The Outsider

August 17, 2015
British author Forsyth’s real life has been almost as thrilling as the stories he’s created in his 15 novels. In this collection of autobiographical vignettes, Forsyth details his many once-in-a-lifetime experiences that helped shaped his work, including the inspiration for his debut novel, 1971’s spy classic The Day of the Jackal. A twist of fate allowed Forsyth to enter the Royal Air Force—his boyhood dream—at the unlikely age of 17. He crashed his 1949 MG sports car in 1960 and spent three days in a coma, then received his big break when the Reuters news agency sent him to Paris as a foreign correspondent to cover the uprising against French President Charles de Gaulle. And Forsyth claims to have almost started World War III. Eventually, Forsyth made the switch to broadcast journalism and joined the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1965, deflecting death in the African jungle during the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s before turning to fiction. Forsyth packs his stories with history both personal and global, and writes with the charm of a man recounting his escapades to grown grandchildren, making this a riveting and refreshing memoir.

August 15, 2015
Acclaimed thriller writer Forsyth (The Kill List, 2013, etc.) delivers a charming autobiography about his real-life adventures around the globe. The author was raised during the Blitz, and he describes a childhood of routine bombardment, constant fires, and a tank parked in his backyard. Forsyth became obsessed with the Royal Air Force, and he eventually enlisted. But he seemed destined to write tales of suspense: he learned several languages, became a foreign correspondent, and traveled the world in search of stories. In Germany, he accidentally shared a drink with a Nazi war criminal. In France, he covered the near-assassination of Charles de Gaulle. In Nigeria, he found himself stuck in the middle of the Biafran War. The book is a patchwork of anecdotes told in the meandering style of an elder Englishman. Forsyth's tales of derring-do are a pleasure to read, especially when coupled with his self-deprecating humor, but his most endearing quality is his ravenous curiosity, which pulled him from one exotic location to another. When he visited the Negev Desert, not long after the 1948 war, he interviewed an aged veteran who had spent decades fighting for the creation of Israel. "He stared for several seconds, then came alive, as if jolted by an electric shock," writes the author. "I could have filled ten notebooks, but I just sat and listened to an old man who was sixty years of living history and who had seen it all." Forsyth has also seen it all, and though his sometimes-rambling memoir has no overarching message, he explains how a dreamy London youth ended up writing some of the world's most famous thrillers. When Forsyth recounts the moment he typed the title The Day of the Jackal for the first time, fans may find themselves misty-eyed. Reading The Outsider is like listening to a grandfather recount his exploits in front of the fireplace: the narrative is occasionally long-winded and self-satisfied, but after living such an exciting life, Forsyth has earned his bragging rights.

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September 15, 2015
Espionage author Forsyth has long avoided writing an autobiography. And, technically, he still hasn't written one. This memoir is more of an episodic collection of stories from his life: here he is in the RAF; here he is going to Fleet Street to become a foreign correspondent; here he is in Paris; and so on. Forsyth applies his clean, journalistic writing style to his own life, reporting it rather than reliving it. Like his novels, his life has had its moments of drama and intrigue. He speaks multiple languages, was a fighter pilot in the RAF, witnessed the attempted assassination of French president Charles de Gaulle (which planted the seed for his first novel, 1971's The Day of the Jackal), and there are persistent rumors that he might have done some spying for MI6, rumors he addresses here in a most tantalizing way. A very intriguing look at the personal story of the man behind numerous best-selling thrillers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

September 15, 2015

Best-selling British suspense novelist Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal; The Odessa File) has penned 15 novels over more than four decades. As a child growing up in Ashford, Kent, in the aftermath of World War II, however, the literary life was the furthest thing from his mind. "I never intended to be a writer at all," admits Forsyth. "Long periods of solitude were first a circumstance, then a preference, and finally a necessity." Instead, Forsyth longed to travel the world in search of the exotic locales he read about in his father's morning newspaper and the family atlas. He parlayed that obsession for adventure--and separateness--into a peripatetic lifestyle as an "outsider," becoming the Royal Air Force's youngest pilot, taking on a stint as a journalist, during which he witnessed the horror of the Nigerian Civil War, and immersing himself in the universe of international intrigue that became fodder for his larger-than-life espionage stories. VERDICT Forsyth relates the many fascinating episodes of his life with joie de vivre and a disarming sense of wonder that will ring true with readers of his novels. Also recommended for those unfamiliar with Forsyth's fiction but intrigued by the rich observations and well-earned ruminations of a master of his craft. [See Prepub Alert, 4/27/15.]--Patrick A. Smith, Bainbridge State Coll., GA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015

Sure, he's written thrillers from 1971's The Day of the Jackal to 2013's The Kill List and won a Diamond Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association for his efforts, but here's Forsyth's biggest bit of intrigue yet: the story of his life, starting with his service as the RAF's youngest pilot at age 19. With a 175,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.