In General:  In my opinion, Forsyth is the top spy writer of our time.  His stories are interesting and informative without getting bogged down in the details (fascinating as they might be) of the technology (like, say, Clancy).  Forsyth’s characters are rich (for pulp fiction crap anyway) and his stories are tight and exciting.  He is really an expert at intermingling plot and character (with a lot of political intrigue) to create a fast-paced suspense novel.

The Day of the Jackal

Arrow Books/Random House, 1971

Suspense/Espionage

read:  May 2004

The book that started all the Jackal stuff, this is the quintessential international spy novel about a hit man who is hired to assassinate Charles de Gaulle.  The reviews call it electrifying" and I am not certain that I would say the same but it was a damn fine spy novel.

The Negotiator

Bantam, 1990

Suspense/Espionage

read: August 2004

The President of the USA and the Prime Minister of the USSR are set to sign a massive disarmament treaty and the military establishments of the two countries are (go figure) against such a thing.  Both countries want the monetary savings of reducing their military costs in order to address the problem of declining oil reserves.  Russia has lots (in Siberia) but lacks the infrastructure to get at them and the USA, well, the USA is just fucked anyway (as everyone knows).  Add to this the kidnapping of the President’s son while he is attending Oxford University in England and all the international troubles that this causes.  Then bring in internationally renowned (and retired) Quinn, to deal with the kidnappers.  After that, the novel gets really full of twists.

The best part of this book is the fact that the military establishments (or parts of them) of both the USA and the USSR make (and invoke) plans to take over sections of the oil rich Middle East.  The USSR plans to do this by quelling Moslem issues south of their borders that have been going on for ages (i.e. Afghanistan) and the USA team devises a daring plan to get rid of the Saudi royal family and establish a puppet regime in that country.  Other than the fact that the USA (in real life) attacked Iraq rather than Saudi Arabia, this book essentially predicts the Second Gulf War.  If television journalists and American political critics are to be believed, in fact, attacking Saudi Arabia would have made more sense than attacking Iraq anyway.

The Deceiver

Bantam, 1991

Suspense/Espionage                                    RECOMMENDED READING

read: May 2004

This was an excellent read.  More of a series of related short stories, this book deals with the review for dismissal of a high-ranking British Intelligence Officer, McCready.  By setting up the “novel” in this way, Forsyth gets to examine relatively short examples of McCready’s rather maverick (but successful) career and link all the stories together in a manner that provides “stakes” to the whole.  I would recommend this book for any person who has ever picked up a Forsyth book and then not read it: Particularly for those who enjoy a good spy novel.