- Hardcover: 310 pages
- Publisher: Hutchinson; 1st edition (25 Sep 1972)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0091130204
- ISBN-13: 978-0091130206
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.5 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 487,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"Every bit as exciting as its noted predecessor and even eerie."--"Cosmopolitan,"
"A carefully thought out, meticulously researched, documented... highly suspenseful work of fiction."--"Chicago Tribune,"
"Much more complex than the Jackal... intriguingly fact packed with relentless exporting, a protagonist propelled by an unstoppable force as suicidal as that of a lemming, and a time-factored chase ticking off to an explosive climax."--"The Cleveland Press,"
"A highly superior combination of real-life facts and suspense fiction."--"Publisher's Weekly" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"A carefully thought out, meticulously researched, documented... highly suspenseful work of fiction."--"Chicago Tribune,"
"Much more complex than the Jackal... intriguingly fact packed with relentless exporting, a protagonist propelled by an unstoppable force as suicidal as that of a lemming, and a time-factored chase ticking off to an explosive climax."--"The Cleveland Press,"
"A highly superior combination of real-life facts and suspense fiction."--"Publisher's Weekly" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
The life-and-death hunt for a notorious Nazi criminal unfolds against a background of international arms deals. As the story leads to its final dramatic confrontation on a bleak winter's hill-top, the question every reader asked at the end of The Day of the Jackal will inevitably be asked again: Can this be fiction?
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Master thriller writer Forsyth delivers big-time in this story of an intrepid freelance journalist tracking down an ex-Nazi in postwar Germany. Grounded heavily in research and reality, the story is based upon the disappearance of hundreds of wanted SS war criminals. As plenty of historians have since documented, there were organized efforts to help wanted Nazis disappear, especially to South America (see, for example, Uki Goni's book The Real Odessa). Here, Forsyth imagines the Odessa, a well-funded organization of former SS men who are taking the reins of German industry as it rebuilds, and helping Egypt with rocket technology with which to destroy Israel.
One day freelance German photojournalist Peter Miller comes into possession of the diary of an old concentration camp survivor who has recently committed suicide. The diary details the man's physical and mental torture in Riga, and claims that the camp commandant is still alive and living in Germany. Miller is simultaneously appalled at the atrocities described and eager for a big scoop, and so sets out to track down SS Captain Roschman (the real life "Butcher of Riga"). He quickly discovers to his surprise that the newsmagazines aren't interested in the story, it's explained to him that no one wants to pay to read about horrors perpetrated on Jews in some other country.
Miller decides to proceed on his own, and the book turns into a kind of procedural thriller as he doggedly pursues sources of information across Germany and it starts to dawn on him that no one is particularly interested in hunting down ex-Nazis. The combination of former Nazi influence in the police, along with the the realpolitik of the situation (live ex-Nazis vote, dead Jews do not), mean that the official channels are largely window dressing. Turning to other sources, like Simon Wiesenthal, Miller eventually finds himself in the company of a vigilante group of Jews dedicated to eliminating ex-Nazis. They, and their Mossad masters, want him to infiltrate Odessa by posing as an former SS man. What he doesn't know is that Odessa is on to him, and has assigned their "cleaner" to take care of him.
The final part of the book is stuffed with high tension as Miller gets possession of a blockbuster piece of intelligence about the Odessa, and closer and closer to Roschman. Meanwhile, the SS killer gets closer and closer to Miller... It all culminates in a nail-biting finale with one of the best twists at the end I've ever come across. The core story is top-level thriller stuff, absolutely outstanding. I could have done without Miller's girlfriend character, who seemed to exist mainly as a bit of T&A and an attempt to give Miller a little dimension. I also could have done without the subplot involving the rockets for Egypt, as it distracted from the more interesting story of Miller's hunt. Still, these are minor quibbles about an outstanding book.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this as a teenager and it is fair to say that it changed my life. I had no knowledge at that time (late 1970's) of the Holocaust and the diary's narrative of the daily minutiae and horror of a Nazi concentration camp was utterly compelling. Other reviewers have described the story outline very well. This, in the same way as the movie Schindler's List (which makes the book Schindlers Ark more accessible I think) should be compulsory reading.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
We are told that the best stories com from people that write about what they know. So if this story seems insightful it may be because Frederic Forsyth worked for Reuters reporting from London and he wrote the story in hotels from Germany to Austria. He mixes the real, not so real and the plausible to make you think "what if."
I do not want to say much as the fun is being surprised during the reading. However compared to the movie the book is much more in-depth with more characters and details. Manny times you think Forsyth is going off on some tangent and not focusing on the main story; then with out warning the information makes sense later on. One example to look for is the quick encounter with military maneuvers where he describes the tank sergeant.
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It is the night of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Peter Miller, freelance reporter in the process of chasing ambulances is disappointed by the apparent suicide of a person of no consequence.
Turns out the dead man is holocaust survivor Salomon Tauber; he left behind a diary of his experiences. Miller reads this diary and seems particularly interested in some details. This inspires him to do a story on what happed to ex-Nazis. His quest puts him at odds with many people including an organization (O.D.E.S.S.A.) that was designed to help the SS escape justice. He also encounters independent agents out for their own agenda. Then there is the MOSSAD. Everyone accuses Miller of having his own secret agenda and not just out for a story. Can they be right?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be sure to also watch the movie with famous actors that actually fit the characters from the book. Naturally a lot of information had to cut out and some sequence changes to fit the media. We still get the full speech from Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell)
I do not want to say much as the fun is being surprised during the reading. However compared to the movie the book is much more in-depth with more characters and details. Manny times you think Forsyth is going off on some tangent and not focusing on the main story; then with out warning the information makes sense later on. One example to look for is the quick encounter with military maneuvers where he describes the tank sergeant.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is the night of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Peter Miller, freelance reporter in the process of chasing ambulances is disappointed by the apparent suicide of a person of no consequence.
Turns out the dead man is holocaust survivor Salomon Tauber; he left behind a diary of his experiences. Miller reads this diary and seems particularly interested in some details. This inspires him to do a story on what happed to ex-Nazis. His quest puts him at odds with many people including an organization (O.D.E.S.S.A.) that was designed to help the SS escape justice. He also encounters independent agents out for their own agenda. Then there is the MOSSAD. Everyone accuses Miller of having his own secret agenda and not just out for a story. Can they be right?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be sure to also watch the movie with famous actors that actually fit the characters from the book. Naturally a lot of information had to cut out and some sequence changes to fit the media. We still get the full speech from Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very Enjoyable
I finished this book yesterday and I wasn`t dissapointed. By no means a masterpiece but if you want a simple yet exciting read on the train or the plane then this would be a... Read more
Published 22 days ago by Louis Lalande
great read!
This is non-put-downer. Brilliantly written. This book takes the reader on a quest with the main character, there is never a dull moment in this book. Read more
Published 8 months ago by David
Once again, classy and gripping
I started reading Frederick Forsyth two books ago with The Afghan.
This book is more of the same. Fast paced and excellently plotted. Read more
This book is more of the same. Fast paced and excellently plotted. Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2009 by Mr. Matthew Ward
As good as day of the jackal
I love this book and read it every year. Its a great tale and gripping all the way through. I can't decide which is my favorite frederick forsyth book, this one or the day of the... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by Sauniere
Jim's book review
Good bold large type so easy to read. Enjoyed, a good thriller. Good quality and detail. Gripping - always left you wondering what would happen next.
Published on 11 Oct 2009 by Marion Billingham
Peter Miller has a big scoop
We are told that the best stories come from people that write about what they know. Therefore, if this story seems insightful it may be because Frederic Forsyth worked for Reuters... Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2009 by bernie
A first-class thriller!
Having read The Day of the Jackal I was well aware of the quality that Frederick Forsyth is capable of producing. Read more
Published on 19 April 2009 by J. Milton
More than a pageturner
I hadn't read any Forsyth books but had three waiting to be read (this one, The Day of the Jackal and Icon) and decided to read this one first. Wow. Read more
Published on 21 July 2008 by NoWireHangers
Taut, tense thriller, utterly credible
I read this again recently (read it first as a 15 year old in the 1970's), and it was still rivetting. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2007 by Chris Hotspur
well researched, well written and believable
Set in 1960's Germany, a journalist aims to expose the officers of Hitler's infamous Waffen SS who escaped being held accountable for their crimes. Read more
Published on 26 July 2006 by Paz
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