'The Kill List' 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: 1.5 / 5

My Plot Intro:

A man known as ‘The Preacher’ is posting extremist Islamic videos online. His aim? To indoctrinate followers into assassinating Westerners in positions of power, and then committing suicide. No one knows who 'The Preacher' is, and as more people die, his destruction becomes a civil priority. ‘The Tracker’ is the man tasked with finding and dispatching ’The Preacher’, but he must turn to unconventional methods to track the terrorist down.

As you guys know, I’m not a huge fan of Forsyth, but I felt obligated to read ‘The Kill List’ because a family friend lent it to me! It did however help me while away the four hours in which I was stuck in a car park today.

I actually enjoyed this a lot more than ‘The Fox’ (another Forsyth novel) as the events all linked up much better, and we actually had a decent climax and ending.

However, my typical complaints ensue: firstly, there is no characterisation, just gritty technicalities such as too detailed descriptions of maps or intelligence service things (Forsyth’s novels would work better as movies, perhaps). The Tracker’s personality is as unknown to me now as it was when I opened the book. Secondly, the female characters only get about two pages each, and their roles are limited to seductress, mother, wife and Tea Lady (shown in the character contents picture).

We also needed more physical descriptions that excluded military ones, just to make the story a little more 3D. Finally, Forsyth’s ‘Ariel’ is a mirror image of ‘Luke Jennings’ in ‘The Fox’: both white teenage boys with Aspergers whose computer wizardry can outsmart international intelligence operations, and are both living with their parents, terrified to leave the house. Forsyth is practically violating his own copyrighting!

Author website: https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/100/1000661/frederick-forsyth.html

Book discovery: A family friend recommended it to me.

Review written on 29/10/21