The Day of the Jackal

By: Frederick Forsyth

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the most celebrated thrillers ever written, The Day of the Jackal is the electrifying story of an anonymous Englishman who in, the spring of 1963, was hired by Colonel Marc Rodin, operations chief of the O.A.S., to assassinate General de Gaulle.

France was infuriated by Charles de Gaulle's withdrawal from Algeria, and there were six known attempts to assassinate the general that failed. This novel dramatizes the seventh, mostly deadly attempt, involving a professional killer for hire who would be unknown to the French Police. His code name was Jackal, his price half a million dollars, and his demand total secrecy, even from his employers.

Step by painstaking step, we follow the Jackal in his meticulous planning, from the fashioning of a specially made rifle to the devising of his approach to the time and the place where the general is to meet the Jackal's bullet. The only obstacle in his path is a small, diffident, rumpled policeman, who happens to be considered by his boss the best detective in France: Deputy Commissaire Claude Lebel.

©1971 Frederick Forsyth (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A masterpiece tour de force of crisp, sharp, suspenseful writing." ( Wall Street Journal)
"Compelling, utterly enthralling....Some of the tensest thriller writing I can remember reading." ( Sunday Express, London)

Still a great book!

Not only a true classic but transcends its age by being one of the best detective/murder books written

Fantastic story & performance

The fact that the story and setting is decades in the past added to my enjoyment, making everything different enough to remain fascinating.

storyline

Liked it all, Accurate, erudite, enjoyable and facinatong. Can not wait to read more. Adventure!

A Classic Suspense Novel

I thoroughly enjoyed this classic suspense novel. The action was well-paced and the characters were fully developed. I enjoyed every twist and turn in the plot and found the book to be great, even though I had seen the movie version. The reader kept me enthralled and did a wonderful job voicing the characters. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good suspense novel.

As gripping as I remembered

I remember reading and enjoying all of Frederick Forsyth's books when I was a teenager. Unfortunately, that's not always the best recommendation. However, listening to "The Day of the Jackal" didn't disappoint – – it's as good as I thought it was going to be. It ages well. It's actually kind of interesting to see how difficult it was to put a little assassination together in the days before the Internet and cell phones. Anyway, this was an excellent listen, and now I'm moving on to another Forsyth book, "The Odessa File."

Excellent narrator

great story and good performance overall, but the narrator gets bonus points from me for his handling of Scottish accents.

far better than expected

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

the writing is perfect, as well as the narration

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Day of the Jackal?

the ever building tension was more memorable than any one moment

What about Simon Prebble’s performance did you like?

transporting

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

if time allowed

Any additional comments?

quite good and not a genre I would normally choose

Excellent, holds up very well

Really, it's amazing how well this holds up from 40 years ago (pub 1971 or so). Set in 1963, it's a straight-forward narrative, the step-by-step tale of how the Jackal planned the assassination of Charles de Gaulle and how he was stopped by a police officer who just wouldn't give up and who checked everything. Very good story for knitting.

Classic

This is a Classic I overlooked before. Now after reading it I am so glad I came back around to it. I also love that the book is about the work and not about long drawn out action sequences! Pod cast of Ben Shapiro brought me here.

Wow! Just wow

This was an unbelievable book! I recommend this to every single person who reads this review, yes this is it