The Afghan

Frederick Forsyth has crafted a compelling novel that is as real as today's headlines and painstakingly accurate in it's depiction of the War on Terror, both past and present. It should be required reading for anyone who doubts that we are really at war or that our way of life is truly threatened by Muslim extremists. The story line has been detailed by others and need not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that I found it to be one of the most important books I have read in some time and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

What I particularly liked about this thriller is that it explains in depth so much of what is going on in the world up close and personal without undue partiality. The politics and the geography, religious and political conflicts and especially the history -- so much has depended on the past -- colonialism and invasions by westerners and Russians, as well as factionalism, religious splits, etc. that are all pretty opaque to the ordinary Westerner/American. I recently saw a good documentary about Pakistan's Madrassa schools where they churn out the fanatics who spend their youth repeating the Koran (which is not allowed to be translated from Arabic! Who knew?) until they know the whole thing by heart without ever knowing what it actually says, and these boys (only boys) are sent to these schools because it is the only education available to the poor. That's how they seem to get the endless streams of suicide bombers ...

Weak in execution, flailing in resolution, and unengaging overall, "The Afghan" is an example of a thriller in which the author forgets such key ingredients as believability and suspense.

A laptop taken from al-Qaeda's finance leader suggests a plot is in motion to rival the destruction of the World Trade Center; the challenge is finding it out before it becomes another milestone of terror. To gain intelligence, a British soldier who grew up in Iraq is given the identity of a captured Taliban leader and sent to Afghanistan to infiltrate the terrorists behind the operation. Can Mike Martin discover the nature of their operation before the terrorists discover this spy in their midst?

Frederick Forsyth has been writing smart thrillers in which desperate people play for high stakes since the early 1970s; his prior novel before this 2006 effort also dealt with the realities of 9/11, and did so effectively. So I can't really understand why "The Afghan" fails so dismally, except maybe he's been at it so long now he’s become prone to shortcuts. Everything about "The Afghan" suggests a novelist in a hurry.

Other reviewers point up the amazing and ridiculous coincidences that pile up in this book, as well as the odd research gaffes and the basic idiocy of the situation surrounding Martin's infiltration. They make great points, and rather than dance around spoiler alerts in echoing them, I'd like to call attention to problems I had in the way Forsyth delivers his story, which was where I think he really fails to live up to his reputation.

The focus on scene-setting is entirely too heavy, with lengthy descriptions of places and people that have little bearing on the plot. One senses Forsyth padding like mad to bring his book up to the required length, and not really sweating the relevance.

Where Forsyth could be filling out his pages instead is in explaining how Martin manages to get where he does, how he beguiles his enemy into thinking he is one of them. This is where the suspense of the book lies, I think. Instead, Forsyth handles this issue in a breezy, backhanded way: "With his dark looks, full black beard and the repeated references to Allah of the truly devout, Martin convinced his host that he also was a true believer," is the sort of passage that crops up a lot and bespeaks laziness.

The resolution of the story is where "The Afghan" fails most egregiously. It's a downbeat ending that accomplishes next-to-nothing, either on geopolitical terms or the book's own. The revelation of the nature of the al-Qaeda operation comes too late, is handled abstractly, and makes little sense after. The wind-up is clearly rushed as if Forsyth found he had reached a target word count and was in a hurry to get his manuscript out the door.

The beginning of "The Afghan," involving the al-Qaeda finance officer, does pull you in; Forsyth also has the smart idea of bringing international shipping and piracy into the mix, and develops this with flair for a chapter or two. But the slackness in the overall narrative too quickly becomes contagious. Some reviewers fault those who would look behind the curtain rather than read what's on the page. But "The Afghan" is the kind of book that's all too easy to second-guess, given the apparent absence of any first-guessing.

While well thought out and written, the plot doesn’t have enough action or suspense for me to find it that enjoyable. A lot of this book reads like a historical novel giving the reader background on Afghanistan and Al Qaeda but fails to deliver any real thrills. While you don’t know the final destination, the reader knows pretty much everything that’s happening with the terror plot so there isn’t much to find suspenseful, and there are essentially no battle scenes and the fate of those who are in those is pretty much known if you’re paying any type of attention. Overall it just didn’t do it for me.

This is an interesting book but certainly not Forsyth's best effort. It deals with a very complicated Al Qaeda terrorist plot against the west. The target is never disclosed which leaves the reader in suspense until the very end as to who is the target and how the attack will come down. The intelligence services discover a serious plot is underway which they must discover and thwart. To do so they enlist the help of an arabic speaking British Marine who assumes the identity of an Afghan held in the Gitmo Prison. The first half of the book is devoted to outlining the plot and preparing the Marine for his role while the second half is devoted to his adventures within the hidden world of Al Qaeda. All of this is fascinating although not as suspensful as other Forsyth works, plus it left me with a couple of disconnects. During the introduction Forsyth made a point of noting that like most Muslim men, the Afghan was circumcised. Later while the Al Qaeda are vetting the Marine undercover they do not verify he is circumcised. Since most European men are not circumcised it seemed to me that this would have something the Al Qaeda would have checked. If this wasn't important to the plot why was it noted at the beginning? The other disconnect came toward the end when the pseudo Afghan is placed on board the ship with no particular duties. Given that the Afghan was held in such high regard and viewed as a role model it was never made clear why Al Qaeda would sacrifice such a hero.

The book is slow to get to disclose the plot but it turns out to be a twist ending and a cliff hanger. This really saves the book. It is a fun read and I enjoyed it but it isn't Forsyth's best effort.

The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth is more an original novel than just another spy thriller. There's not a lot of flash in this story, but there is a steadily rising tension as events come together faster and faster. The lives of the Afghan and the man who takes on his identity have interesting basic similarities, but the events that shape their patriotism are stark in their contrasts. The hero, Mike, is older. He's survived twenty five years of Special Services work and is converting an old barn into his dream house. The work is back breaking and the sudden offer of big bucks that will make everything faster and easier tempts him back for one last gig. Mike stoically wades through the preparations and you never get into his head because this type of man never lets anyone in, people pass through his life, but never really take up residence. The Afghan has been in prison for five years. He is little more than a shell of hate and destruction, but in his early life he was open to all and loved deeply. He tried to what was right in his world where everything was turned to ash. Between the contrasting stories of these men there is a lot of interesting history about various international Special Services and Afghanistan. When things go really wrong in the story, it's because something totally unforeseen happens, not the bureaucratic screw-ups and turf wars that are predictable and so prevalent in literary thrillers. At the story's end, though you still don't know much of what's going on in Mike's head, you feel he's the kind of man you would like to know. For Izmat, the Afghan village boy, there is only sorrow.

Ready for a good old-fashioned thriller? One that brings the tension of "Day of the Jackal" to mind? Well, Frederick Forsyth is back with "The Afghan," a thriller that brings to mind a much younger Forsyth. Despite a very few major blunders, Forsyth delivers a real page turner. Considering the tepid to awful efforts of other aging authors such as the latest from W. E. B. Griffin (and son), Forsyth is a welcome breath of fresh air: he still delivers the goods.

One of the bodyguards of a senior Al Qaeda leader in Pakistan makes a stupid mistake and uses the cell phone of his boss. The cell phone is on a "wanted" list and alarm bells go off. The cell is traced, a raid is mounted and the mystery begins. A single reference to an episode in the Koran involves the CIA and intelligence agencies around the world.

Through a series of chance occurences, retired SAS Colonel Mike Martin is tasked to pose as a hardcore Taliban fighter who has been held in custody for five years. His job is to infiltrate Al Qaeda and discover the secret of the Koranic reference, which is presumed (correctly) to be a major terror operation.

In the hands of a lesser skilled author, the reader might stop right there. Uh, yeah, sure: an Englishman will infiltrate Al Qaeda posing as an Afghani. Forsyth pulls it off, creating much the same tension he did in "Day of the Jackal."

Forsyth weaves a tapestry of events and characters spanning Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia. An act of high seas piracy here, a fraud in London there, am abitious intelligence analyst spots a small detail, a dhow pulls into a Dubai port . . . Forsyth builds block by block a true thriller.

There are pitfalls along the way, one of them that literally kicks you in the teeth. (When you read the novel, the intended pun here will become obvious.) There are also a couple of plot points that are simply unbelievable, but Forsyth's overal story will pull you along. Finally, as is the case in all too many books of recent years, proofreading and even editing have become lost arts.

None of this however detracts from this first-rate thriller. Forsyth blends technology with old-fashioned derring-do and "secret agent" resourcefulness to create a very satisfying thriller. Reserve this one for a time when you can read it in one or two sittings. Hats off to Forsyth: he's still got the right stuff.

Jerry

British intelligence gets lucky when a terrorist bodyguard decides to borrow a cellphone and makes a call home. The call itself doesn't reveal anything, but the cell's location points them toward a major Al Qaeda figure and his laptop provides a tantilizing hint at some major terrorist operation. Governments can't act on hints alone, however. What's needed is a man who can pose as someone that Al Qaeda will trust implicitly, be able to infiltrate their most secret conferences, and who can, ultimately, identify and defuse the threat--whatever it might be.

Working with the CIA and US D.O.D., intelligence comes up with two men--one a British SAS Colonel whose dark skin and fluent Arabic would let him pass as an Arab or an Afghan (once he develops a proper accent), and an Afghan warlord captured during the battles against the Taliban and housed in Guantanamo Prison. Training and placing the British soldier where he can take up his role will be difficult and costly, but the Al Qaeda plan just might warrant any expense.

Author Frederick Forsyth always delivers an intricately plotted novel with plenty of technical details--in this case details on how American and British spycraft operates against terrorist threat, how the supposed 'justice' system for Guantanamo prisoners can be manipulated for political ends, and how Al Qaeda transmits its money, messages, and trust across national boundaries despite being hunted by the police and military forces of just about every nation in the world. THE AFGHAN does an excellent job of letting the reader look over the shoulder of intelligence executives as they attempt to define and defuse a dangerous plot.

Forsyth's crisp writing and matter-of-fact dealings with death and destruction also adds to the reader's enjoyment. Forsyth's characters are in the business of death. For the most part, they're going about their business.

Although THE AFGHAN is enjoyable, it's a long way from the top of Forsyth's talent (see for example, THE DAY OF THE JACKAL). Perhaps because we, along with Colonel Mike Martin and British intelligence, don't know what the threat really is until near the end, there isn't a lot of investment in the outcome, or concern about the characters. And for me, the critical twist involving Afghan warlord Izmat Khan and his escape felt artificial--I could practically see Forsyth deciding he needed to crank up the suspense level one more notch and deciding this would be the way to do it. Sure coincidences happen, but do you really want that to be the basis for your story? If we'd cared about Martin or Izmat, that would have helped as well but these characters never really emerged from their definitions--heroic SAS officer and noble but anti-American rebel.

Not being Forsyth at his best is certainly no insult--most thriller writers would love to be able to write like Forsyth on his worst day. THE AFGHAN is an enjoyable read.

This is a great adventure that will keep you reading on till late at night if you are used to the plots and characters of Forsyth. His writing style is a bit different from other writers, and he is very meticulous with his character descriptions. To some this might be a put off, especially for those just wanting a good story without all the complex details. This is a book you must read in full concentration to really enjoy. I would not describe it as a bedtime story.

What I really liked about this book is that it relates to current events, so you feel like you are reading non-fiction. There is a lot of factual information. This book will tell you all there is to know about Al-Qaeda. It can be regarded as a crash course in Al-Qaeda studies.

There are many characters, but this tends to be confusing at times. Retaining the names of the different characters is also hard since they are names in different languages.

The plot of the book is as follows: British and American intelligence learn that Al-Qaeda is planning something big; really big; much bigger than September 11. Will the attack be nuclear this time? Or will the attack be Biological? The Intelligence agency is not sure, as they often are. The only way to find out is if someone can infiltrate Al-Qaeda, a nearly impossible and suicidal task. Retired SAS British intelligence officer Mike Martin (THE FIST OF GOD) is the man chosen for this job, for he speaks Arabic and can pass on as an Afghani (to some this might be a little unrealistic). He pretends to be an Afghani (Izmat Khan) that has been detained in Guantanamo for the past five years. He is later told by Bin Laden himself of the plot. Kind of strange Bin Laden couldn't tell an Afghani from a British! But this is fiction after all, so no need to make a fuss about it.

This is a book that will surely become either a movie or a TV mini series, and will probably be enjoyed more in that format by most readers unfamiliar with Forsyth. However, give the book a try!

The Afghan was the first Frederick Forsyth book I had read, and it was mostly by pure chance.
I picked this book from a book list for school because all the other good books (i.e. those I had actually heard of) were taken (dontcha hate that??) and a friend enjoyed Forsyth's Dogs of War.

I had no idea what to expect, and the title is vague enough to have second guesses (maybe it's about average life for an Afghan woman??). I was pleasantly surprised when I started this novel, and I enjoyed it throughout.
There was a lot of detail, and though some it may have been slightly inaccurate (according to other reviews here), I find that wholly irrelevant. This is a fiction thriller novel after all. The general plot is great, as is the suspense throughout (mostly at the end) and the constant action. Whether the story facts match up to real facts doesn't matter because this novel is very much enjoyable. One thing to note, at least for me, was that there was so much real information (historical and modern) intertwined with fiction that the line between fiction and not became somewhat obscured, which, looking back, is not such a bad thing after all.

I would suggest future readers to not get yourself caught up in these facts but rather let the story carry you along. The story is not worth interrupting to check online to see if Forsyth's research was accurate, and the ending, I think was absolutely great, shocking too a bit.

So here I am, a couple books read by Forsyth (this and The Day of the Jackal), and I am officially hooked. I shall be reading more of Forsyth in the future, that can be guaranteed.

Frederick Forsyth, acknowledged grandmaster of the international thriller, took on an ambitious project in writing The Afghan. Perhaps a bit too ambitious. One could easily make the argument that the material contained in The Afghan is wide ranging and extensive enough to provide the basis for two full length novels.
The multifaceted storyline revolves around an Anglo-American plot to infiltrate Al Qaeda for the purpose of staving off an anticipated terrorist attack. Not just any attack but one whose magnitude, according to intelligence sources, will surpass 9/11.
Mike Martin is a swarthy complected Englishman, recently retired from the paratroopers with the rank of colonel. He speaks perfect Iraqi Arabic and knows the Middle East as few outsiders do. The British SIS along with the CIA has devised a complex plan to have Martin impersonate Izmat Khan, a legendary Afghan fighter currently imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Forsyth likes to back up his storytelling with plenty of detail. Much of the book consists of recounting Col. Martin's military career, the majority of which was spent in dangerous hot spots all over the world. We also learn how Izmat Khan grew up in the unforgiving mountains of Afghanistan to ultimately become a Taliban warrior of exceptional courage and dedication.
The Afghan contains an abundance of historical information, most of which is quite interesting. Particularly well presented is the lead up to the present conflict in Afghanistan, a land so rooted in tribalism it is essentially ungovernable.
My one major criticism of this book is its pacing. So much of The Afghan concerns itself with build up. When the actual terrorist act to be thwarted finally manifests itself, it is given relatively short shrift.
Bottom line: A worthwhile read for fans of international thrillers. But not the best Frederick Forsyth has to offer.

Frederick Forsyth's The Afghan is based on the interesting problem that Western intelligence agencies have in fighting Islamist terrorism by infiltrating terrorist groups with agents who can pass for the real thing. It is next to impossible that they will ever successfully pull off something like that.

SAS officer Mike Martin could, however, very well be the exception to the rule and, when British and American intelligence people become aware that Al-Qaeda is preparing an operation that could overshadow even the events of 9-11, Martin agrees to take on the identity of an infamous Afghan being held at Guantanamo Bay. After training for weeks while a faked release and return of the Afghan to Pakistan's safe-keeping is arranged, Martin manages to convince Al-Qaeda that he is the real thing and that he has not been turned by his captors into an informant. The Afghan's heroic history of fighting both Russian and American invaders of his country, and his complete refusal to cooperate with his American captors at Guantanamo ensure that Martin gets noticed by Al-Qaeda's leadership and results in him being added to the small team chosen for their new spectacular.

Unfortunately Forsyth's methodical, step-by-step approach to telling Mike Martin's story kills most of the excitement and suspense that the reader expects from such a promising plot. Instead, with its scant character development, The Afghan reads more like a movie or television screenplay than the thriller it was intended to be, a novel easily pictured as a movie but one in which the reader seldom loses himself.

Forsyth creates a version of Al-Qaeda that is capable of pulling off the kind of plan with which fans of the Mission Impossible movies would feel familiar but one glaring hole in his plot remains unexplained. The Afghan is famous within Al-Qaeda circles as one of their most capable, fierce and loyal soldiers, a man who will fight the enemy to the death and who can motivate lesser men around him. Yet Al-Qaeda leadership is willing to sacrifice him in a meaningless role in which all he is given to do is stand around and wait to be blown up with the rest of his team. None of his skills are used and he is simply taken along for the ride, never even being told any of the details of the mission he is on. Of course, for sake of the book's story, it is necessary to have him there but his inclusion on the mission makes little tactical sense for Al-Qaeda's purposes.

The book's climax, coming finally after the long, detailed set-up, is over so suddenly that the reader never feels the author's intended feeling of suspense and relief. Coupled with an epilogue explaining how the incident came to be perceived by those who even knew of it, the ending is one of the book's bigger disappointments.

The audio book version of The Afghan is read by Robert Powell, a reader who naturally did well with the various British accents in the book but who had a real problem with American accents. Powell gave many of his Americans particularly gruff voices to distinguish them from their British counterparts but often lost his supposedly American accent in mid-sentence. His reading of the book is almost as straight forward as Forsyth's writing and adds little to the enjoyment of the book. This is one thriller that is almost certainly better read than listened to on CD.

In yet another wonderful book, Mr. Forsyth covers international terrorism at its best. In this book, British and American intelligence agencies receive a terrible message: an Al-Qaeda strike is imminent. But they have no clue when, where and who will cause the strike. There is no clear clue. Security authorities do not have sources of information inside Osama bin Laden's organization. It is impossible to infiltrate someone from the western hemisphere, unless...
Izmat Khan is an afghan and he is a high official from the Taliban. He has been held at Guantanamo prison for five years. Colonel Mike Martin is a veteran with 25 year experience at the most dangerous war places in the world. He is a British official, born and raised in Iraq. In a try to avoid the attack, the intelligence services will try what nobody ever thought about doing: they will try to make Mike Martin impersonate Izmat Khan.
If ou are picky, you will find minor flaws on how Mike is examined by the Taliban guys to find out if he really is Izmat or if he is lying... but generally speaking, this is another masterpiece from the master of suspense. If you like to read in the edge of your seat, this is the book you cannot miss in your permanent library. It took me around 13 hours to read this book. I give it a 5 stars.

Absolutely Outstanding. 5+ stars. Wonderful, intricate thesis. Superb character development. Educational in today's complex War on Terror, Islam and Al Qaeda. Terrific literary style: Clear, concise, tight plot, quick reading, engrossing.

I've missed the "Old" Frederick Forsyth of "The Day of the Jackal", and "The Odessa File. He was a genius. Well "The Afghan" is Forsyth redux. It is a wonderful in depth story not only of the War on Terror but how that War evolved. He plumbs the murky depths of the Al Qaeda world and how today's terrorists came about. Why are they so willing to commit suicide in the name of Islam? Forsyth examines the intricacies of the Al Qaeda network and how it can put together such complex terrorist plots. He does make some very minor technical errors but in such a wide literary effort that is to be expected. The true strength of Mr. Forsyth's novel is his in depth character development. He gets to the "gut" of why these men are who they are and why they do what they do. No gratuitous violence, but some explicit scenes to emphasize the depravity of today's terrorists.

Mr. Forsyth is a master of plot development. As demonstrated in his earlier novels, he both educates and entertains as he weaves a very plausible story. I sometimes wish he would not be so illuminating in trade craft as it gives the "bad guys" unnecessary information. I am happy to see the old Forsyth back and look forward to his next novel.

Must read recommendation.

Avoid this book at all costs! Luckily this was given to me in a box of of about twenty other books so it was free. I pity anyone who paid money to read it. If you want to read something that includes a character needed for a mission where they speak a foreign language fluently, then try Gerald Seymour's, 'A Corporal's Wife'. The corporal, who has defected, was a chauffeur to a top ranking general and has many secrets to tell, but he won't talk until he sees his wife again. One of the characters who speaks fluent Farsi and is hired to go to Iran to bring out the corporal's wife from Tehran. There! How's that? Instead of wasting my time reviewing Forsyth's dribble, you got something that IS actually worth reading!

I wanted to like this book but couldn't. Frederick Forsyth has written some wonderful thrillers such as "Day of the Jackel". "The Afghan" is no where close the quality of Forsyth's earlier works.

Every fiction book requires a willing suspension of disbelief. Even the most willing reader will find it hard to suspend disbelief long enough to swallow an unending series of coincidences and plot twists that just aren't believable. Other reviewers have commented on the implausibility of taking an escaped Taliban member around the world just to stand on the deck of a ship and steer. The fact that the Taliban member had never been on a ship before, of course, in no way interfered with the plan to use him as a steersman. That is merely one of a series of implausible plot twists.

The Americans are hosting the G8 and decide to hold it on the Queen Mary II. But Forsyth would have you believe that the British have essentially NO part in planning or executing the security of the G8 meeting on a British ship.

The huge disaster that Forsyth would have us believe that Osama Bin Laden has meticulously planned is just not credible. It is as precariously balanced and has as many excess parts as a Rube Goldberg machine -- and as likely to be successful. It is hard to become worried about a potential disaster that requires the good guys to be not only clueless but to be amazingly stupid.

Forsyth built his reputation, in part, on his meticulous research and plausible writing. "The Afghan" is not up to that standard. The multitude of errors in "The Afghan" will jar readers with even a little background information. Forsyth will reach for the threadbare plot trick of coincidence not one time too many but again and again and again. The plot twists and structure are, all too often, not even vaguely plausible.

This is a military/intelligence procedural revolving around the penetration of Al Qeada by a British special forces operative. Unfortunately, it reads more like a police report than a novel.

None of the characters had any, well... character. No personalities, nothing. About as memorable as dust motes.

Further, for a novel "filled with remarkable detail" according to the dust jacket, it's pretty amazing how much of it was wrong. Forsythe evidently didn't bother spending more than a few minutes learning about the U.S. military or government structure. One character, the head of a U.S. Special Forces A Team, is a "Senior Captain". There is no such rank in the Army. Another, an F-15 pilot, is a Major after 20 years as a pilot. Under the U.S. military's "up or out" policy, he'd have been forced into retirement years ago. There are also errors regarding weapons and equipment.

As to excitement, for a novel with such a potentially great premise, this thing is like a dose of Prozac.

Sorry, I can't recommend this.

One could repackage Frederick Forsyth's entire body of work and reissue it under the title "The Way The World Works." His first novel, THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, brought a (probably) fictitious event into the real world, and he has continued to do so for the over 30 years since his writing career began. In addition to getting older, he has gotten better, as evidenced by his latest offering, THE AFGHAN.

Forsyth continues to write of the people to whom George Orwell referred when he wrote "(w)e sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." The harm here is part of the mystery that propels THE AFGHAN. Specifically, a major terrorist plot is in the process of being planned and executed by Islamic extremists. British and U.S. intelligence have no idea what it is; all they know is that something is in the works. The nature of the plot remains a tantalizing puzzle for the reader until almost the very end. From the standpoint of the British and American governments, there is more concern that the plot be prevented than in actually identifying it.

THE AFGHAN hangs its hat on a somewhat improbable premise --- the substitution of a legendary, revered Afghani terrorist with a retired, highly decorated British operative. Forsyth takes this plot line and makes it plausible thanks to his minute attention to detail and interjecting his characters into the real world playing field of the War on Terror. The capable SAS agent, Michael Martin, is living out his retirement by restoring a farmhouse outside of a rural English village. Izmat Khan, the Afghani terrorist, is languishing in isolation in a Gitmo prison cell. Forsyth goes to great lengths to introduce both men to the readers --- as it develops, they already know each other --- and to supply deep background in their respective pasts. So while THE AFGHAN is plot-driven, it doesn't leave the characters behind.

Forsyth goes into an extensive review of real world events during the course of his narrative, so that at points the book becomes less a work of fiction and more a real-world historical treatise. His grasp of the topic is strong and firm, and is not a three-second connection of dots from which he draws erroneous conclusions. If you're accustomed to getting your world news and analysis from the current crop of journalists who populate the major networks, prepare to have your eyes opened by Forsyth's unvarnished account of the events that have led to today's troubles. And, as in the real world, errors are made, lives are lost and plans go awry. Meanwhile, Martin finds himself walking a dangerous tightrope, committed to immersing himself in a role in which he must rely wholly upon his own wits and resources, even as the unknown plot moves inexorably toward success.

Forsyth has long been a master of edge-of-the-seat writing, and while his early narrative in THE AFGHAN occasionally drifts into the merely interesting, the last half of the work is an all-out race, particularly with respect to the final hundred pages. Forsyth's familiarity with his subject matter additionally lends immediacy to the proceedings, resulting in yet another winner. Recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Frederick Forsyth doesn't write many books, but when he does it's a treat. Here he writes one of the best novels yet based on the war against Al Qaeda. He does it in his usual fashion - understated and spare, with location detail taking you there, and technical detail suggesting close friends in high places.

In this book, Michael Martin, a retired British commando is recalled for a dangerous (of course) mission: A captured Al Qaeda computer hints at a cataclysmic terror attack while giving few details. Martin, who has the necessary looks and language skills, must impersonate a captured Taliban fighter, currently at Guantanamo, to infiltrate Al Qaeda and uncover the plot. Martin must convince ultrareligious terrorists he's one of them and the same person some may have met years before.

I found but one minor flaw in this book, and that itself perhaps a backhanded tribute to Forsyth's writing. Security arrangements for secretly holding the real Taliban while the mission proceeds are so well thought out that Forsyth must resort to a deus ex machina to create a plot complication.

That aside, what's best here, besides Forsyth's usual technical command of military and intelligence matters, is his detail on Afghanistan: the tribal life in the lost mountain valleys; the war against the Russians and the accompanying religious radicalization of the youth; the post-Soviet chaos leading to the Taliban's rise; the role of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and the September 11 war. Forsyth is utterly convincing as he guides us to this trackless and intractable part of the world; he immerses you in it without wasting words or piling on unnecessary detail.

He shows sympathy for Afghans, the Taliban included, while not losing sight of their having wound up in the corner of worldwide Islamic terror. Perhaps the Afghans' traditional warrior and cult of honor appeal to a writer who has made a life writing well about the same values in radically different settings.

The book is mostly exposition very little plot. Typically a subject comes up (the Taliban, some type of jet fighter, whatever) and one gets whatever Forsyth's researchers have given him, and we move onto the next subject. This fills about 90% of the pages. Plot is simple and depends to an absurd degree on luck and coincidence and filler. I mean a jet engine falls out of the sky and....... Come on.

Some reviewers noted the "facts" presented were not always factual which, I suppose, is serious if one considers Forsyth's researchers as any type of authority. A few of the so-called facts seemed false to me but personally I don't care if they made them all up.

3 Stars because Forsyth writes so well that he can get away with this garbage ( I did actually finish the book). I suspect that we are dealing with a sort of factory here where Frederick puts his name and the final touches to the work of underlings.

Forsyth brings back Mike Martin from The Fist of God to take on a daring mission set in the present day. The book's focus on shipping really reminded me of The Devil's Alternative too. Unfortunately, The Afghan was not as good as either The Fist of God or The Devil's Alternative, which I consider to be among Forsyth's best novels. Some of the ingenuity and originality that Forsyth showed in The Avenger appears here -- the plot and use of flashbacks to weave the story are done well. But the book doesn't live up to the standard that was set for Mike Martin before. And, for the first time in a Forsyth novel, there was an episode that was completely unbelievable. Despite providing a nice diversion, that particular episode was totally unnecessary to the resolution of the story. The book would have been much better had it been left out. If you read The Afghan, you'll know it right away -- it really jumps out as ludicrous (as another reviewer has said). It evokes an immediate "Oh, come on!" moment, which is not exactly what you're looking for in this kind of novel. There is a hint of the precise detail with which Forsyth usually excels, but it is nothing like that in his best works. Overall, The Afghan is interesting and entertaining, but not Forsyth's best.

There was a time when Frederick Forsyth was one of the great suspense story authors, making his mark with such classics as The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File. In recent years, his production has been sporadic, both in quantity and quality, probably hitting a nadir with his unnecessary sequel to The Phantom of the Opera called The Phantom of Manhattan. While The Afghan is not a bad book, it is one that is also not as good as Forsyth can normally deliver.

The Afghan begins with a series of happy accidents that clue American and British Intelligence to the existence of an Al Qaeda plot known only as al-Isra. What exactly al-Isra is, no one is sure, but it's supposed to be big, and the U.S. is the likely target. To find out what this plot is, and to stop it, requires an extraordinary and highly risky effort, namely to get an undercover operative into Al Qaeda. Finding someone who can possibly pull it off is almost impossible, but a candidate is found in Mike Martin, a retired British Special Forces colonel who can pass reasonably well as an Arab.

Martin is to adopt the identity of a Taliban commander named Izmat Khan who is currently housed in Guantanomo Bay. Martin and Khan have a bit of a past, but fortunately, Khan has no close acquaintances, so the ruse may succeed. Even then, however, Martin needs to find out what al-Isra is and get the information to the right people.

Forsyth is a very good writer, but this is also a distinctly flawed book. Nearly the whole first half of the book is exposition, providing background on Martin and Khan before the story really kicks in during the second half. Some editing could probably have been done, either shortening all this background material or distributing it better through the book. In addition, part of the story hinges on an unlikely plane accident that creates a rather useless subplot.

Is this a good book? Yes: Forsyth is skilled enough to overcome the flaws, but Forsyth at his peak would not have had these flaws in the first place. For someone unfamiliar with his style - which often has a detached feel - The Afghan may be a little distant, but it still works overall. It's not Forsyth's best, but it will do for most readers.

I have a predisposition to love the books of Frederick Forsyth as he wrote one of my favorite books of all time: The Day of the Jackal. I would've given this story five stars as well, except for a VERY convenient coincidence that happens in about the middle of the book. I won't spoil it, but it really shocked me how out of place it felt, not to mention unnecessary. It just seemed so stunningly unrealistic compared to the authenticity of the rest of the book, but I got over it.

Forsyth is a master at spitting out details in a suspenseful way that really grabs me. It feels real, like a good Michael Mann movie. I like being in the hands of competent authors, and he is certainly that. Definitely recommended.

I really wanted to love The Afghan. The plot was taken straight from the headlines with a British agent assigned to infiltrate Al Quaeda to thwart a plot which would make 9/11 pale in comparison. The story was very readable but lacked passion. It was a bit like watching a chess match. The good guys train their mole to impersonate an Afghan held at Guantanamo Bay. The bad guys put a clever plot involving exploding ships in motion. In the end, the build up really didn't pay off. After explaining how impossible it would be to infiltrate Al Qaeda, our hero does so without much difficulty. When the true nature of the AQ plot is revealed, it is indeed horrendous. However, the terrorists are so matter of fact that it lacks excitement. This reads more like a computer simulation than something which could have really happened.

The Afghan will be most appealing to people who don't know much about Al Qaeda, antiterrorism, current military technology, and recent Afghan history and want to get a smattering in novel form. For those who are knowledgeable in those areas, this plot is filled with unnecessary details that considerably slow down the story. In addition, the plot is so far-fetched in places that you'll wonder if you are supposed to be reading a fairy tale or a realistic thriller. Strangely, the book contains more than its share of factual errors that hurt the credibility of the story. Above all, I found myself always feeling like I was reading a story rather than being drawn into something that seemed real to me.

Occasionally, the book reminds you of Day of the Jackel for a few paragraphs . . . but mostly the emotional juice has been replaced with artificial sweetener. I think the biggest weakness of The Afghan is that you probably won't identify with the protagonist all that much. In the best of Forsyth's books, someone is trying to save the world and you find yourself rooting strongly for and identifying with them. That identification with the hero simply isn't strong enough here to allow that kind of reading pleasure.

Basically, Mr. Forsyth tried a little too hard. With a slightly different and more plausible plot, fewer details, and a more accessible hero, this could have been a terrific story.

If you don't know the book's basic premise, let me summarize it for you. A senior Al Qaeda operative's computer is captured after a ridiculous security breach. On the computer comes a veiled reference to a new operation. What's going on?

Through a string of coincidences, it occurs to the powers-that-be that they may be able to infiltrate a ringer to find out the plot. Retired SAS colonel Mike Martin is transformed in a few weeks into the Afghan, a legendary Taliban leader, who is now incarcerated at Guantanamo. It turns out that the two men have a shared past which makes the switch more likely to succeed. You'll find yourself wondering what the plot is until very near the end, which is the main element of suspense that keeps the book from being a below-average offering.

My final quibble about the book is that it makes Al Qaeda seem vastly more capable and threatening than it is. People who are afraid of terrorists will find their fear fanned by this book. Statistics suggest that your chance of being harmed by a deer are greater than being injured by a terrorist.

My advice to Mr. Forsyth is that he move on to some more realistic premise in the future such as a possible war between the United States and Iran over the oil fields in the Middle East . . . and keep it simple. In addition, hire someone to check your facts for you.

I love Frederick Forsyth's writing. Mark Twain famously commented, "Truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction, after all, has to make sense." And while Forsyth's works are all fictitious, there is a tremendous amount of realism. His masterpiece "The Odessa File", written in the 1960s, discussed Nazi gold hidden under the streets of Switzerland in secret vaults. In the late 1990s, Jewish groups blew open the scandal of Nazi-Swiss collusion in extorting gold from Jewish victims. Amazingly, Forsyth "broke" that story 4 decades before.

Similarly, The Afghan contains precious nuggets of detail, especially how terror networks use repatriated prisoners to collect information on the enemy. Amazingly, Forsyth draws a sympathetic picture of Izmat Khan, rather than resorting to jingoistic drivel. The terror plot at the center of the story here is feasible and frightening. Compared with his own masterworks "Dogs of War", "The Day of The Jackal", "The Odessa File", The Afghan does not reach those heights.

But it still towers over almost every other contemporary suspense work.

This is an above average thriller dealing with an attempt by terrorists to conduct an operation on US territory that will kill many thousands of Americans. Through a fortuitous raid in a Pakistan city, British intelligence discovers a vague reference to a terrorist plot that bears further investigation. The British and American intelligence agencies team up to uncover the plot and the race is on. Mr. Forysth writes intelligent, faced paced novels with lots of details and plenty of background information. This novel was well balanced between information and action and moved along quite well. My only objection is that some events seemed a bit contrived. And yes some of the action is unbelievable, but this is what thrillers are about. Overall though this is an exciting, timely book that any thriller fan will enjoy.

Forsyth is the venerable master when it comes to writing tales of international intrigue and this is no exception. In this book you will be heartened by the incredible detail of how the western world conducts its war on terror. I have no reason to believe that the tools and weapons employed by western governments are not accurately described and I am more optimistic than ever that we are winning this war in the back alleys and seaports of the world. On top of this amazing infrastructure of global terror and the war against it, we have a book that is rich with suspense and plot turns. However, you can't have everything and I would say that the characters are weakly drawn and the plot gets a little confusing in spots. But all in all, it's a good yarn -- well worth the time you will spend with it.

Well below Forsyth standard. As another review noted an incredible string of "coincidences". A character escapes literally by means of a bolt out of the blue, which destroys the walls and kills guards but does not injure him. He then finds added assets under impossible conditions with no possible way of knowing where to look. There are even more one-in-a- million coincidences in this part of the book but any more would spoil it assuming any remaining credibility.

Several screaming factual errors. Chivas Regal is a fine Scotch but it is not a single Malt. Forsyth should know this. The mentioned jet took off from Pensacola "Air Force" base. Pensacola is a Naval base. The Air Force base in the area is Eglin.

Major loose ends at the end, like how did the bad guys know enough to plan their attack, which required very closely held information.

Lots of good material but some real blunders along the way.

I feel he has treated great character very shabbily.

Forsyth's storytelling is so realistic, packed with so much authentic detail, that I actually double-checked, after the first couple of chapters, to be certain that this was not a work of non fiction. The scenario is terrifyingly realistic and yet so gripping that I couldn't stop listening (audio version) from beginning to end. It kept me up all night.

Quite a bit of fact is incorporated in this fictional story of a planned terrorist attack. Though I had expected suspense from the beginning of the book, a large portion of the first half was devoted to background. Once the reader had been fully introduced to "the Afghan" and members of the intelligence community, the real suspense began. At this point the book became very interesting as the terrorists began to implement their plan and the intelligence people made efforts to discover their intentions. The target of the attack was finally revealed a few pages from the end and "the Afghan" again became the central character at this point.

I would give the last half of the book a five star rating.

The numerous mideastern names presented somewhat of a problem to me.

Frederick Forsyth, master of the cold war novel, now turns his talents to terrorism and Al-Qaeda. Forsyth has done his research and is familiar with the operations and strategies of terrorists as uncovered by Western intelligence networks. In this book he also turns to an old English historic and literary tradition of Englishmen passing themselves of as Easterners. At first glance it may seem improbable that an English colonel could pass for an Afghan, yet the true life exploits of T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) and before him Richard Burton seem unlikely also. Then too consider such classic books as Beau Geste and its sequels. The plot revolves around an ambitious Al-Qaeda plan to stage a sequel to 9/11. A joint British-American operation is mounted to infiltrate the organization and disrupt the plot. The Afghan is a gripping read, probably the best of the post-9/11 novels. It provides a fascinating window into the operations of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations.

Like many of the other reviewers, I have enjoyed several of Mr. Forsyth's previous books, such as "Day of the Jackal", and "The Odessa File", and was looking forward to "The Afghan". The story line of "The Afghan" caught my attention, and I thought Forsyth could really come up with a good book around this story. Well, I was wrong.

While the story line does require some suspension of disbelief, it is at least possible that an Englishmann, Mike Martin, can pass as an Afghan and ifiltrate Al Qaeda and foil AQ's next big terror attack. This is the 'big premise' the reader has to buy. In fact I was eager to read just how that would come to pass, in all the minute detail Forsyth is so good at. However, in "The Afghan", Forsyth lets you down by getting some of the smaller details wrong, and by creating some completely unbelievable situations along the way. Other reviewers have mentioned several of these flaws, some of them glaring.

The book went slightly sour for me very early on when I came across two minor, but annoying, mistakes. At one point, a GS-15 is described as a 'junior' staffer. Excuse me, but a GS-15 is the highest GS schedule grade, making around $100K per year. When I was with the Army, a GS-15 was usually a branch chief with 20 years service. Maybe it's just a difference in definition of 'junior'. A page or two later, Chivas Regal is described as a 'single malt' Scotch. OK, Chivas is quite good, but it's a well-known blended Scotch. These are very small mistakes, but they are easy to get right. It made me think of Forsyth saying, "I need a GS reference here, and a good Scotch reference over here", but not really thinking about it. Not a good thought to have in the opening chapters of a book. For me, anyway, to buy the 'big premise' the smaller detials have to be correct, or I lose confidence in the whole argument.

These very minor flaws set the stage for the glaring flaws that come later. One reviewer has pointed out that Martin could not have learned Pashtu from the Tajiks, certainly not well enough to pass as a native after 6 months, if at all. Another reviewer has noted the one episode in the book which was the most obviously flawed, the examination of the Afgahn's fillings. There is just no way any Western man's teeth can pass for an Afghan mountain man's teeth. Why this doesn't blow Martin's cover immediately, I don't know, Western dental care is unmistakable. Many things in the book are a stretch, and that's OK, but this is so stupid I almost put the book down. After this, as I got to the whirlwind end chapters of the book, I had become very sensitive to implausibilities, which the book continued to provide up until the end. The non-stop, airport-hopping tour Martin-as-Afghan-as-Arab takes along with a well-dressed, well-travelled Arab companion provided a few scenes that pushed my buttons, but I won't elaborate. It's like Forsyth, or his editors, were in some kind hurry to finish the book and let a lot go by without questioning it. Other reviewers have noted the poor editing, and I agree - I had to stop and try and figure out to whom Forsyth was refering several times.

I paid retail for this book because the premise caught me, and becuase Forsyth has certainly written some excellent books. This is not one of them. Despite the flaws and poor editing, I was interested in the story until the end, hence the 3 stars. It could have been a better book, if Forsyth had had an honest, critical internal review and corrected its short comings before release. Buy it used or borrow it from the library.

In "The Afghan", Forsyth again shows he's done his research well. The plot has a retired soldier, Mike Martin, assuming the identity of an Afghan Guantanamo Bay inmate to go undercover in Al Qaeda to learn about a planned terrorist attack and try to stop it. As it happens, Martin and the Afghan met several years ago in Afghanistan. This subplot is described in a lengthy flashback that, while relevant to the plot, slows down the pace of the novel; not until halfway into the book does the main story really get started. Later in the book, there's an extremely implausible subplot that adds nothing to the story. Overall, "The Afghan" is a well researched novel that's doesn't quite live up to its possibilities.

The Afghan is a fantastic story. Forsyth's story telling takes the reader into the hills of Afghanistan, the belly of a ship and into the world of a terrorist. I have always been a fan of his writing, but this book painted a picture of how a great intelligence operation comes together.

From the first page of the story when the phone rings in Peshawar to the very end where... it ends (no spoilers, you have to read this one), the story had me wrapped inside the world of both an intelligence operative and a terrorist.

This is a well researched novel with the usual amount of detail that one has come to expect in the work of this witer. The problem that I experienced was that the plot had numerous characters and, at times, did not have the smooth flow which usually has been found to exist in his writings. It is a good story, although it is a page turner. Much of what takes place is carefully scripted and is frequently predictable. The characters lack depth and are somewhat cartoonish in nature. This is not anywhere near the quality that was found to exist in Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File or even his more recent book, The Avenger. It is an average book and a step back for Forsyth, a man who once was in the category of John LeCarre.

The main flaw/inconsistency of this book (and other reviewers have noted many) which would become immediately obvious if a movie were ever made, is that the switch between an Afghan agent and a British agent would be obvious and would fail immediately . It's not enough to look very very like the same Afghan agent, you'd still be spotted instantly as a fraud. Why? Because among all the hi tech gear Forsyth has employed , he's forgotten about something which would instantly give you away. It's called a 'photo'.

i.e The Afghan and Mike Martin could be compared in a photo by someone who knew The Afghan, and even if you didn't know him you could still see they're not the same person. There seems to be an element of 'all these Muslim types, they've all got straggly beards and wild eyes and all look the same really'

The plot is still riveting at times and it's very entertaining (in a slightly old fashioned way) but is so full of holes it ultimately falls apart.

The other reviewers have done a good enough job of explaining the plot and (to some critics) the flaws in the plot. What they have missed is the superb research that Forsyth has done in preparing the book. For example, better than anyone I know, Forsyth has laid out an easy to understand history of Afganistan since the Soviet invasion and withdrawal. In that history he describes the rise of the Taliban and gives some important background information on Bin Laden. He also intelligently discusses some of the radical schools in Afganistan and Pakistan and describes the Saudi support for those schools. He even delves into some of the sects of Islam, that are often mentioned in the press, but never fully explained. While the book is fiction, the research into the region, the religion, the movements is superb. This book will explain who the Taliban are, how they came to power, what they are trying to do now, etc. It even has some information on Al Quaida.

"The Afghan" is a thrilling page-turner with realistic details that will at once educate and make you think about how vulnerable we all are. I hope the secret intelligence services serving to protect innocent people read this book and hopefully prevent unspeakable atrocities. And if the atrocities are unspeakable, this book is very much readable.

This is the story of a retired British intelligence officer being asked to serve once again against terrorism in a mission he might never make it back. The retired officer is asked to infiltrate the familial network of Al-Qaeda and be one of them. His real mission is to discover the purpose behind a secret AQ mission only known as Al-Isra, or the Voyage. The final destination of this voyage takes the reader all the way to the final page without boredom. Much thanks to Forsyth's clear and well thought out writing.

There are some borrowed literary gems too, such as from Rudyard Kipling, as the poet made contrast between the power of will regardless of social status to the perfunctory hearts of wealth: "A scrimmage in a Border Station/A canter down some dark defile/Two thousand pounds of education/Drops to a ten-rupee jazail".

Riveting from beginning to end even if the incident with the F-15's engine stretches your sense of credulity, it really was the only way - short of an earthquake or volcanic eruption - to provide the novel's name sake a way to escape.

Forsyth has the timing, technology, territory and character traits down. These are the real 4Ts of his thrillers. Every incident has to be believable while continuing to move time forward - even the obligatory UCU (Google or Wikipedia James Jesus Angleton). The technology from the sniper rifle - much improved since "The Day of the Jackal" - to the LPG tanker is spot on. From the Cascade Mountains of Washington State to the Celebes, from the Hampshire countryside to Tora Bora, Forsyth really puts you into the territory. People, people, people - the characters have fully developed and studied traits. They have a dimensionality about them beyond the typical thriller cardboard cut outs. From sea captains to special forces captains, from Islamic extremists to government toadies, they are all believable within the context of the book. [...].

Forsyth weaves actual events and people throughout this novel, placing his two main characters throughout various conflicts in recent history. It comes dangerously close to a "Forrest Gump" sequence but in the end, most of these chance meetings do play a significant role as the plot unfolds.

The characters are developed mainly by their actions with little, if any, exploration into their thoughts or motives. Consequently, the book moves along at a good clip and the action is intriguing enough that it doesn't really matter. The idealogies of the players in the "War on Terror" are published enough elsewhere and fresh enough in the headlines that the reader may just follow the action.

If I were to nitpick, there are some worn plot devices used: experts brought in to brief us on history, a "deus ex machina" moment for one of the main characters, but really, I ate it all up. It was a gripping, intriguing thriller and I'm likely to read more from Frederick Forsyth as a result.

Took til at least halfway through the book, but after that, it took off, in spades. Utterly believable too, always a plus. Espionage, international intrigue, with a very exciting climax. For me, though, I guess the research was a little too meticulous, too much detail. Others might find this interesting. Guns, geography, military organization, technology. This was the big stumbling block in the first half. Way too many initialed departments to keep track of. Unfortunately, an all too plausible plot. Certainly pertinent today.

In Jul 2005, the four homegrown fanatical suicide bombers devastated the London commute. When the police thoroughly searched their Leeds homes for clues they found receipts for throwaway cellphones making them traceable. One phone became a gift working its way closer to the inner circle that surrounds the invisible Bin Laden. Over a year later, the cellphone was finally used by senior Al Qaeda operative Abdelahi talking to his brother. The American, British and Pakistani espionage agents track the call to its source and obtain the terrorist's computer.

From that they learn of a new plot to make nine-eleven look like a minor incident, but lack key details. To thwart the scheme, the West comes up with a desperate gambit. Veteran British SAS operative Colonel Mike Martin, who was raised in Iraq, takes the identity of Taliban commander Izmat Khan incarcerated for five years at Guantomino Bay's Delta Camp when they release the "prisoner" to Afghan custody. Martin has doubts he can pull this off though he succeeded once before as an Afghan, but then he was a lowly gardener and now they want him to be an inner circle commander. Still he takes the assignment knowing he will die if exposed, but risks his life to obtain the needed answers to the 5Ws.

THE AFGHAN is a fabulous espionage thriller that grips the audience from the very start with its brief description of the London transit attacks and never slows down until the final confrontation. The story line is action-packed mindful of the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much and Frederick Forsyth's novel THE DAY OF THE JACKAL. Though the exciting climax seems too simple, fans will agree that Mr. Forsyth remains a top thriller author with his strong post nine-eleven tale.

Harriet Klausner

Frederick Forsyth has been one of my favorite authors since his classic, The Day Of The Jackal. For about the first quarter of his latest, The Afghan, I thought I was in for another treat from this very talented writer. The plot about a planned Al Qaeda terrorist attack designed to make the 9/11 attack seem small showed great promise. However, Forsyth got so bogged down in presenting all of the details from the extensive research he did that it seriously interfered with, and often overshadowed, the intended suspense. For me, rather than creating a sense of excitement and thrills, I found many parts of The Afghan to be boring. Another disappointing element of The Afghan is that its main character, while obviously a hero, is not one you get a sense of "knowing," which is usually one of the strong points in a Forsyth novel. All in all, The Afghan is not a bad book; but it does not come close to living up to its potential and it is not one I'd recommend you rush out to read.

Having read Frederick Forsyth's works over the past 15 years, I have been significantly impressed by their characteristics which make them distinct from other thrillers. In fact, if I were to rate contemporary writers of thrillers, I would assign a 9/10 for Forsyth.

I recently bought The Afghan (2006)- mainly because it featured the protagonist from The Fist of God (1994), one of Forsyth's best characters. The Afghan is a stand-alone and one is not required to have a prior knowledge of The Fist of God. The plot revolves around the British and American intelligence agencies fortuitously catching wind of an impending and calamitous operation, codenamed Al Isra, by the AQ. Their research on Al Isra comes up with naught, and they make a perilous gambit in order to get insider information: having one of their own infiltrate into the higher echelons of AQ. Finding such an individual is like seeking for a needle among the haystack.

A slip of tongue by SOAS academic Dr Terry Martin leads them to his brother Mike Martin, a retired SAS Colonel in his mid 40s who has clocked 25 years of active service. Martin is a perfect mole- a patriotic Englishman, born and brought up in Iraq, and a background of having conducted critical operations in the Falklands, Ireland, Kosovo, Iraq (during Operation Desert Shield and to run an Iraqi spy `Jericho'- as elaborated in The Fist of God) and Afghanistan. He is also fluent in Arabic, knows passable Pashto, is well versed in the Middle Eastern culture, and more importantly, has the physical characteristics of his maternal Indian grandmother. Martin, whom we find spending his retirement days converting a old barn into a habitable dwelling, succumbs to the prospect of more thrill, just like he chose his career over his marriage. Martin is to impersonate the famed Izmat Khan, a senior commander of the Taliban, currently languishing in Guantanamo Bay (and refusing to talk all thanks to his burning hatred for the country which obliterated his village along with his young family), and with his credentials infiltrate into the AQ.

I wish not to provide a detailed synopsis of the novel, but I would gladly recommend it as a good read for those who are new to the genre or to Forsyth's works. The writing style is mainly documentary and cynical, as befits the subject. Detailed information, sometimes technical, is provided so that anyone could understand the plot (on modern-day technology, insights into espionage, Afghanistan's war-riddled history, AQ's formation and history, the difference between Islam and Wahabbism, AQ's worldwide recruitment). The reader is able to study the main characters and deduce what truly drives their past, present, and future decision-making, and evaluate their lives being woven into real world events. There aren't too many detailed depiction of violence (you'll have to use your imagination). The reader finds themselves an observer, wherever the scene might be set- in fact, there is a very blurred line between fact and fiction. I also loved the snippets of poetry and would have appreciated more.

However, the book has quite a few errors (as pointed out by other reviewers), including a few contradictions all of which one wouldn't expect in a work of Forsyth. Were these made deliberately? Furthermore, around halfway into the novel, one got the impression that Forsyth got tired of writing and just wanted to wind up his opus. There are holes in the plot, dependence on assumptions, and the characters remain one dimensional (all that one can conclude is that Mike is closed and emotionally detached whilst Izmat has a life riddled with tragedies).

The plot also heavily relies on coincidences (some being practically improbable) which are downers: it turns out that Martin had met a young Izmat Khan when the former was attempting to reach the Mujahideen resistance in Afghanistan who were fighting the Soviets. And Martin had practically saved his life twice. Later on, Izmat Khan's implausible escape, `The Sheikh' remembering the brief encounter with the teenage Khan and the exact conversation he had with him from years ago, and the AQ deciding on Martin's fate as a participant/observer for the top-secret Al Isra itself, the vagueness of what Al Isra entailed until the very end ... the list goes on. Admittedly, there was no need for the pseudo-Khan to be included in this operation as a steersman on a tanker traversing many seas as opposed to other AQ operations which may have had need of his expertise- his input during the entire Al Isra was practically nil and unnecessary. It would have been more credible had Martin infiltrated AQ in their lair itself and gleaning information about Al Isra.

There are other impossible scenarios, the blatant one being the G8 summit being held in a luxury liner traversing the Atlantic and this plan not being scrapped despite getting information of an AQ threat from the sea. The rustic Afghan also seems to adapt well to international air-travel masquerading as a well-dressed Arab businessman. Another instance was Martin passing the rigorous physical examination aimed at checking out his identity- had he been an Afghan, surely he wouldn't have western dental fillings (unless these were gifted at G-Bay and would have been circumcised?

I was also irked by the glaring dissimilarities between the Mike Martin of The Fist of God and the Mike Martin of The Afghan, least of these being that he was born in around 1955 in the first book and five years later in the second book.

The climax was an anti-climax (although probably realistic given the circumstances), I would have definitely preferred an alternative ending. I would have also preferred a detailed plot with flawless research and better proof-reading- but perhaps I am asking for too much.

Try not to compare this with his past works- for it falls miserably (although better than The Icon). But when compared to other works in the same genre, it is a good, gripping, and enjoyable thriller which you wouldn't put down until you complete reading it. And should Forsyth pen an improved The Afghan, I would be happy to buy it. I wouldn't mind another sequel featuring Martin as well.

I found the beginning of the book quite gripping and educational, but as I got further and further into the story, I found myself getting bogged down with longer than necessary Afghan history, long Arabic names and conicidence after coincidence. That an American AF plan could just happen to crash onto a remote cabin was just too much.

I am grateful for all those in the USA and GB who work daily to see that attacks such as the one planned in this book never happen. That there are some who are prepared to give their lives for people they never knew and who never knew of their sacrifice, I have no doubt. Some probably already have.

The book just needed some shortening and plot reworking. The concept, though, is frightening....

The best parts of the book were Forsyth's description of a small society in Afghanistan and how an individual from it evolved to the world of terrorism, and the description of the different faces of terrorism across multiple countries. It was interesting to see the various events that affected Afghans and the differences in view they held such as with respect to the westerners.

If you view this book as a piece of fiction and for entertainment, it is absolutely outstanding; if you use it as a history text or try to analyze every detail of how and why things happened as described, needless to say, it comes up a bit short. eg. Forsyth would have been done better providing a strong reason why the agent Martin was selected to be part of the terror plot. All in all, a great work of fiction.

If we are not fearful enough, than Fredrick Forsyth reminds us that the terrorists have the money, the skills and, most importantly, the patience needed to meticulously plan horrific acts designed to destroy our open societies. Although more of a history lesson than the traditional thriller, The Afghan shines in its plausible plot, in details and suspense.

When the British and the American intelligent services learn of a plot known only as Al-Isra (the enlightenment of Mohammad), they conceive of a daring plan to infiltrate Al-Qaeda. They recruit the recently retired Col Mike Martin (of the superb Fist of God) to impersonate Izmat Khan, an Afghan Taliban commander. From Afghanistan of the 1980s to the Saudi-financed maddarasses in Pakistan where young men are brainwashed into hatred, Forsyth trails the rise of the Islamic terror groups. Still the master of the spy genre, Forsyth has the exceptional ability to transform dry data into an engaging story. Chilling.

Through a thick forrest of detail and "local color," which gives the impression the author was reluctant to throw away any bit of research he had gathered, we glimpse a thin and improbable plot of uncanny coincidences. The only type missing is the old favorite: the last page discovery of the hero's true noble ancestry and heritage.
The author's ambition seems to have been to think up "the next 9/11" and offer a satsifying thwarting of it by the capable counter-espionage of the Brits and the Americans, in that order, for the author manages to convey subtly but clearly that the Brits are cleverer although less endowed technologically than their "cousins" (the term is used).
As for the terrorists, we get the strong message that the enemy is Islam (with the perfunctory occasional disclaimer de rigueur that it is Islamic fundamentalism and not all Islam). The "Islamist" characters are all cardboard cutouts animated by one goal in life only: to destroy us. From the farthest reaches of far east Asia to the ME and Africa, they all hate us with a fanatical passion for no other reason except that their religion dictates it.
In its pamphleteering simplicity, his novel reminded me of the short reels shown in American theaters before the movies in the early 50s aiming to keep us vigilant against the "red menace" and reassuring us that our brave FBI and NSA men (no women yet) were working tirelessly and successfully to protect us.
Disappointing, especially from someone of this author's talent and previous work.