Icon

Rating:
Summary: Good read, but has its flaws
Review: Well, this book has everything in it that one expects from a good spy-novel: Espionage and counter-espionage, the killing of traitors and a cleverly constructed plot. But it has its share of weaknesses. Let me explain: While the plot is cleverly constructed, the dramatic strcuture of the novel isn't: The flashbacks in part one slow down the proceedings FAR too much and then, the ending is much too short and comes to quick. To show why I didn't give this book a higher rating, I have to compare it to his last book, THE FIST OF GOD (TFOG): The Baghdad in that novel was much more alive and before my eyes than the Moscow in this book, TFOG had a much faster pace and it had more characters you care for. There is a strange air of detachment in this novel. While I really crossed my fingers that the guy in Baghdad (in TFOG) made it out alive, I didn't care that much for this Jason Monk here. Worth your time, but maybe not what you expect from a man with the reputation of Forsyth

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment!
Review: As an ardent reader of Forsyth's novels,Icon was a big let down for me.The idea of a single man uncovering a sinister plot to revive the holocaust is simply impossible.Although the climax is gripping,especially with regards to the source of information(the priest),the end is a bit too simplistic.I think Forsyth wanted his last book to end with a "Alls well that ends well" kind of feeling,which is just an explanation,not an excuse.At the end,I would categorise this book as another average product,but alas from a great author.

Rating:
Summary: Too verbose the beginning, too brief the ending
Review: A good book but not his best. The auther spent too much time at the beginning bringing the readers up to speed on the main characters. I was disappointed with the ending as the main character, Jason Monk, did not really go through some exciting and life threatening moments as the main character in The Fist of God did

Rating:
Summary: A book with a Malaria Sympton
Review: I found myself kept frog-jumping and leaping through the first part of this book. I also found if provided a summary of the first part of this book, you could start from the 2nd part in the very beginning with no regret and would feel (much) better. Try to interweave Monk's and many other characters' historical backgrounds, was a mistakenly designed plot that I found tedious and unbearable, and most of all, absolutely unnecessry. Why we have to waste so much time in reading those who Monk might meet during his Odyssey? It was just like an old guy walking in the street, who couldn't help to say hellos to all the folks he met and furthermore, he got the urge to tell those people of his ancesters' stories and how his family tree grows so far. And then, alas, those people met by the old guy, after suffering hearing loss so badly during his murmuring blab,blab,blab, insists reciprocating the same torture to that old guy. But what's the big deal of these trivial tidbits? And who cares? I don't have to know every detailed background histories of any one Monk might get involved; mafiosi,villains,generals,russki congressmen,or anyone else. Neithe did I need going back in time so far back to grow up year by year along with Monk, and then, after he joined CIA in the 80s, I still had to babysit him dragging through the 90s. It was a totally overdone and overkilled unnecessary writing evil of Mr.Fosythe, and I definitely would prefer reading Readers' Digest Condensed ICON if I could find sooner. Mr. Forsythe's writing, his English was so wonderfully presented, but if wasted in such poll-or-census writing, only providing some young authors such as that of THE ZERO HOUR or THE SNOW WOLF with a bad model to copy, and might jeopardise their ever existed talents. Since THE FIST OF GOD, an age of overlooking and losen-up have already been inevitbly shown in this once one the Greatest Writers of our time. I only wish he could force himself writing a shorter and more concentrated book, and in the meantime, trying to save some trees. Finally, the Japs' and the Brits' Sovereignties have been ridiculed and renounced for a long time by most of their own people, albeit(nonetheless) the self-claimed Royal Bloodlines! I would not consider that Mr. Forsythe did privately wish the Russia returning to Tzars, or wishing Communist China degenerating backward 100 years to have emperors again. Democracy may create some rich monsters, but it is still better than having an absolute ICON to be hung on the wall of every home of a nation! God bless America

Rating:
Summary: The Best Novel--Ever!
Review: This is not only Forsyth's best, but the best of the entire genre. I could not stop reading. I do hope that when this is put on film, the film will be a TV mini-series, as far too much would be lost in even a 3 hour movie

Rating:
Summary: MUST READ
Review: Unbelievable. You'll learn more reading this book than you did in all of your years in high school and college together

Rating:
Summary: Great apocalyptic books should be realistic; this one is.
Review: His books always make you wonder what is real and what is fiction. In this book, for example, a lot of details of Aldrich Ames are weaved into the story. And then there are true facts about Czar Nicholas and his descendants. So much reality. Then you get to wonder: could Russia really switch to a monarchy? Which of the characters are fiction and which are real? How would they ever hire enough look-alikes if this was ever filmed?

Rating:
Summary: Well-plotted, interesting characters, ending just happens.
Review: Unlike The Day of the Jackal, Forsyth does not allow you to develop any real feelings for Jason Monk, the hero. The plot is wonderful, twisting and turning throughout the story. Monk's superior, Sir Nigel Irvine, is delightful and someone you want to spend more time with but again Forsyth doesn't allow it. But even with these flaws the book keeps drawing you back. You can't put it down for long. While the problem is solved extremely well, Forsyth does not end the story with any finality

Rating:
Summary: Another great read from Forsyth. It's Russia, and it's 1999
Review: As is the usual case with Frederick Forsyth, this book is excellent. I give it a 9 because the story is not as good as The Devil's Alternative or The Negotiator, but it's still better than 99% of other spy or suspense novels out there. The plot involves a Russian nationalist with a secret agenda who looks poised to win the next election. As usual, Forsyth is very good with details, and the book is hard to put down. There have been rumors that this is Forsyth's last book; let's hope not!

Rating:
Summary: Shaky ending mars fine start
Review: Frederick Forsyth will never write a book as good as "The Day Of The Jackal" or "Odessa File" again. That's not a knock. Few authors ever get that lucky or brilliant once, let alone twice, especially their first two times off the blocks.

"Icon" suffers from a beginning that suggests otherwise. You read the first 300 pages and they grab you in a way few books ever do, with alternating suspense yarns set years apart, each somehow building on the drama of the other. You agonize for poor Jason Monk as his Soviet assets are undone one after the other by real-life traitor Aldrich Ames, kind of what Benedict Arnold might have been had the Revolutionary figure succeeded in not only giving up West Point to the Redcoats, but Fort Ticonderoga and Philadelphia as well. The fact that its now well after 1999 and the ultra-nationalist movement in Russia has not taken control doesn't lessen the sense of fear and loathing Forsyth gets across as he slowly sets up the principal story with a nice sense of balance, nuance, and loving detail. You think to yourself: "Can it be? Did Forsyth find his wellspring once more?"

Then it all goes to pieces in Part 2, along with the chief villians. After drumming in their diabolical competance in Part 1, Forsyth apparently allows them to forget their medication in Part 2. Not only do they act ridiculously, but Monk the hero, like the protagonist in "Fist Of God," seems to anticipate everything that happens in such a way to alleviate any creative unease the reader might feel. The book that starts so promisingly ends not with a bang but a yawn.

Even at the very end, when Forsyth reveals a key trick in his narrative, he does so in such a rote way as to raise more questions than answers. Clearly he went for a "He was my father" type finale, but what we get instead is another of those coincidences that pock the narrative's second half.

I love Forsyth, even lesser Forsyth. There's a lot to enjoy here, especially in the first half, and people who like their resolutions tidy and suspense-free may enjoy the rest as well. But I sort of wish the master could have taken more time to sort out the second half of his story with the same apparent care he bestowed on the first.