From Publishers WeeklyThis subpar war-on-terror thriller from Diamond Dagger Awardwinner Forsyth, with its unknowable outcome, offers less suspense than his Edgar-winning debut, The Day of the Jackal, where the ending is never in doubt. A Muslim extremist, known only as the Preacher, is spreading the message of violent jihad via English-language videos, and his acolytes have begun targeting public officials in the U.S. and the U.K. The job of stopping him falls to Kit Carson, an ex-Marine now part of a super-secret agency in Virginia called Technical Operations Support Activity. Carson, who's known as the Tracker, assembles an assortment of allies straight out of a Mission Impossible script, including a reclusive teenager who's a master hacker employed to trace the Preacher. Some readers will wonder why Forsyth bothered to give Carson a personal incentive to complete the mission. Others will find a lack of memorable characters an obstacle to genuine engagement. Agent: Ed Victor, Ed Victor Literary Agency. (Aug.)From BooklistA retired marine general is gunned down by an unknown assassincollateral damage, apparently, in an attack on a U.S. senator. The generals son, code-named the Tracker, is part of a top-secret government agency responsible for locating, and eliminating (without benefit of trial), people on the so-called kill list of enemies of the U.S. The Tracker knows almost nothing about the assassin, not even his name, but he is determined to find him, no matter the cost. Imagine Forsyths The Day of the Jackal told almost entirely from the point of view of investigator Claude Lebel, and youll have a pretty good idea of the authors approach here: this is a procedural told in a straightforward, reportorial style. Forsyth has always been a no-nonsense writer, eschewing flashy prose in favor of documentary realism, incorporating real-world elements into his stories (the Tracker and his adversary are made up, but the government agency is based in reality). No one writes them quite like Forsyth, and this more than meets his usual high standards. --David Pitt Action sequences are TIPSY WITH TESTOSTERONE.The New York TimesA story thats AS CURRENT AS TOMORROWS HEADLINES.Mobile Press-RegisterA HIGH-STAKES THRILLERThe Kill List is intense to the very end.Midwest Book Forsyths new thriller proves he has lost none of his powers[He] remains THE MASTER OF HIS TRADE.Daily Express (UK) how can i read books online for free The Kill List
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Not a work of art, but great for those who like high tech video-game type actionBy Joseph PalenVideo Game FictionIn full disclosure, I admit this is not the kind of book I normally enjoy, and I review it at the risk of being somewhat disrespectful of Mr. Forsyth, who apparently is a master of his genre. This is an old fashioned, Saturday matinee thriller with one-dimensional characters, where the good guys are all good and the bad guys are awful, and there is no character development to indicate otherwise - nor are there any women characters, or mushy love scenes. It is all guts and glory, the kind of thing I would have loved at the age of ten. A Saturday matinee, though, that is brought up to date by billions of dollars worth of the worlds very best equipment to support a multination plan to get the bad guy. This bad guy is an American trained Middle Easterner, nicknamed The Preacher, whos hate of America is broadcast from some unknown location, and supposedly instrumental in convincing both American and British youth to take up arms and kill their countrymen. After more than a half dozen of these events, the hero - in person of a super-qualified Marine Lt. Colonel is called in, given the old 007 license to kill, and told to neutralize this awful pest. For this task, any equipment or Allied help needed will be available, and money is no object. From there it is pretty much a video game of seek and kill, with a slight side plot about Somali pirates. The Preacher was found, with the help of an Aspergers Syndrome hacker, to be hiding in Somalia. Cutting quickly to the end (truly a matinee classic bit), after the most expensive and high tech chase conceivable (involving also an elite British killer unit), it finally comes down to the hero and the bad guy in a hand-to-hand knife fight, and as the wounded hero looks into the eyes of the dastardly villain, and slips the Marine knife into into his heart , he whispers Semper Fi, Preacher!.This is excellent book for those who like this kind of thing. My reason for reading it was to find out more about the latest phase of warfare, involving high tech communication and drones. This goal was accomplished, and emphasized how much change there has been since, as an artillery officer I communicated by hastily laid land lines, solved the required gunnery trig by hand, and sent out to the target 30 lb, 105mm rounds that cost about a dollar per pound. The escalation in method and cost of war in one lifetime is astounding!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Kill List review, by Award winning author John R. SchembraBy John R. SchembraFrederick Forsyth is one of my favorite authors, however, this was not one of his best efforts. It is a passable read but I found it a bit tedious with the massive amount of backstory and technical writing. It bogged down the story to the point where I would skip several pages, numerous times, to get back to the main story. Bypassing all the backfill stuff made no difference to the story. It did not lessen it at all. All in all, it was OK, but had I known all this before hand, I wouldn't have bought it.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. His worst bookBy Stephen LentzThis book was so crammed with minute details concerning the government agencies involved and their acronyms it left no room for character development. It was a good way to show off the author's research abilities, but these kinds of laundry lists are really boring for the reader. There are no women at all. The good guys are robots, and the bad guys clichs.