Icon

Forsyth droped the ball in this book. THe proof of this fact is that he wrote, after this book and after a long time, a book about a different genre that he's used to (PHANTOM of THe Opera. This book is much worse than "FIST OF GOD". The main character, Jason Monk, wracks havov in Russia with extreme facility, make "contacts" even in a easier way, and resolve all the problems of Russia almost single-handed. As always, the characters act like robots without personality, but this isnot the poin, because this is one of Forsyth's ingredients to success. The history is weak, that's all.

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.

i read somewhere once that forsyth takes a year to research each book and icon feels as though he was loath to let any of his hard work go to waste. he spends far too much time on aldrich ames when he should have been trying to make his characters more interesting and believable. to think one single agent could somehow bring down the future arch-baddie of russia is just risible. the main problem is that you know exactly how the book is going to finish, and packing each page with details of modern moscow does not compensate for a fundamental lack of suspense. and where were the female characters? all in all, not a patch on the odessa file.

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!

This was brilliant! As a first time reader of Forsyth, I didn't know what to expect, but after reading this i will definitely read all his books. He weaves the past/present plots in part 1 perfectly which sets up the spy verse spy part 2 brilliantly. What results is a good climax although it is a little short. As a diehard action fan, this was a good change and although action was scarce, Icon is packed with suspense. Icon made my top 3 favourite books behind ice Station by Matthew reilly and Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy. Brilliant work by Forsyth!

The Russia of this book is ridiculous. The author makes a pathetic attempt to deliver a story charged with ethical scruples, and drawing a sharp childish line between the Good and the Evil: consequently all characters are nothing but puppets, including the puppet masters. Today's Russia is a country very much in trouble, but it is unforgivable to dream, like the author seems to do, that the complexity could be resolved with a few coups de theatre, like restoring the monarchy in the country, or mounting a putsch through "skillful" disinformation and manipulation. Don't read it, even if you're stuck in an airport closed because of severe snowstorms.

With tight-as-a-drum prose and a riveting storyline, Forsyth takes us on a thrilling adventure of counter-espionage inside modern Russia. Eminently readable, the book never stalls or falters, delivering top-quality literature from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

Written more as a historical document of the end of the Cold War between Russia, and the U.S., and England, Icon just plods along.

Though well written, the characters have no personality, the story, no life, and all the suspense of watching a block of ice melt.

Read instead, his;

1. Day of the Jackal

2. Odessa File

3. Negotiator

4. Fourth Protocol

All of these are much more exciting books by Forsyth, and highly recommended.

Though it was published in 1996, Icon is especially relevant today, given Russia's wavering stance on democracy. Icon looks several years into the future, to a day where Russian mobs, a teetering economy, and an American-style public relations campaign conspire to carry a man named Komarov to the office of president.

The British embassy in Moscow, however, accidentally acquires a document Komarov never meant to make public. Called The Black Manifesto, it describes his plans to consolidate power, recapture the breakaway Soviet Republics, and launch a program of genocide against any religious group: Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike. In this effort, he is funded by a major mafia organization and has the support of a para-military organization not unlike Hitler's brownshirts.

While the manifesto alone is not sufficient to drive official Western government action against candidate Komarov, it is sufficiently worrying that senior officials feel they must act. Retired British spymaster Sir Nigel Irvine, a hero of the Cold War, is brought back into the fold. And spyrunner Jason Monk, formerly of the CIA, is unretired.

Like chessmasters, Irvine and Komarov move their pieces across the board in a brilliant, complex and wide-ranging novel. With the fate of Russian fascism -- and a Nazi-style genocide -- hanging in the balance, Irvine and Monk are the last, best hopes for a democratic Russia.

This Forsyth novel starts rather slowly but then takes off like a literary rollercoaster. No simple plot here; this story of how a cabal thwarts the election of a Russian despot-to-be, spearheaded by a former CIA master spy, is intricately plotted but doesn't lose the reader in a jumble of story lines. Obviously well researched, the background information is richly detailed in a way that enhances the story without bogging it down. Definitely a good read (and I see miniseries potential).

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?

This book was a big deception for me... After the marvellous "Fist of God", this seemed written in a rush, contrary to all others Forsyth's books (I've read them all). The main character (Jason Monk) seems like a robot and everything seems so easy for him: travelling around the world, infiltrating the Russian Mafia, planning incredible plans. Maybe I didn't get the right spirit to read this book, but it seemed to me, by far, the weakest book by good old Freddie.

Forsythe's other books which I've read, The Negotiator and The Deceiver gripped the reader because they had an interesting believable main character. Because the plot of Icon contains many different players and points in time, the reader needs to care about someone in the book. Although we know that we are supposed to care about Monk and Irvine, they never give us more than fleeting reasons to do so. Also, there is no strong female character in the book. Females briefly come and go, used for quick sex and convenience to the plot. About halfway through the book starts to seem like the author lost interest. Like many products of Hollywood today, when the director (author) loses his way, the result is a push to finish rather than a retreat to find out what went astray. I read 200 pages earnestly, 200 pages dutifully, and 100 pages really fast in order to be finished.

As a first-time Forsyth reader, I enjoyed this book so much, I'm a little hesitant to go back for more. So many of these "spy-thriller" novels are so much pulp. The scene is set, good and bad characters introduced, and the plot trots off towards the ending--good guys win, bad guys lose. While Forsyth does not change the beginning or the end, the way he handles the middle makes getting there the fun. Bad guys are good guys (the Chechens). Good guys are bad guys (and right in the Patriarchs house). Innocent characters are sacrificed (on the frozen river banks of Moscow and the frosty hills of England). You know what's coming, but not how you're going to get there. Moreover, Forsyth apparently writes with a familiarity that allows him to move away from the cliched niveaus of other writers (believe it or not, the Kremlin and St. Basil's are not the only spy haunts in Moscow). The characters are rich, the action fast-paced and the details convincingly real. Just a little more variety in the ending would have pushed this book to a "10" on my list. It is truly an entertaining book, and a great read.

Forsythe's other books which I've read, The Negotiator and The Deceiver gripped the reader because they had an interesting believable main character. Because the plot of Icon contains many different players and points in time, the reader needs to care about someone in the book. Although we know that we are supposed to care about Monk and Irvine, they never give us more than fleeting reasons to do so. Also, there is no strong female character in the book. Females briefly come and go, used for quick sex and convenience to the plot. About halfway through the book starts to seem like the author lost interest. Like many products of Hollywood today, when the director (author) loses his way, the result is a push to finish rather than a retreat to find out what went astray. I read 200 pages earnestly, 200 pages dutifully, and 100 pages really fast in order to be finished.

As a first-time Forsyth reader, I enjoyed this book so much, I'm a little hesitant to go back for more. So many of these "spy-thriller" novels are so much pulp. The scene is set, good and bad characters introduced, and the plot trots off towards the ending--good guys win, bad guys lose. While Forsyth does not change the beginning or the end, the way he handles the middle makes getting there the fun. Bad guys are good guys (the Chechens). Good guys are bad guys (and right in the Patriarchs house). Innocent characters are sacrificed (on the frozen river banks of Moscow and the frosty hills of England). You know what's coming, but not how you're going to get there. Moreover, Forsyth apparently writes with a familiarity that allows him to move away from the cliched niveaus of other writers (believe it or not, the Kremlin and St. Basil's are not the only spy haunts in Moscow). The characters are rich, the action fast-paced and the details convincingly real. Just a little more variety in the ending would have pushed this book to a "10" on my list. It is truly an entertaining book, and a great read.

Forsyth takes a while to get this book going, but once it does it takes you for quite a ride. Forsyth mixes a thorough knowledge of Russian politics and culture to make this a very interesting book. The only flaw may be a superhero who is too invincible and an aspiring dictator who doesn't have very much power. Overall, a very good book.

"Icon" was published in 1996, but the story takes place in 1999. In other words, the story describes a fictitious near future, which allowed Frederick Forsyth to create three years of fictitious world history leading up to a fictitious crisis in Russian politics.

In 1999 the presiding Russian President, modeled somewhat on Boris Yeltsin, dies of a heart attack. An interim president is appointed and presidential elections are scheduled for the end of the year. The leading candidate is Igor Komarov, an ultra-right-wing populist politician whose political program includes getting crime under control and improving living standards for the average Russian.

In reality, Igor Komarov is insane, and intends to make himself dictator and abolish democracy in Russia. He also intends to exterminate Jews and Chechens and other minorities, revitalize the Russian military and try to restore the old Soviet Union by re-occupying the former Soviet satellite countries.

In other words, Hitler II is about to become President of Russia.

This is an interesting scenario, and perhaps not totally improbable. And it is upon this interesting scenario that Frederick Forsyth brews an equally interesting story about how the British and the Americans go about trying to sabotage Igor Komarov's election.

Unfortunately, the whole story becomes rather contrived. A complex plan is concocted (the obvious simple solution is rejected for reasons that don't make sense) and then everything slowly but surely falls into place. One keeps reading not so much because you want to know if the good guys or the bad guys will win, but because you're curious about exactly how complicated a scenario Frederick Forsyth has dreamed up!

The bad news is that the plot is so contrived that the story becomes unrealistic. We all know that in reality that very complicated plans never work as expected - something always goes wrong at some point, but not in "Icon".

Another problem is that there is a cynical element in the story. An innocent person is sacrificed in a completely unnecessary way. Also, some of the flashbacks seem to be unnecessarily cynical.

The best parts of this book are actually the very detailed and interesting pieces of background information. For example, the story of Aldrich Ames, who betrayed many CIA agents to the Russians, is fascinating. The political situation in Russia and daily life in Moscow in the mid- to late 1990's is also intriguing, as is the information about the KGB and the Kremlin, etc.

I was torn between giving three or four stars to "Icon". What tipped the scales downward was the ridiculous "Council of Lincoln", in which Frederick Forsyth indulges in some major-league name-dropping. A secret club with Margaret Thatcher and George Bush Sr. among the members? Good grief!

Still, "Icon" was a fairly interesting read, although perhaps not so much for the reasons that Frederick Forsyth intended.

Rennie Petersen

Part one interrupts the urgency of the plot with leisurely interludes following Aldrich Ames as a total incompetent who continued to be promoted and building an argument that the CIA has lost its mission and nobody really cares--afterall, the cold war is over. Part Two builds on the theme that assasination plots always fail

My third Forsyth read. Detailed with a nice approach to the two times lines (though I admit I got confused at times). Happy to see the main character wasn't an action hero. It felt real and appeared to be well-researched.

Though I like most of what Forsyth writes but this is definitely one of the books where Mr. Forsyth looks out of his touch a bit. The research as usual is brilliant but the Russian characters sounds very similar to the Devil's Advocate's character.
The tone of the book is kind of slow and sluggish until Jason Monk takes over the main stage. All in all Mr. Forsyth doesnt traverse any unchartered territory. The plot and characters sound similar to his earlier books. Read it because the twists and turns in the end are neat or like for me I cant resist a Forsyth book but do not expect Jackal...

Thrilling and very detailed work. Easy read. Very cloak and dagger/james bond style of adventure. Good language(no swearing). Characters are very plausable and add to the suspence of the story. Wonderful history of Russia and its quest of a unified nation without Communism.

This is possibly my favorite Forsyth novel, and Forsyth is definitely my favorite spy-novelist. As in The Negotiator, this book has a somewhat disjointed flow - there's a great deal of set-up (half the book) that isn't really part of the rising action. But who cares - it's thrilling and fun, and Forsyth has a good ear for the language. First Rate!

Forsyth writes an impressive book with an incredible mixture of fact and fiction. I have been to Russia and studied its history and economics; I was very impressed by Forsyth's accurate portrayal of the country. I enjoyed the complex journey from the beginning to the end. Unlike some, I liked the flashbacks and although the ending of the book seemed disapointing to some people, I thought it was fine. It was actually closer to what could possibly happen in reality than what other spy novels usually include. All in all, I thought this was one of the best novels I have read in a very long time.

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.

To me this book was very original and creative. The same mystery and suspense as in all of his books, but this one is not based on actual history, it is predicting the future! Forsyth is still the best writer of our times, and I've read all of his books. I hope he continues writing for a long time to come. If you've never read one of his novels it's time to start, they're all great.

Forsyth makes you wonder about current states in Russia and makes you compare it with the history of the world. Our main character, Jason Monk, comes across as a very believable hero. It is a James Bond story without the exageration. Still, It attracted my attention because of the simplicity of the story and how the actions were achieved.

Much better than Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers ,this spy-novel is exciting.The plot is very attractive,because the Russian scenario is done in a realistic mode.I liked how Forsyth draws the the dramatic atmosphere of the ancient Soviet Union, declined and weak.The author proves that in a good novel the high-tecnology weapons aren't necessary for make a convincent story. I strongly recomend it for the people who liked like me Forsyth's "The day of the jackal"

I thought this book provided an outstanding and realistic picture of Russia during the immediate post-USSR period. I agree with some other reviewers that the ending was less plausible but that did not ruin it for me.