It is 1963 and the Secret Army Organisation want to kill General de Gaulle, the President of France. They hire a professional assassin, a tall, cold Englishman who calls himself aA A the Jackal'. But in spite of his brilliant disguises and clever preparations, aA A the best detective in France', Claude Lebel is close on his heels. A blockbusting novel from one of the world's greatest thriller writers. This will enthral you from start to finish! Also a gripping film starring Edward Fox.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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"This was a book that broke the mould. It was the first of the heightened-detail thrillers filled with the sort of in-depth procedural and technical information that have become a large part of the fascination for readers of such books. It's a chase story, about the hunt for somebody, but what makes it so special is that it has a remarkable narrative engine to it, given that we know before we start the book that the assassin is going to fail in his bid to kill a real head of state. The proposition of how you get somebody to read a book from start to finish when they know the ending is handled magnificently. This also took the thriller somewhere else, in that it incorporated real people and events into the story to dramatic effect. Moreover, the assassin showed real genius in coming up with a way to achieve his objective, rather than relying on lazy Bond-style fantasy methods and gadgets. This used 'real-world ingenuity' to show how you could travel unobserved, obtain a false passport, hide a gun and so on. The movie might be good, but the novel is even better." -- Lee Child Daily Mail "In a class by itself. Unputdownable." Sunday Times "Mr Forsyth is clever. Very clever and immensely entertaining." Daily Telegraph "I was spellbound ... riveted by this chilling story." Guardian "The secret of the novel's success was not its prose style... but it's intimations of expertise." Independent
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
From the Publisher
The Jackal. A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his profession. A man unknown to any secret service in the world. An assassin with a contract to kill the world's most heavily guarded man.
One man with a rifle who can change the course of history. One man whose mission is so secretive not even his employers know his name. And as the minutes count down to the final act of execution, it seems that there is no power on earth that can stop the Jackal.
"The Day Of The Jackal makes such comparable books that The Manchurian Candidate and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold seems like Hardy Boy mysteries." -- The New York Times --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Bingzing
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book is brilliant. I chose to read it after we got it for homework in school. I read a few thrillers and mystery. But this book is on my list of top five books.
It's about an assassin whose codename is the Jackal. He is hired to kill the French president de Gaulle. You follow him when he brilliantly plans the murder. You see how he thinks, how he choose the perfect weapon, gets false passports etc. You end up liking him and whish him good luck, while you sometimes might want him to fail. How does Forsyth do that?
We meet many other characters through the reading, about fifty. Even if they are too many in a book of over 300 pages, it is not quite hard to follow the plot. Who are then the main characters? Well, the Jackal is one of course. The villain is the Jackal, but who is the hero? Is it Lebel, Rolland or Thomas? In a strange way, you find that the plot is the real main character. All things that happen in the book is just analyze of the attempt of murder on de Gaulle. Everything that happens is important and manipulates the ending of the story. This makes the story very complex and brilliant. You won't waste your time reading 150 pages with nothing happening. Every page is important.
Read it, or you'll regret it.
I will very soon see the both versions of the movie.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Matherson
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This remains Forsyth's best book, doubtless because it is the most subversive. Readers (at least Anglophone readers) end up actually willing the "Chacal" to succeed in his efforts to shoot de Gaulle, and as we follow the Englishman through Italy and France, there even seems to be a raison d'etre to the succession of ad hoc, cold-blooded murders he commits. While the work is pure fiction, the historic context (OAS right-wingers seething at de Gaulle's 1962 withdrawal from Algeria) is fact. For many years this book had the honor of being one of the few novels faithfully translated into film (the 1973 Edward Fox flick rivalled Maltese Falcon in its fidelity to the text) but all that changed with the botched 1998 Willis remake. Actually, the assassin character is so quintessentially English, and the subtext so wonderfully Europhobic, any attempt to translate the plot to a North American context was doomed.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is one of the author's better books. The story and the plot are great, so much so they have been used in any number of other books and movies. This is the original and the best. Sure there are a lot of people to keep track of but that does not take away from homing in on the main characters and keeping them straight. Overall the writing is good and the author spends a good deal of time on the main characters. This is worth the time to read.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Children's Book
I wanted a good copy of the book of the old film which I enjoyed so much. Unfortunately I didn't read the fine print on the ad. Read more
Published on Aug 31 2005 by Ashley Taylor
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not to shabby
through out this book from the very beginning your sucked into the aftermath of world war II in France. Read more
Published on Feb 13 2002 by Bozo the clown
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not to shabby
through out this book from the very beginning your sucked into the aftermath of world war II in France. Read more
Published on Feb 13 2002 by Bozo the clown
5.0 out of 5 stars
An everlasting classic!
This book was brilliant to me. I could get into the killers head as he tried to avoid the authorities. Read more
Published on Jan 30 2002 by "ggazlay"
5.0 out of 5 stars
THe BeST
a really good read. I have started loving spy novels just because of this one book. Forsyth is really good in shaping the personality of the character. I just loved it.
Published on Oct 15 2001 by Lonely_Soul
4.0 out of 5 stars
A thirty-year old classic that�s still a nail-biter today.
"The Day of the Jackal" is the novel that first gained Forsyth fame as a thriller writer. The Jackal is the code name for an elite and elusive Englishman employed as a political... Read more
Published on Oct 5 2001 by Godly Gadfly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Freddy outfoxes us all with the Jackal.
I have read the novel several times and have seen the film version several times.Both are excellent. Read more
Published on Sep 3 2001 by Paul Curran
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best!
This is by far the best book I have ever read. If you have not read this book, read it! See the movie after you read the book.
Published on Aug 26 2001
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Day of the Jackel
The Day of the Jackel is a fascinating look into the mind of an assassin. "The Jackel" kills not to fulfill a vendetta, but rather his bank account (in Switzerland, where... Read more
Published on Jun 14 2001
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really good but not exceptional.
I really didn't like this book all that much. Not enough of of intrigue for me.
Published on April 16 2001 by Daniel R. Bills
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