Name: The Day of the Jackal
Rating: 3.902439024390244 (41 reviews)
ISBN: 9780553266306

Frederick Forsyth

After six men fail in individual attempts to assassinate President de Gaulle, Jackal accepts the task and lays careful plans to insure his success

The Day of the Jackal

One of the most celebrated thrillers ever written, The Day of the Jackal is the electrifying story of the struggle to catch a killer before it's too late. It is 1963 and an anonymous Englishman has been hired by the Operations Chief of the O.A.S. to murder General de Galle. A failed attempt in the previous year means the target will be nearly impossible to get to. But this latest plot involves a lethal weapon: an assassin of legendary talent. Known only as The Jackal this remorseless and deadly killer must be stopped, but how do you track a man who exists in name alone? The Day of the Jackal made Frederick Forsyth a world-famous writer overnight and changed the modern thriller. Its appeal is simple - it's just one of the most exciting books ever written.

Sarah Sammis

Sometimes when I'm reading a book I feel as if a black hole is sitting just out of view sucking up the words and plot that should be going into my mind. No matter how slowly or attentively I read these books, nothing seems to stick beyond the first couple of pages. The Day of Jackal is the most recent book I've "read" to do this to me. This phenomenon isn't something I can pin down to a certain genre, author or time period nor have I found any way of counter acting the problem no matter how much I want to enjoy the book.

The Day of the Jackal should have been an enjoyable read to me. It is a political thriller and a "what-if" book like Roth's The Plot Against America. Somehow though the pacing of the book made it feel more like a very dry book report and I just couldn't focus enough on the book to care if the Jackal succeeded or not. I know this book is a well respected book but it frankly didn't do much for me.

The story of an anonymous Englishman who, in the spring of 1963, was hired by the Operations Chief of O.A.S. to assassinate General de Gaulle.

tina

3.5

My dad recommended this to me because he told me this was one of his favorites when he was younger. The Day of the Jackal is clearly a classic for a reason. I can definitely see the influence of this story to contemporary literature. It’s a good read, however I did find some things that I really disliked about this book. 

Classic is always a difficult read for me, and this one more so. This is a thriller story but the pace is excruciatingly slow. Not much happens until the last 30% of the book. The side characters were merely there for plot escalation. I was definitely hooked by the story, but I didn’t have that attachment towards the characters because there wasn’t any characterization at all. The writing style is bland and boring and difficult to understand at times. It was hard to get through the first part because not much was happening. I dare say the first part kind of was a snooze fest. 

The pace quickens once you get past that. It’s just not as engaging as I thought it would be. It has a strong plot, but poor characterization and writing style. But as I said, despite all of that it is a pretty good book. I just wouldn’t consider it as a favorite.

Yuvraj Jha

Great story. Great read. 
Reminded me of the Fantomas series in how it grips you and becomes unputdownnable.
Highly recommend.

Kirsten Simkiss

Nah. Nah, I’m good. If I wanted to read a military history that’s fictional, I’d pick a different book.

The Day of the Jackal

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