From Publishers Weekly
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"The master is back," the promo goes, "with his best
thriller since The Day of the Jackal." A bold statement: while no
Jackal, this strong and memorable novel is his best in decades,
and as good as The Odessa File and The Dogs of War. It is the
story of vigilante Cal Dexter's pursuit of a Serbian warlord into
the jungles of the fictional Republic of San Martin. Dexter,
former Vietnam tunnel rat, now small-town attorney and
clandestine kipper of refugees from justice, is after Zoran
Zilic, a gangster who has escaped Serbia with a fortune but not
before savagely killing an American aid worker who happens to be
the grandson of a billionaire mining magnate. It's the magnate
who sets in motion the operation against Zilic, first through a
man known as "The Tracker," who locates him, then via the
Avenger, whose task is to bring Zilic to American justice. But
Zilic is protected in his South American jungle compound not only
by the best security money can buy but also by a top FBI man who
plans to use the warlord to help take out a dangerous terrorist
named Usama bin Laden; much of the narrative takes place within
weeks of 9/11, and is laced with irony. Forsyth fans won't be
surprised that the action, always exciting, is supported by
numerous briefings on matters geopolitical, historical and
scientific; with Jackal, Forsyth established the now traditional
formula of thrillers that educate as well as entertain. The
digressions are frequent early on but no page lacks interest and
the novel's second half, which focuses on the Avenger's attempted
snatch of Zilic, is pure gold. This will hit bestseller lists
high and hard and a sequel seems likely.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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*Starred Review* The Day of the Jackal, The Dogs of War,
The Odessa File--these Forsyth blockbusters helped define the
international conspiracy thriller. Forsyth's newest novel, his
fourteenth, could well return him to those lofty heights. Once
again, his crisp narration leads readers through labyrinths of
criminal and espionage plots and through land mines of warfare,
historical, contemporary, and threatening (the book stops on
September 10, 2001). One of the amazing features of Forsyth's
writing is the way he spotlights seemingly random, unconnected
events, usually involving armed conflict, and then gradually
weaves them all together into a seamless plot. This time out,
World War II, Vietnam, Bosnia, and Cambodia take turns commanding
center stage, held together by two protagonists: a middle-aged
lawyer and an aging business tycoon, who have both suffered
devastating losses. The tycoon's loss, that of his grandson on a
mission in Bosnia, becomes subsumed in the mission of
attorney Calvin Dexter, grieving her and former 'Nam tunnel
rat, whose mission in life is to bring justice to those who have
gotten away with murder. Perhaps the most fascinating part of the
book is the in-depth chronicle (based on real-life stories of
surviving veterans) of the excruciating, perilous work of the
tunnel rats in ferreting out the Vietcong in their vast
underground lairs. Forsyth's extraordinary care with detail, his
solid voice, and his exquisite pacing make this a totally
engrossing thriller. Connie Fletcher
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