Way back when I was a
lad (and, given my age, we are talking waaaay baaaack here), a new Frederick
Forsyth book was a major publishing event.
During the ‘70s and ‘80s, he released a string of thrillers that were
genuine blockbusters. In particular, his
first novel, The Day of the Jackal, I
would submit, stands up well to almost any other thriller in the quality stakes
(and is also a rare example of the film being of equal quality). Its follow-ups, The Odessa File, The Dogs of
War, The Devil’s Alternative and The Fourth Protocol were also both
exciting, convincing and truly well-written.
Now I don’t know whether it was due to my
changing tastes, whether the quality of his subsequent books fell off or
whether the genre or, indeed, the world moved on but all his books since then
have passed my consciousness by. So when
I saw The Kill List on Netgalley (and
I’m grateful to Random House UK for allowing me access to it), I got slightly
intrigued and thought I’d give it a try to see how I liked his more recent
efforts.
And, to tell the truth, I liked it quite a
bit. I can’t say that it was life-changing
or even that it will live long in my literary memory but, as light
entertainment, it worked for me and I found myself picking it up in every spare
moment to find out what happened next which, I suspect, is a fairly good
benchmark for a thriller.
The basic premise is quite
straightforward. A spate of random
suicide attacks by Muslims in the US and the UK targets prominent local
citizens. The common link between the
otherwise unconnected killings is that each of the killers was a follower of a
shadowy online preacher of jihad. The Preacher
(for that is the nickname given to him) soon rockets up the Kill List - the top
secret list of public enemies in the US - and the order goes out from the top………….find
him and kill him.
Forsyth likes using sonorous nicknames for
his protagonists and the US Marine turned intelligence chief tasked with the
mission is known as the Tracker. Helped
by an unlikely ally, the Tracker scrambles to unmask the terrorist and bring
him down.
It’s all good, high-octane stuff and
Forsyth dives into it with relish. One
of his main techniques, derived, I suspect from his background as a reporter,
is to root his stories in a factual background and to use real-world figures
and events to add credibility to the narrative.
Indeed, the skill with which he used this trick in The Day of the Jackal made it easy almost to believe that the
events he described actually happened.
He uses the trick to good effect again in The Kill List, although its plot is inherently less plausible.
Another key Forsyth trait is the way he
plays the “Brit” card. Although, in the
real world our importance has declined both in absolute terms and in terms of the
security relationship with the US, Forsyth likes to play up the “special
relationship” and he does so again here, giving a key role to a secret British
special forces’ unit.
The film rights to the book have been
snapped up and Rupert Sanders (he of Snow
White and the Huntsman) has already signed on as director and I can see why
- there is a real cinematic feel to the narrative and the character of the Tracker
seems almost custom-made for an old school Hollywood action hero.
Look, The
Kill List does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s thrilling and action-packed, has Forsyth’s
style stamped right through it and is hard-edged enough without being too
gruesome or explicit for the action thriller market. If that genre is in your wheelhouse, you’ll
enjoy it; if not, you probably won’t.
Me?
I did and it has put Forsyth back into my consciousness to the extent
that I will over the next few months check out some of his post-Fourth Protocol works for a spot of
undemanding entertainment. It doesn’t
match up to his earliest work but, let’s face it, that set a high bar. It is, however, good value for a few hours of
escapist fun and excitement and there’s nothing wrong in that.
