The Afghan

June 5, 2006
Set in the very near future, veteran Forsyth's latest isn't quite up to the level of The Day of the Jackal
or his more recent Fist of God
, but it's a cut above most other post-9/11 spy thrillers. The threat of a catastrophic assault on the West, discovered on a senior al-Qaeda member's computer, compels the leaders of the U.S. and the U.K. to attempt a desperate gambit—to substitute a seasoned British operative, Col. Mike Martin, for an Afghan Taliban commander being held prisoner at Guantánamo Bay and then arrange Martin's release into Afghan custody. Martin must maintain his cover under the closest scrutiny, even as the details of the planned outrage are kept beyond his reach. Despite the choice to have Porter Goss as CIA director at the end of 2006 and some nick-of-time Hollywood heroics, Forsyth convincingly conjures up the world of counterterrorism and offers an all-too plausible terrorist plot. 250,000 printing.

October 2, 2006
Forsyth writes as if preparing for the movie or television miniseries he knows will surely follow. His multiple focus in terms of characters and settings makes for thrilling cinema and engrossing reading, but in an audio version, a global smattering of Afghani, Arabic, Pakistani, British, Indonesian and other names can cause a bout of verbal vertigo. Wise listeners will replay the first CD or at least part of it. Once the characters, ships and locales are in place, the narrative is much easier to follow, despite Forsyth's love of minutiae. Powell plods through the novel with all the enthusiasm of a distracted Oxbridge tutor. His presentation is careful and eloquent but ultimately dull. He doesn't understand the nuances of most accents, including those of the Americans, all of whom have gruff voices. Powell does best with his performance of Colonel Mike Martin, the reluctant hero of this tale. The action, when it comes, is too little and too late to hold one's attention on audio. Powell's lethargic pace inflates this particular flaw in Forsyth's novel. It would be better to read the print version or wait for the film. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, June 5).

Listening to THE AFGHAN is like watching a train wreck. You know it will be grotesque, that there will be bloodied bodies and hideous dismemberments, yet you can't help yourself. Frederick Forsyth has the ability to mesmerize with an insider's knowledge, and Robert Powell's reading is no less insistent. British and American intelligence learn that Al-Qaeda is planning something big. Will it be nuclear? Biological? No one is sure. Someone has to infiltrate, a nearly impossible task. Nearly. British intelligence officer Mike Martin (THE FIST OF GOD) is the man for the job. Powell's performance as an assortment of Brits, Americans, Arabs, Afghans, and Indians is flawless, and Forsyth's story of imminent disaster is irresistible. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine