Rating: 
Summary: Not bad
Review: Its not a bad novel by any means, and I did enjoy the story. However, there are just enough plot holes and leaps of plausability that I cannot give it more than 3 stars.I would like to thank Mr. Forsyth for not trying to jam some sort of love interest down my throat (thank goodness for small miracles). Instead, we have one main protagonist and one main antagonist, and its more of a battle of wits than an out-and-out action adventure. And his use of historical figures (Aldrich Ames particularly) is a nice touch. My criticism is in the starting point for the story, the stealing of that manifesto. When you read the novel, ask yourself this: Why was the document written, and why is it so easy to steal? As a reader, I wasn't satisfied with the answers supplied in the novel. The author has obviously put thought into the plotting and storyline, why does the novel begin so lazily? That, and the fact that the hero always seems to just "know" things. A little background into how he comes to his conclusions, or how he gets his information, would go along way in making the character more believable. As it is, he comes across as an omniscient super-spy, and suffers in the believability department as a result. All in all, its an interesting book. Not quite on par with "The Day of the Jackal" or "The Odessa File," but those are awfully hard to top. If you like Forsyth's other works, you'll probably like this one. Just don't expect a masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: The same old story
Review: The problem with this book now, is that it was written in 1996 and tells us a story from Russia that will happend in 1999-2000, now we know that that was not true.
Taking that apart, is the same books of spies, CIA, ex KGB, police, Kremlin, etc. It does not have new stories about espionage but is an easy book to read.
The end of the book is almost obvious and not so good, but that doesn't mean that is a bad end or book.
Rating:
Summary: Not Bad
Review: This is another exciting book from Mr. Forsyth. He really has a distinctive way a describing the dark beauty of Russia and getting into the heads the Russian every man. The story has a great story line and he peppers the book with interesting sub plots that keep you interested. He has a way a writing a very well thought out exact story that does not leave any loose ends. There was a lot of good, interesting details here - similar to a Clancy book. My only complaint would be the ending, a bit too clean and easy. Overall a good book, if you have liked his other work then you will enjoy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Senseless and waste of time
Review: I could not believe this is the same person who wrote The Day Of The Jackal. I have never read such a stupid novel with such a foolish plot. If you were a high school student and would like to boast upon your knowledge in history of Russia in a novel way, well, you may give it a try. One American and one British, both from Secret Services being the main characters you will get nothing less than two doses of James Bond who in turn make fun of the whole Russian political and law order situations. Very notably you would get to see no intelligence agency of Russia active through out the second part of the novel, which is the major role during the first part. Probably because the writer is comfortable in making his hero ICON without much ado faced from Russian authorities. There will be coup in Russia guess what no one but an American would smell and saves Russia from a heinous dictator. The most amusing part is Russia reverting back to monarchy in the year 2000 and happens to find a king belonging to Czar family by a British agent. Frederick should start writing some spider-man and super-man stories, kids really love them. God damn senseless novel.
Get a comic book instead of this you feel your money is worth spent.
Rating:
Summary: Great for first 500 pages, implausible ending
Review: This was a great book, a real page turner up until the ending. I found the good guys too smart and the bad guys much too stupid at the end. It was all too neat an ending. Nevertheless, there are few better story tellers than Forsyth and this is a great book for a long plane ride or at the beach. In my mind "Day of the Jackal", remains his best work by far.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly written and full of James Bond type action
Review: Russia. 1999. On the verge of a new presidential regime. Igor Komarov has become, to the Russian people, an Icon, a symbol of restored hope in the Motherland, a promise to wipe out corruption and free the enslaved Russian people from poverty and crime. He will win the presidency by a landslide of overwhelming support. The story begins when a lone illiterate cleaning man steals a document from Igor Komarov's secretary's desk. The document comes to be known as the "Black Manifesto", and in it are Igor Komarov's real plans for the Motherland. Plans so heinous and hideous they make Adolph Hitler look like Barney the purple dinosaur. The cleaning man's deceit is discovered, but too late, the Black Manifesto has reached the ears and desks of the CIA, and there is only one man deemed suitable for the job of making sure Igor Komarov never rises to power, and assuring the Russian people a new and cleaner government. Jason Monk is our James Bond, a spy of masterful proportions. His quest is the hardest of his career, he is tasked to change a country. Frederick Forsythe is a brilliant author, and he brings Jason Monk into this story with finesse and intrigue. Though many of the names and details get lost on the average reader, the story is woven tightly together, and the suspense builds with each page. The background research that must have been done to write this book is daunting, but Frederick Forsythe is a master at it. The characters are well developed, to the point of intimacy, which is the way it should be. I would have given it five stars but for the tangle of information, names, dates, places, etc.., that disoriented me at times. I believe authors should keep it simple but potent. Frederick Forsythe has mastered the potency part. If you are looking for danger, intrigue, excitement and suspense in a spy genre, you have found it here.
Rating: 
Summary: WEAK BY FORSYTH'S STANDARDS
Review: ANy real Forsyth fan knows this is his worst book. But a bad book by Forsyth still is a good reading, due to this genius'capacity. Anyway, the main trouble is that character Jason Monk is totally unconvincing.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better!
Review: Being a Frederick Forsyth fan I found this a little bit disappointing, I know that it may be a little too much to expect him to write another "Day of The Jackal", I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it(even though the main character was a bit of a Superman) but the ending was too short and disappointing, it's as if (i quote another reviewer here) his publisher had suddenly given him deadline to produce the book literally the next day! I do recommend it, it has the usual well-researched material(Aldrich Ames, Ken Mulgrew etc.) which was a pleasure to read, just be prepared for a disappointing climax!
Rating:
Summary: Reads like tomorrow's headlines.
Review: Frederick Forsyth's "Icon" is a big, riveting novel. It's very very good, don't get me wrong. The premise is pretty frightening as it reads like a rebirth of Hitler's Nazi era. The plotting is intricate and flows and unfolds very nicely along pretty much 90% of the novel, then the ending seems quite rushed. It was a bit of a let-down because I believe he could have stretched the novel at least 50, or 75 pages more, but he decided to finish it all in a way that I particularly thought was somewhat rushed. With that taken care of, I could say that although the premise of the novel is pretty scary, it's also quite unbelievable. If a person who intends to be a president like Igor Komarov has a hidden agenda of things he REALLY wants to do when he comes to power, I don't believe he would be stupid enough to actually sit down and write what is dubbed the "Black Manifesto." On that note, it's also pretty silly that a document of such devastating importance and consequences is actually left on a desk to be seen. Then, enters Leonid Zaitsev, the Rabbit, a close-to-illiterate cleaner, who spots this document on the desk, and decides to open it and nose around in it. He doesn't understand big words like "extermination" and such, so what does Zaitsev decide to do? He turns over this document to the authorities. Once the improbability of that happening is pretty much ignored, or just accepted- like I did- the novel is very good and a particularly fast read, despite it's length.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasant effort, but not as good as previous work...
Review: This is only the second novel of Forsyth's I've read, so I am not an expert on him or the genre. However I was slightly disappointed in this book, which I read right after reading "Fist of God." The pacing is ok, but slower than FOG, the characters are not as finely drawn, and the plot seems more black and white, without the nuances I had expected. All in all, I'd say if your're looking for a good example of Forsyth's work, "Fist of God", or perhaps some of his earlier work, such as "Odessa Files" would be a better choice.
|
