‘Day of the Jackal' author Frederick Forsyth dies at 86

Boston Globe

09-06-2025

For a half-century, Mr. Forsyth was one of the most successful authors of the cloak-and-dagger circuit. He wrote more than 20 novels, short stories and other works, reportedly selling more than 75 million copies in more than a dozen languages. Many of his books, featuring high-stakes action and protagonists pitted against seemingly impossible odds, were made into movies or TV dramas.
Unlike John le Carré, a contemporary who delved into the moral ambiguities of Cold War espionage, Mr. Forsyth never pretended to be anything other than, by his own description, 'just a storyteller.' Book critics were generally kind, often praising his blistering plot pace and meticulous attention to detail.
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Born in Kent, in southern England, in 1938, Mr. Forsyth served as a Royal Air Force pilot before becoming a foreign correspondent. He covered the attempted assassination of French President Charles de Gaulle in 1962, which provided inspiration for 'The Day of the Jackal,' his political thriller about a professional assassin.
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Published in 1971, the book propelled him into global fame. It was made into a film in 1973 starring Edward Fox as the Jackal and more recently a television series starring
In 2015, Mr. Forsyth told the BBC that he had also worked for the
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Although Mr. Forsyth said he did other jobs for the agency, he said he was not paid for his services and 'it was hard to say no' to officials seeking information.
'The zeitgeist was different,' he told the BBC. 'The Cold War was very much on.'
He wrote more than 25 books including 'The Afghan,' 'The Kill List,' 'The Dogs of War,' and 'The Fist of God' that have sold over 75 million copies, Lloyd said.
His publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr, said that 'Revenge of Odessa,' a sequel to the 1974 book 'The Odessa File' that Mr. Forsyth worked on with fellow thriller author Tony Kent, will be published in August.
'Still read by millions across the world, Freddie's thrillers define the genre and are still the benchmark to which contemporary writers aspire,' Scott-Kerr said.
Material from The Washington Post was used in this obituary.