The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth

November 7, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: book review, Frederick Forsyth, International bestseller, Thriller 

The Day of the Jackal is a novel about whose main character is the Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the JackalJackal, a highly feared and infamous terrorist at the time when this novel was written. The plot of the book is a (fictional) account of an attempt by this terrorist to assassinate president de Gaulle. By a twist of fate, the French authorities learn of this plot. Claude Lebel, their best detective, is assigned the task of finding The Jackal.

Day Of The Jackal is at times a brutal book, unsparing in its detailing of government-directed torture, of casual murder, of the mass of luckless shadow people with their missing limbs. There is little humor, and no James Bond-ish glamor. It’s a book that forever changed the genre, from Fleming-ish humorous spy tales to real-life, no frills tough thrillers. It was a book that firmly established Frederick Forsyth as one of the world’s biggest thriller writers.

The Day of the Jackal is very well written and very exciting classic in its genre. The intense style and suspense that sets Forsyth apart as a writer and master of the thriller genre is visible already here in this early book. Day of the Jackal is not just Frederick Forsyth’s best book; it’s the best book in it’s genre. An extremely worthwhile read! It is, quite simply, as good as it gets in thrillers!

And, yes, the movie with the same name is based on this book!

You can use this link to order the DVD The Day of the Jackal from amazon.com.

Links to books by Frederick Forsyth at amazon US, amazon CAN, and amazon UK.

Tags: , , ,