The Day Of The Jackal by Frederick Forsythe is one of my top ten favorite thriller novels. This is one of the rare moments in film where the movie is equally, if not better than the novel.
The Day Of The Jackal is a brilliant and exciting historical fiction thriller. The premise is plausible – a recounting of actual assassination attempts on French President Charles De Gaulle by the French terrorist group,the OAS. Government officials discover that the OAS hired a foreigner (The Jackal) to assassinate De Gaulle.
Using the third-person omniscient form, Forsyth takes us into the minds and actions of the plotters, the police, and the Jackal. What makes this novel a shining star is Forsyth’s vivid descriptions of typically routine daily police work: checking records, passport photos, questioning hotel clerks, setting up road blocks, etc.
The reader follows the Jackal step by step as he arranges the creation of false identities, the design and production of the perfect weapon, extensively studies de Gaulle, selects the perfect time and place for the kill, and identifies his escape route. Forsythe keeps the reader entertained with his intricate details and clever plotting. The end result is a novel that is suspenseful, engaging and exciting.
I’ve never read this or seen the movie, and I’m not sure why . . . it sounds like something I would really enjoy. Thanks for the reminder!
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Try it out..once you start watching the movie, you won’t be able to stop watching it. Same goes for the book, but the movie is even more awesome.
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A great book which I read long ago. There really was a Jackal and he died a while back. There are people like that out there. I wonder with all the movies and television if we do not give ideas to these people. What do you think?
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The significant difference is a person having violent thoughts after seeing a violent show, and it’s just a thought. Whereas a person with a fractured mindset who views violent shows may think violent thoughts afterwards and act upon them.
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