for answers in "The Odessa File" (Forsyth's other famous novel) since Odessa (a post-World War II Nazi SS diaspora society) is mentioned in "Jackal." Yet the Detective Lebel in me suspects that most of the answers are tucked inside the taut sentences of "The Day of the Jackal."



5. Mythological assassin vs detective.
   
   
   Mythological in the sense that he has a fancy name tying in to the history surrounding that particular assassin.
   
   In this case, some perhaps not so nice people want a French leader removed, and haven't managed it themselves, so they bring in an outside expert.
   
   On the other side is a detective trying to track him down.
   
   An excellent example of tense spy thriller writing of the time, by one of its foremost proponents.
   
   
   
   4.5 out of 5

No comments about The Day of the Jackal.

No comments about Icon 5 disc.

5 comments about The Phantom of Manhattan.

1. The Phantom of Manhattan
   
   When one is finished reading Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, it takes a moment to bring your mind and your spirit back into the real world and realize that Erik is just a character in the mind of Leroux. So when running across Fredrick Forsyth's The Phantom of Manhattan, one is overjoyed to find that Mr. Forsyth has found a way to allow Erik to live again and have another chance at love with Christine.
   
   I found this account a bit short and fast to really develop a bond with the characters in the story. But having developed a bond with them in Leroux's story, it was not difficult to pick up on what I already enjoyed.
   
   This story is filled with its own interpretation of the romance and mystery of the former, and Erik is given a second chance at finding love in an unexpected way. It was as stated, short and to the point without many twists and turns.
   
   I am not sorry to have this book in my collection, being the Phantom fan that I am. I would read it again after a time, but it did not hold me as spell bound as Gaston's story or even Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation. But I would recommend it to any Phantom fan because it does bring Erik out of his former tragic life into a more powerful one, and in the end a life of greater peace. After all I for one wanted that for him.



2. A real switch for Frederick Forsyth. A logical, entertaining sequel to "Phantom of the Opera".



3. I am shocked that a professional author with many credits to his name could goof this badly. The story stinks for the most part and could have been so much more with a little more thinking.
   
   Then there is the manner in which it is written. The story is told by many voices and they all repeat what has been said before from a different but not very interesting angle, with little new information so it gets very B O R I N G.
   
   The end is unsatisfying for the most part. I can't believe the rumor that Andrew Lloyd Webber plans to do a sequel from this garbage--if so, good luck with that project, dude.



4. I am a die hard Phantom Phan. I have been for about 15 years now. I view every form of Phantom movies/plays/performances and literature I can get my hands on.
   
   My 1st experience with reading this was an ARC (advanced reading copy) a friend that worked at a bookstore scored for me. I was SO excited for a new POTO book endorced by Webber to come out!
   
   Blech! If you care AT ALL for the main characters, this is NOT the book for you.
   
   I actually enjoy the different variations on a theme, this is not variation of a theme, it's butchery of a theme.
   
   The "author" starts the book stating how horrible he thinks the original Leroux version is. If you dislike a book so passionately, WHY write about the characters??
   
   I just found out in the news today that ALW is going to work with Forsyth for his upcoming sequel to be out in 2009 / 2010. I'm heart broken. ALL excitement about seeing a sequel on stage has deflated out of me.



5. In this departure from his usual storytelling, Forsythe, who is a friend of Andrew Lloyd Webber, continues the story begun in the musical. I found the preface, in which Forsythe critiques the Leroux original and gives us the reasons why ALW abridged that story to create the plot of his play, to be very interesting. He points out some of the inconsistencies in the original, with his explanations as to their meaning. The main part of this story takes place in 1906. In this version of the Phantom, we find Madame Giry, on her deathbed, confessing her sins, including how she helped Erik to escape France to begin a new life in the United States. The storytelling shifts to Erik, who describes his escape from Paris, his arrival in the USA, and the making of his vast fortune. Forsythe interweaves actual events and personalities of the era into the plot, which is told by using the alternating viewpoints of the principles involved.
   
   While I found the premise of the story to be interesting, the overall plot feels rushed, several of the incidents and people could use some fleshing out, and the side plot involving Darius and Father Kilfoyle is distracting and unnecessary. It is a quick read. And while I would not consider this the worst book of the POTO genre, don't go out of your way to purchase this title, unless you need it to complete your "bucket" list.

5 comments about The Veteran.

1. I like this author's novels, but this collection of short stories was disappointing. I can see that the ending of each is supposed to be a shocking twist, but there's really not much of a payoff. The tough part is that the guy is a very good writer. By the middle of each story, you're really into it, and you're anticipating great things, but then it just kind of limps to the end. I suppose they're OK if you just want a quick diverting read, but there's not much more here.



2. A series of short stories, each is well written, exciting and with a twist. Since none is too long they can be read in a short time while travelling.



3. Forsyth is a master story teller and can spin a yarn cleverly which keeps you coming back for more. All five of these short stories are clever with the outcomes not necessarily predictable. In Whispering Wind Forsyth's knowledge of the Cheyenne and Souix tribes, and The Battle of the Little Big Horn impressive. His introduction of the "Everywhere Spirit" makes him a bit of a Mystic...br



4. Please read this book. I believe that you will go out and buy all Forsyth has written when you read this book.



5. Usually authors' careers follow predictable patterns of good patches and bad. One decade might bring greatness, another competence, another bare professionalism.
   
   Frederick Forsyth seems to encompass his entire bell curve in a single book. As an avid Forsyth fan, I declare that "The Veteran" contains the best piece of fiction I've read from Forsyth since "Day Of The Jackal," and also the motliest.
   
   To start with the best, "Heart Of The Matter" is even more of a gem for its sharp characterization and ample good humor, both not qualities I associate with Forsyth the cold chessmaster. Trumpington Gore is a down-on-his-luck actor who finds himself trumped out of a prize painting by a sleazy auctioneer. Lucky for him he's not the only victim, and a common-cause revenge plan is struck.
   
   Add some cyber-sleuthing, in-depth detail about the rare-art auction world, and a forger whose taste for the Old Masters is matched only by a thirst for Bordeaux, and you have a light-but-thrilling caper comedy worthy of the Blake Edwards spider-in-gossamer treatment.
   
   Nothing else is nearly as good as "Heart", a hard act for any author to follow. But "Whispering Wind", the novella in this collection, is just as different for Forsyth, and almost as bad as "Heart Of The Matter" is good. A sordid, revisionist take on Little Bighorn is unpleasant enough, but then the wooden hero goes on a time trip and seeks out his lost Cheyenne love on a tour bus. Forsyth doesn't have a clue what he wants to do from page to page, and it shows in a story that limps along from one coincidence to another. And it goes on and on and on...
   
   Between those two poles, you get three stories featuring last-minute Forsyth twists, the best being "The Miracle". It has the sharpest ending after "Art" and presents Forsyth as an artist at his hard and soft best, telling a tale about violence and hope during the battle for Siena in World War II. Something else, too: Is the twist ending here an acknowledgment by Forsyth of the games people play when they ply his trade? Perhaps I'm reading too much into it.
   
   "The Veteran" is a solid police procedural about the attempted prosecution of two yobbos guilty of a vicious beating. Not as clever as it portends, but Forsyth sets a compelling, gritty mood; making you feel some of the helplessness loved ones of crime victims must go through regularly.
   
   "The Citizen" is the other bad one in this bunch. Not as bad as "Whispering Wind" because its not as long, but so confusing as Forsyth plays way too many games with the reader, giving you nothing to hold onto, even false narration, a dirty trick. I was disappointed.
   
   But any book that has "Art Of The Matter" is worth recommending to Forsyth fans, and others too will enjoy it thoroughly. It's about as good a time as 70 pages can provide, and a perfect remedy for the summertime blues.

5 comments about Icon.

1. Give Jason Monk a dive mask and swim fins, and *** POOF! *** he's Dirk Pitt. Still, it's hard not to like this book. Not as powerful as Day of the Jackal, but still a lot of fun.



2. ...I had determined that it would be my last.
   
   Forsyth spends the first half of of a 500+ page novel just setting the reader up for the real plot of the novel. Unfortunately, the setup consists of a series of disjointed flashbacks interspersed with seemingly unrelated tales of what is going on in the present of the novel (1999-2000 in the old USSR, now Russia).
   
   Suddenly, once the flashbacks work their way up to the present time the real story starts and it is a great adventure story! Lots of action, intrigue and frustrated Nazis. Unfortunately the ending is just too neat - it ends the book with everything too well resolved.



3. "Icon" was published in 1996, but the story takes place in 1999. In other words, the story describes a fictitious near future, which allowed Frederick Forsyth to create three years of fictitious world history leading up to a fictitious crisis in Russian politics.
   
   In 1999 the presiding Russian President, modeled somewhat on Boris Yeltsin, dies of a heart attack. An interim president is appointed and presidential elections are scheduled for the end of the year. The leading candidate is Igor Komarov, an ultra-right-wing populist politician whose political program includes getting crime under control and improving living standards for the average Russian.
   
   In reality, Igor Komarov is insane, and intends to make himself dictator and abolish democracy in Russia. He also intends to exterminate Jews and Chechens and other minorities, revitalize the Russian military and try to restore the old Soviet Union by re-occupying the former Soviet satellite countries.
   
   In other words, Hitler II is about to become President of Russia.
   
   This is an interesting scenario, and perhaps not totally improbable. And it is upon this interesting scenario that Frederick Forsyth brews an equally interesting story about how the British and the Americans go about trying to sabotage Igor Komarov's election.
   
   Unfortunately, the whole story becomes rather contrived. A complex plan is concocted (the obvious simple solution is rejected for reasons that don't make sense) and then everything slowly but surely falls into place. One keeps reading not so much because you want to know if the good guys or the bad guys will win, but because you're curious about exactly how complicated a scenario Frederick Forsyth has dreamed up!
   
   The bad news is that the plot is so contrived that the story becomes unrealistic. We all know that in reality that very complicated plans never work as expected - something always goes wrong at some point, but not in "Icon".
   
   Another problem is that there is a cynical element in the story. An innocent person is sacrificed in a completely unnecessary way. Also, some of the flashbacks seem to be unnecessarily cynical.
   
   The best parts of this book are actually the very detailed and interesting pieces of background information. For example, the story of Aldrich Ames, who betrayed many CIA agents to the Russians, is fascinating. The political situation in Russia and daily life in Moscow in the mid- to late 1990's is also intriguing, as is the information about the KGB and the Kremlin, etc.
   
   I was torn between giving three or four stars to "Icon". What tipped the scales downward was the ridiculous "Council of Lincoln", in which Frederick Forsyth indulges in some major-league name-dropping. A secret club with Margaret Thatcher and George Bush Sr. among the members? Good grief!
   
   Still, "Icon" was a fairly interesting read, although perhaps not so much for the reasons that Frederick Forsyth intended.
   
   Rennie Petersen



4. I have always enjoyed a good USSR cold war espionage page turner and I consider this a good one. Forsyth is a great story teller and since the collapse of the USSR there has not been too many good spy cliff hangers for me to escape in. The intricate scheme of the plot has taken an ingenious mind to develop and the ending of the story was quite a surprise to what I thought it would be. The plot is very fast paced, believeable, scarry and factual in a fictional surrounding. A very good read.



5. Ultra-right Russian problem.
   
   
   US and British intelligence uncover details about what the likely future head of Russia is going to get up to if he gains power, and it isn't pretty, and perhaps a little bit prophetic.
   
   Not being to do anything about it through official channels, a group of influential westerners, including an ex-intelligence chief seen in a previous book try and work out what they can do about it, before it is too late - as this man is brutally removing all their sources at hand.
   
   They hit upon the man they think is right for the job, and convince him to get to work.
   
   Certainly not one of his best.

5 comments about Avenger.

1. Rather than the "normal" thriller plot, Forsyth reveals an event early, and then the rest of the book leads up to that event.
   
   While I agree with other reviewers that this is not "Jackal", the protaganist is a very methodical hero who is quite interesting.
   
   If you like "cat and Mouse" suspense novels, this is a book for you. All the events are credible, and the contemporary setting of the Bosnian war is very interesting.



2. A taut, clever tale brimming with backstory, 2003's "The Avenger" is a nice return to form for Frederick Forsyth, recalling if not attaining his "Day Of The Jackal" peak and showing there's life in the old boy yet.
   
   Attorney Calvin Dexter lives quietly and alone in Pennsylvania after the deaths of his daughter and his wife. Unknown to everyone else, he leads a second life as self-styled "Avenger" for hire, calling upon skills honed as a tunnel rat in Vietnam to help other grieving families achieve closure by bringing those who have hurt them to justice. He needs all those skills when he takes on ex-Serbian paramilitary boss Zoran Zilic, whose Bond-villain name comes with a coastal fortress Blofeld might call home.
   
   Reading Forsyth of late has been a disappointing experience for me; I picked up this book not knowing what to expect. "Icon" and "Fist Of God," his previous two novels, started strong only to peter out, hobbled by excessive exposition and plots that unfolded too neatly, drained of suspense. "Avenger" has a lot of exposition, and a neat wrap-up, yet it actually works very well this time, in part because Forsyth's writing has tightened and also because he has a real story to tell, one that resonates in the same way as his early classics.
   
   The plot is engaging like "Jackal" because you don't quite know what the protagonist is up to. In "Avenger," like "Jackal," you are given a lead character operating alone and in secret, the differences being that Calvin Dexter is a sympathetic figure and known to you by name. We spend a good deal of time seeing Dexter in the time before his current life began, including a terrific sequence explaining the whole Tunnel Rat idea. A bit more exposition than needed, perhaps, especially when we travel to Dunkirk in 1940, but that's Forsyth's style, something his fans enjoy and others should allow for.
   
   When the book begins to take off, however, it really soars, especially when the CIA gets involved. Zilic, see, is no ordinary exiled baddie, but one who has connections in the global underworld. And there's one man in particular who, as August turns into September of 2001, that CIA counter-terrorism boss Paul Devereaux would like Zilic's help in eliminating.
   
   Devereaux is a complicated figure. He'd be the villain in almost anyone else's book, no question, as he works to keep Zilic safe. But Forsyth is wrestling with the problem of how to fight evil in today's world, and poses the question to the reader in an interesting way. This gives "Avenger" a kind of twist that makes it special in the Forsyth canon. Does the end justify the means? Is it better to leave Zilic to prey on his dozens of innocent victims to stop someone else from preying on hundreds of thousands?
   
   Forsyth doesn't present any easy answers, just a tough story that keeps you reading. Dexter's confrontation with Zilic feels rushed, and it seems Forsyth could have done more with it than he did. Like the whole Avenger identity, you don't exactly buy it, but you enjoy it just the same. It's easy work enjoying Forsyth this time around, and hopefully there's more to come as Forsyth rediscovers the balance between giving history lessons and a ripping good yarn.



3. This is a good story but not up to Forsyth's previous efforts. I found it difficult to connect the sub-plots early on, but everything eventually came together and sped to an exciting conclusion. Some careless editing, however: "Pres." for "President" and "Dir." for "Director."



4. This appealed to me simply because I have an interest in 'vengeance' storylines as opposed to revenge, and although I enjoyed it it didn't move me in particular, not emotionally at least. It was a tremendous odyssey however, winging its way from such unusual places as Vietnam to Canada to Dubai and on to Surinam - among many others. Chief among those others was Bosnia, and I have to admit I welcomed this history lesson about a series of conflicts that I never truly understood as well as I do now, thanks to Fred! Likewise the guerrilla warfare in Vietnam, even the Second World war - how superbly the author entwines fact with fiction and fills us with, if we're honest, a lot of unexpected knowledge on the way through this somewhat long-drawn-out mission of justice. Thanks to fascinating background on the central character of Cal Dexter, in particular his years as a 'tunnel rat' against the tactically superior Viet Cong army, we know that he is more than capable of carrying out the seemingly impossible task of finding and returning the Serbian war-lord to the paymaster who recruited him for his role of avenger. The tale contains more than passing associations with Al Qaeda too, and their 9/11 strikes, leaving the reader to wonder how it might have been avoided, or how Usama Bin Laden could have been found just days later. Not classic Forsyth I guess, but a mightily interesting tale nonetheless, and worth reading more than once.



5. I just finished this book and I am totally satisfatied. It's like I had a great meal.

5 comments about The Afghan.

1. Being familiar with the region (both Pakistan and Afghanistan) with numerous visits, I found the first few chapters extremely enchanting and the descriptions authentic. But halfway in the novel (from the faked escape of Martin on his arrival in Begram), so many details were flawed, and really I wasn't able to focus on the story. The conclusion was so dull (precisely as expected) and uninteresting.



2. Excelent book, the classical style of fosyth whit a lot of storys at the same time and is magnificent read the book and see how all the stories converge. A lot of historical information that you believe that all is true.
   Excellent like always



3. anytime you read a book about terriorism, it is scary....there are so many ways......this book moves fast, but is just missing something, not sure what. not a bad read....



4. I enjoyed this book. It keeps you interested with the level of "insider" details. I intended to wait and read this at the beach later this summer, but once I started to read it, I got hooked. It is not Forsyth's best effort. (The Day of the Jackal was so great, I doubt he'll ever match it.) That said, for a great escape that does fit with today's reality, I recommend this book.



5. Generally, I like Forsyth's work a lot: The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File are among the greatest thrillers of all time. But I'm afraid I didn't care much for this one. The story isn't very tightly plotted, and so with the lack of character development that has always been a weakness of Forsyth's, the narrative drags along intolerably at times. There is too much coincidence for the plot to be credible, and the wealth of technical details overwhelms rather the educates the reader. Even with all of these weaknesses, this novel is serviceable enough as beach or airplane reading. Still, The Afghan is disappointing when you realize what brilliant books Forsyth turned out in the past.