The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Afghan
Book Review: A Feeble Excuse for a Novel
Summary: 1 Stars
It appears that Mr. Forsyth's renowned skills as a novelist are a thing of the distant past. In this lamentably inadequate effort, a muddled history of recent events in the Middle East is offered as the sole compensation for a thin plot, no character development and no action. Childish prose and sloppy grammar complete this offense against good writing. Mr. Forsyth should be ashamed as should his publisher.Book Review: A Good Airport Thriller and Not Much More
Summary: 3 Stars
This is not Forsythe's best. In fact it may be his worst. But even then, it was a good read. I couldn't go to sleep. I simply had to finish it. Its almost like Forsythe wrote it hoping some Hollywood producer picks it up in the airport.
I agree with A. Ross that it is full of factual mistakes. And Cambodia does have a sea port in Kompong Som. That's just one factual error that didn't get past me. The Afghan impersonator was flat and devoid of humanizing characteristics. Similar to the Jackal in stoic character but Forsythe is the all-knowing narrator who can't get into the heart and emotion of a man on a suicide mission. As readers of the reality show generation, we need more bite and conflict from our heroes. Look at what they did with James Bond. Nice bit on Baluchistan. I don't get much coverage on the region. Made me look up everything about the place.
Its a good yarn and its very exciting. Makes good reading for an 18-hour lay-over. Definitely not worth building a book club on. I await the movie so I can be very disappointed about it.
Book Review: A Gripping Adventure
Summary: 4 Stars
Frederick Forsyth is known for his political thrillers and this one is sure to keep up his reputation. It tells a believable story of an Al Qaeda plot to outdo the 911 tragedy. In doing so, it manages to teach a bit of history, distinguish between fanatics and ordinary people, rely on story telling instead of technical fixes and be entertaining at the same time. It is also quite chilling.
When the west gets a hint of a plot to make 911 look trivial, they are hampered by not knowing exactly what the plot is. All that is known is that it exists. In order to combat it, though, more information is needed and that is a problem. Getting a highly placed agent into Al Qaeda is not a trivial or a safe undertaking. Even so, a plot is hatched and the perfect agent is found. Now the hard part begins. The plot must be unraveled, it must be communicated to Washington and London and it must be stopped. Any slipup will mean a terrible death not only for the agent but for the victims as well.
As the plot thickens, the tension does as well in the all-too-believable thriller. Its not his best but it is good.
Book Review: A Story of Contrasts
Summary: 4 Stars
The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth is more an original novel than just another spy thriller. There's not a lot of flash in this story, but there is a steadily rising tension as events come together faster and faster. The lives of the Afghan and the man who takes on his identity have interesting basic similarities, but the events that shape their patriotism are stark in their contrasts. The hero, Mike, is older. He's survived twenty five years of Special Services work and is converting an old barn into his dream house. The work is back breaking and the sudden offer of big bucks that will make everything faster and easier tempts him back for one last gig. Mike stoically wades through the preparations and you never get into his head because this type of man never lets anyone in, people pass through his life, but never really take up residence. The Afghan has been in prison for five years. He is little more than a shell of hate and destruction, but in his early life he was open to all and loved deeply. He tried to what was right in his world where everything was turned to ash. Between the contrasting stories of these men there is a lot of interesting history about various international Special Services and Afghanistan. When things go really wrong in the story, it's because something totally unforeseen happens, not the bureaucratic screw-ups and turf wars that are predictable and so prevalent in literary thrillers. At the story's end, though you still don't know much of what's going on in Mike's head, you feel he's the kind of man you would like to know. For Izmat, the Afghan village boy, there is only sorrow.Book Review: A great terror primer for the average CNN viewer...
Summary: 4 Stars
Think you have a fairly good handle on international terrorism from the news channels? Or that maybe because you pay attention to them with some regularity you've at least got the general idea of what's going on? So did I. But think again - this novel, constructed by a veteran ex-Reuters reporter who also happens to write entertaining prose, will teach you the proverbial thing or three about the reality of Al Queada's origins and influence, and the role of Saudi Arabia in making the entire terror nightmare possible. And also about the origin of the gitmo prisoners. Do you really know how they were selected for transport to our Cuban base? You will not feel sympathetic towards them after reading this book.
It does have a few flaws, but IMHO they pale compared to the priceless hard facts about international terrorism which FF injects into the narrative. The news channels really are silly. Glad I read it.