The Day of the Jackal by Fredrick Forsyth

The Day of the Jackal by Fredrick Forsyth is a political thriller novel published in 1971.

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General Summary (No Spoilers!)

Set in 1963, the novel opens with the chilling line: “It is cold at six-forty in the morning on a March day in Paris, and seems even colder when a man is about to be executed by firing squad.” That man is Jean Bastien-Thiry, an OAS leader behind a failed attempt to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. As the Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) crumbles under pressure from the French Action Service, its leaders grow desperate.

They hire a mysterious and highly skilled assassin known only as “The Jackal,” offering him $500,000 (equivalent to about $3.5 million today) for one final attempt on de Gaulle’s life. The Jackal accepts, provided he operates alone and remains anonymous.

The rest of the novel follows his meticulous preparations for the assassination, paralleled by the Action Service’s urgent international manhunt to stop him before it’s too late.

Background

Before gaining independence, Algeria was a French colony, and in 1954 a violent revolutionary war broke out between Algerian nationalists and the French government. After eight brutal years, President Charles de Gaulle signed an agreement in 1962 granting Algeria its independence – a move seen as betrayal by many French soldiers who had lost comrades fighting to keep the colony.

In response, thousands of angry ex-military personnel formed the Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS), a paramilitary group that carried out terrorist attacks and assassination attempts to stop Algerian independence. The Day of the Jackal begins at this turning point, when the OAS is on the brink of collapse and makes a final, desperate move to kill de Gaulle.

Author Frederick Forsyth, who had reported from France during this time, personally covered the real roadside assassination attempt depicted in the book’s opening. Though the novel is fiction, it’s heavily woven with real historical events and people, adding to its realism.

Themes

Archetype Of An Anti-Hero

The Jackal is a perfect example of an anti-hero. An anti-hero in literature is a protagonist who lacks heroic qualities (Hannibal Lector in The Silence of The Lambs)

Archetype of An Assassin

The Jackal is the ideal professional assassin. He is described as a tall, blond Englishman of athletic build living in London. No one knows his true identity and he never works with a partner. He is cold and rational, meticulously planning every tiny detail

Protection of Important Political Figures

Forsyth used his ties with the president’s bodyguards + a background in investigative journalism to heavily research how political figures are protected. His attentiveness to details shows itself in the depth of The Jackal’s planning throughout the book.

Review

In terms of shooting and action, the story develops slower than other thrillers, but it is an immersive experience; you are exposed to the thoroughness of The Jackal’s planning and get to see how a true assassin would work. The tension builds throughout the novel and keeps you interested while reading.

Fredrick Forsyth’s blending of historical accuracy into the novel set it apart from other books in the genre. Finally, the mysteriousness and professionalism surrounding The Jackal separate the character from other cheesy “assassins”.

Personal Thoughts and Recommendations

I liked reading The Day of The Jackal and would rate it as one of the top action books I’ve read (I finished it in a single day). My favorite elements of the novel are the historically accurate setting and the realistic overall plot.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes spy thrillers with memorable main characters. For example, if you like The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, then you should read The Day of The Jackal.

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