Avenger

Rating:
Summary: A Thriller Written Like A Jigsaw Puzzle
Review: While AVENGER is not of the superb quality of DAY OF THE JACKAL and perhaps a few of Frederick Forsyth's others novels, it is still an outstanding work of fiction that should be enjoyed immensely by readers who have the patience to follow the author's narrative methodology. But for reasons detailed later in this review, this book is not for everyone. There are several elements to the story, and the author integrates them gradually in a somewhat unusual fashion, so much of the first few sections of the book are descriptions of events which have occurred in the past and which form the basis for the two complicated and interwoven aspects of the plot.

Attorney Calvin Dexter is a (superbly conditioned) triathelete who lives an apparently ordinary life in suburban N.J., a local boy raised by a working class father (who had been deserted by Cal's mother) and who returned from an Army tour of duty in Vietnam to earn a college degree and seemingly move on with his life. However, his experience as one of the members of the elite but unknown team of "tunnel rats" has combined with his own personal tragedy to form the basis of his alter ego - THE AVENGER of horrific crimes who can be hired to find and return the perpetrators of such crimes to face justice in a court of law. In a world of moral relativism and frequent lack of accountabilty, he still believes in the concepts of right and wrong, and of the possibility of justice and the necessity for punishment. In a parallel thread that forms the basis of Cal's next quest, an idealistic young volunteer,Ricky Colenso, disappears while working for an humanitarian aid organization in Serbia during the upheaval caused by the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Unfortunately for Zoran Zilic, the gangster responsible for Ricky's brutal murder while operating under the protection of Milosevic, Ricky's mother is the daughter of Steve Edmond, a Canadian billionaire and injured RAF ace during WWII. Edmond's vast resources and political connections enable him discover the existence (but not the identity) of THE AVENGER, and Edmond manages to contact Cal and interest him in attempting to uncover the truth concerning Rick's disappearance. As Cal verifies the facts of Ricky's murder and the perpetrator, he agrees (anonymously) to accept Edmond's request to capture Zilec and bring him to the United States to stand trial.

Two factors complicate Cal's efforts. First, he has to locate Zilic, who became very rich as a dealer in contraband and drugs during the war and subsequentlty disappeared. Second, unknown to Cal, the CIA head of counterterrorism, Paul Devereaux, has recruited Zilic to aid in the CIA's efforts to locate and eliminate an Islamic terrorist named Usama Bin Laden (the story takes place in 2001 pre- September 11.) Thus, as Devereaux learns of the existence of THE AVENGER and his quest (but not his identity), the CIA utilizes all means at its disposal to locate and neutralize Cal in order to protect Zilic as one of its most valuable assets in the wor on terror. (It has in fact helped Zilic relocate to his seemingly impregnable compound in the fictional South American Republic of San Martin.)

This is a very methodically organized and well constructed story, but the various threads are only slowly woven together. We are first introduced to Cal, but only gradually learn his history in chapters interspersed with our introduction to Ricky, to Steve Edmond; the the formative events in each of their lives are gradually revealed. Only after the necessary background for the thread that binds their lives together has been provided does the author introduce Devereaux's history and his personal philosophy regarding his justification that in order "to achieve the greater good" he may have to engage in immoral acts and even allow evil to go unpunished.

There are long sections regarding Vietnam and military actions during that war, WWII, the CIA, and other background elements which are crucial to the story but at times read almost like an educational text. There is also incredible detail about Cal's formulation and implementation of his plan, which readers of Forsyth will recognize as one of his trademarks and which serves to prolong the story while making it more believable and increasing the tension. (JACKAL is a wonderful example of this.) However, the conclusion is worth the wait. The outcome is a tribute to Forsyth's narrative skill, although given the complexity of the moral questions raised some readers may disagree with my elation at the ending. Finally,the two page epilog was stunning in its ability to capture the best of the autho's efforts.

So, I highly recommend this book if you want to read a complicated thriller with a lot of detail. The story emerges gradually as the individual elements are pieced together, just as in the construction of an elaborate jigsw puzzle. And in fact, this analogy applies as well to Cal's attempt to fullfill his mission. But I do have two caveats. First, this book is heavy on history and philosophy and is meant to educate as well as entertain, if you want fast moving action and a linear plot, look elsewhere for your entertainment. Second, there are a few instances of really gruesome events decribed in great detail, especially Ricky's murder and Cal's experiences in Vietnam and his family tragedy. The are close to nauseating, and would normally keep me from reading a book with such sequences or at least cause me to reduce my rating. But because they are elemets crucial to the story and because I hold the author in such high regard, I decided to continue reading and did not reduce my rating. But, be prepared if you are somewhat squeamish; however, their description is as minimalist as possible while still achieving the desired impact and relevance. There is also, of course, the standard violence in such a novel, but that should be anticipated by a reader of this genre.

Rating:
Summary: A "Good Triumphs over Evil" Modern Action Adventure
Review: Frederick Forsyth combines an historian's outline of events and developments with a novelist's knack for making situations personal and immediate. As a result, he can carry the reader across a vast array of events in a very interesting and compelling way.

In Avenger, you move from the battle of Britain to tunnel rats in South Vietnam to drug addicts, prostitution, and mob violence in modern America to brutality and vicious killers in the Balkans to Osama Bin Laden and the challenge of modern terrorism to a CIA effort to get Bin Laden using one of those Balkans murderers.

You will find the story stunningly realistic with truly descriptive and graphic violence consistent with the brutality of the all too real modern organizations of terror.

You will also be vividly reminded that evil exists in the world and that all too often only a forceful, violent intervention by heroic people can stop those who brutalize, rape and humiliate their fellow human beings.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best but better than current authors
Review: Lets get this straight. Frederick Forsyth is the Master storyteller. Even Masters let it slip sometimes. Avenger is a slip.

This book is better than 98% of the action/fiction books out this year. But, possibly one of Forsyth's worst ever. This is the same man who gave is The Veteran & Icon in the last 5 years and absolute classics like Day of the Jackal, Dogs of War, Fourth Protocol, Negotiator & Fist of God apart from his short stories.

The plot should have been a short story. The book is 80% background stories & 20% plot.

To sum it up, so-so but nothing close to the Master's best work.

Rating:
Summary: Back with a vengeance!!!!!!
Review: With his latest work, Forsythe is back with a vengeance. This book is outstanding. The central character, Calvin Dexter, is a complicated man. On the surface, he is a successful small-town gentleman lawyer, who in his spare time trains as a tri-athlete. Below the surface, he has a history as a highly skilled Viet Nam veteran and, as the reader comes to find out, in the present day operates secretively as the Avenger - the righter of wrongs for people with no where else to go.

As the story opens, the grandson of a very wealthy Canadian businessman is brutally murdered in Bosnia, setting the wheels in motion for a contract with the Avenger to bring those responsible to justice. Forsythe effectively intermingles past and present to lay the foundation for the storyline, introduce a host of characters, and to bring meaning and motivation to Dexter's character. Dexter has blue-collar roots and is an up-from-the-bootstraps success story. Highly intelligent, although not highly educated (his law degree notwithstanding), Dexter comes from the school of hard knocks - able to think strategically and tactically. He is a character with an abundance of courage, integrity and personal fortitude - all of which will be required as he goes up against seemingly impossible odds to fulfill.

Forsythe is able to effectively weave cultural and political facts and actual events into the story to provide a realistic backdrop for the action - and there IS action. Avenger was very difficult to put down. The story moves forward with pace - full of suspense and plot twists that the reader has come to expect from Forsythe. For anyone interested in the action thriller genre, Avenger is a "must read."

Rating:
Summary: Inteligente y muy bien documentada
Review: La novela tiene claramente dos facetas: por un lado la trama de acción, original, bien urdida y absolutamente adictiva; por otro lado está todo el trabajo de documentación que justifica, precisamente, la trama de acción. Es una novela que clarifica muchos de los actuales acontecimientos que hoy están sucediendo en los puntos más conflictivos (calientes) del Globo.

Es una magnífica mezcla de novela de acción, espionaje y periodismo internacional, todo ello escrito en un lenguaje preciso y directo que te absorbe desde la primera página hasta la última.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book by a master
Review: Most days, Calvin Dexter is a lawyer with the odd hobby of running triathlons. But for the right price and the right cause, the fifty-something Viet Nam veteran becomes 'the avenger,' a man who will bring criminals from around the world back to the U.S. for justice. And the family of Ricky Colenso needs justice. Their darling son took off the summer before he started in college to serve as a humanitarian volunteer in Bosnia. The murderer, head of a Serb militia, has vanished, along with the billions of dollars he looted from the former Yugoslav economy. It's the Avenger's job to track the killer down and bring him to America where he can be tried for his crimes.

Tracking down a billionaire killer would be a tough job for anyone, even a survivor of the tunnel warfare in Viet Nam. But the killer has more protection than the private army, the bribed government of the South-American country where he hides, and the sharks that surround his isolated compound. The CIA has identified him as a part of its war on terrorism and will do anything to protect him. If that means selling out the Avenger, the CIA agents consider it cheap at the price. Because their target is nothing less than Osama Ben Laden. And in the war on terrorism, even in the last days before 9/11, no sacrifice is too great if it advances the cause.

Author Frederick Forsyth is a longtime master of the adventure suspense novel and AVENGER is a welcome addition to the canon. Calvin Dexter makes an interesting and sympathetic hero. With his own personal losses (his daughter was kidnapped and murdered in the white slave trade), Dexter is believable. His Viet Nam experience and the wealth of contacts he made while a lawyer for New York's poor and immigrant population both make him convincing despite his eligibility for membership in the American Association of Retired People. Forsyth is a master of presenting the reader with an ethical dilemma. In his masterpiece, THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, he engages our sympathies with an amoral killer. Here, Forsyth uses the events of 9/11 to make the CIA agent's position sympathetic even as we cheer Dexter on in his attempts to bring an evil man to justice.

Rating:
Summary: BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: I have always been a big fan of Frederick Forsyth but this book is a disappointment! There are so many threads to the narrative that before he could weave them together into whole cloth I had to go back and re-read sections because I had forgotten "who did what to whom" (and no, I am NOT a slow reader). There was entirely too much pre-Sept.11 historical background that contributed little or nothing to the book and served as a distraction. Some was necessary but he should have saved all that for a non-fiction historical novel. By the time Mr. Forsyth got to the point, the book was almost finished.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant novel mixing fact and fiction, stunning suspense !
Review: It's a pity Forsyth is barely known to most readers beyond his first and famous "Day of the Jackal". Some fourteen novels later, we find our author can be invariably counted upon for suspenseful stories, exciting action, and often ironic outcomes. Before "Avenger", his just prior book of five novellas, the "Veteran", exemplifies his knack for good story-telling and twisty endings, becoming one of our personal favorites of the year.

All these rewarding and entertaining qualities are back in this latest novel. Forsyth takes a little while, in a series of almost self-contained short stories, to give us the background of our leading characters, as well as educate us on some of the U.S. Intelligence machinations prior to 9/11. But the story soon takes off for real as Army Vet Calvin Dexter, who we learn is the self-appointed mercenary of justice called The Avenger, hunts for a murderous Serb. The challenges he must overcome, including the target's virtually impenetrable physical security, leave us in wonder of the man's cleverness and guile. The end is to say the least both satisfying and heavily ironic -- for if this tale were indeed true, it would have actually, and of course accidentally, facilitated the terrorist attacks by Bin Laden. You won't be disappointed for a minute with this latest Forsyth thriller!

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Forsyth
Review: Reminiscent of Forsyth's earlier triumphs, AVENGER breaks out of modern pack of thrillers as classic tale of vengeance wrapped around a world wind tour of late 20th century history. From the remarkable story of the shadowy operations of the US Army's "tunnel rats" in Viet Nam, to the Bosnia and Kosovo wars, and finally the overlooked jungles of northern South America, Forsyth tells the story of Cal Dexter, a protagonist with a much more interesting vocation than the small town attorney he seems to be.

As in the best of Forsyth's works, AVENGER uses historical facts and actual events as the backdrop for compelling fiction. In this case, Dexter, a freelance contract bounty hunter, is tasked with tracking down a Serbian thug suspected of the brutal murder of a young America volunteer in Bosnia. It is remarkable how easily Forsyth is able to unravel complexities of the breakdown of the former Yugoslavian state, weaving the ethic and religious tensions into the factional storyline. Ditto for the flashback to Viet Nam, as the terrifying missions of young Dexter's days as a "tunnel rat" come full circle to mesh with the conclusion. Others have noted that AVENGER is no DAY OF THE JACKAL, but while AVENGER may lack the depth of political intrigue of JACKAL, it compensates in adrenalin and nearly constant action. For the reader who prefers a bit of education with their adventure, AVENGER is not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Every Page a Winner
Review: Mild mannered Attorney Cal Dexter is working out for the Olympic triathlon even as he broods over the death of his daughter and the suicide of his wife, when he gets the call to done the uniform and cape of his other life. His neighbors don't know that he has an apartment in New York, that he works undercover as a freelance vigilante, that when he gets on the trail of someone, they get caught.

I gotta admit that I'm a sucker for this kind of book. I loved every page, couldn't put it down. I liked the way FF jumped from the tunnels in Vietnam to the horrors of the war in the Balkans. In my mind there just is nobody else who can tell this kind of story the way Forsyth does. And, as an added plus, we get FF's detailed description of war making machines and weapons, description that is always informative, never boring. He may be getting up there in years, but Avenger proves that like my good ol' Dad, Forsyth still has what it takes.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane