'The Fox' by Frederick Forsyth

FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.

Overall Rating: 3/10

Plot introduction Written by Me:

Sir Adrian Weston thought he was done with espionage decades ago.

Sue Jennings thought that her teenage son, Luke, was just a boy who liked computers.

Prime Minister Marjory Graham never thought the United Kingdom would have such a valuable weapon.

And the world? They didn’t think any of it was possible.

Review:

With ‘The Fox’, Forsyth presents a ‘thriller’ (not my word of choice) without convincing characters, a satisfying plot, or any impressive writing.

A new character is introduced almost every page (hence, we need a character glossary), and they are not developed smoothly. Instead, for 3 pages we have a synopsis of their life story (as oppose to gradually being shown it). There is only one female character of note, who manages to be the only vaguely interesting character in the novel -despite the little attention Forsyth pays her! Our senior hero seems to be morally grey by accident, as he treats a troubled, isolated child with Asperger’s like a machine.

Forsyth’s prose is mostly dull waffle: his way of showing us how well informed he is in world politics and espionage techniques. The writing is often overly flowery to little creative effect (I suspect Forsyth used the thesaurus too many times.)

Our plot line is occasionally clever, but each episode of action in the novel is entirely unrelated to the next. Forsyth’s ending is also uninspiring: the computer genius Luke hits his head and loses his cyber talents. This ensures that the international community will stop hunting him. Just reminded me of the classic ‘it was all a dream’ ending.

My Favourite Quotations:

• “There was nothing unusual about the garbage dumpster on the dingy New York street that morning in mid-May, except for the human leg dangling out of it.”

• “Mother Nature and a long hose-watering would cope with the red splashes on the greensward.”

• “The world’s leading Western power has decided to delude herself that an oriental monster of proven savagery will convert into a peace-loving partner in exchange for a bit of rice. It is another triumph of self-delusion.”