On 22 August 1962 there was an assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle, the French president. It was one of an estimated 30 made against him throughout his life. In this 1962 attempt, de Gaulle and his wife were in an unmarked car heading to the airport, accompanied by another unmarked car and two motorcycles. A commando unit of twelve men, armed with automatic weapons and explosives ambushed the motorcade at a crossroad near the Petit-Clamart roundabout. One hundred and eighty-seven rounds were fired on the motorcade, with fourteen hits later found on the presidential vehicle. No one in the motorcade was injured, but the driver of a car on the opposite of the road received minor injuries. There was an immediate manhunt across France to catch the perpetrators of the attack. While several members escaped, the leader, Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, was caught on 15 September 1962 and executed on 11 March 1963.

This real incident is the starting point of the fictional Day of the Jackal. Forsyth opens his story with this assassination attempt, then shows the immediate aftermath – French security stepping up their efforts to destroy the Organisation Armée Secrète (the OAS), the paramilitary/terrorist organisation responsible for the attempt. The OAS were angry at de Gaulle for his granting of independence to Algeria. They regarded this as a betrayal of the French Army and were determined that he should die.

It is now March 1963. Lt Colonel Marc Rodin and two deputies are fearful of capture, especially after the kidnapping of Antoine Argoud, the OAS operations commander, in Munich the previous month. They retreat to Vienna to plan the OAS’s next steps. They realise their only hope of killing de Gaulle is to hire a professional assassin from outside their organisation, a foreigner who is not known to the French government with its extensive personal records of every French criminal. They choose an unnamed British assassin who agrees to do the job for a payment of $500,000, with half payable in advance. The assassin tells them in future to use only his codename, ‘Jackal’.

The majority of the next part of the book follows the Jackal’s planning and elaborate preparation. After he forms his broad plan, he is meticulous in planning the details: in developing his main false identity, stealing passports and preparing disguises for several reserve identities, obtaining forged papers and commissioning a customised rifle. Gradually the French security network, with Colonel Rolland, the head of Action Service (a branch of the French Secret Service), are reintroduced to the story. They are determined to find the reason why Rodin and his two deputies have now holed themselves up in a hotel in Rome, protected around the clock by a group of ex-legionnaires. Rolland manages to capture Rodin’s bodyguard, Viktor Kowalski, luring him to France with a fake story that his daughter has a terminal illness. Kowalski is tortured into revealing what little he knows of Rodin’s plans. Although the information is virtually incoherent, Rolland realises the OAS have hired a foreign assassin. The rest of the story follows both sides as the pace heats towards the conclusion. Who will win? Will the Jackal succeed or will he be caught in time? Although the book is slow paced at the beginning, as the Jackal’s chosen day for his plan approaches, the pace becomes increasingly hectic. It doesn’t matter that historically we know that de Gaulle was not assassinated: the final chapters of this book are packed with suspense.

It’s difficult not to be on the Jackal’s side as we share all of his meticulous planning, even as he cold bloodedly kills anyone who impedes him or who is a possible future threat to him. In one scene he calmly disposes of someone who attempts to blackmail him: “the killing of the forger was as mechanical as stamping on a cockroach”. On that same day the Jackal meets with the man who custom made the rifle he needs for the assassination. This man does his job well, turns over the product to the Jackal in return for the agreed payment. The message from the Jackal is clear - act professionally and be treated professionally. Betray that standard of professional transaction for specific services at your own risk. It’s ruthless but you understand his motivation for the killing of the forger.

This initial alignment with his morally questionable character is aided by the behaviour of the French security forces. Their methods are totally ruthless. They use use kidnappings, torture and even employ the French equivalent of the Mafia as they hunt down the OAS. Even Lebel, the police officer who eventually leads the hunt for the Jackal, despises them, calling them a “bunch of thugs”. To me, the Jackal joins a number of other morally ambiguous characters I’ve enjoyed over the years, such as Dexter or Saul Goodman or Joe Goldberg. I may understand that they are sociopaths, but I also sympathise and want them to get away with whatever they are doing. However, Lebel introduces a complication to this simple cheering-for-the-bad-guy. Lebel is a good man, and he dedicates himself totally to hunting down the Jackal while simultaneously dealing with a panel of the heads of each French security branch, including an obnoxious character attached to de Gaulle’s staff. The story becomes a cat and mouse game between the Jackal and Lebel, both experts at what they do, and because each is sympathetic, it makes the story that much more compelling.

Added to this is the air of infallibility the Jackal exudes: that of the flawless mastermind. But the Jackal is not infallible and we, as readers, know this. This heightens the tension, too. At the most crucial moment it is possible that the Jackal may succeed or fail, but success or failure might depend upon something as trivial as the difference between French and English customs. The most accomplished can be brought undone by the most trivial of circumstances, and upon that reality the outcomes teeters.

This is an intelligent thriller that remains an exciting read decades after it was written. The world Forsyth has created is immersive, as a reader you become completely caught up in both the preparation for the assassination attempt and in the investigation. It kept me engrossed to the end.

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