Icon by Frederick Forsyth


This is my first Forsyth novel and for the first 250 pages...

Originally published in 1996.

...I had determined that it would be my last.

 Forsyth spends the first half of of the 500+ page Icon just setting the reader up for the real plot of the novel. Unfortunately, the setup consists of a series of disjointed flashbacks interspersed with seemingly unrelated tales of what is going on in the present of the novel (1999-2000 in the old USSR, now Russia).

Suddenly, once the flashbacks work their way up to the present time the real story starts and it is a great adventure story! The meandering story redeems itself. There is a lot of action, intrigue and a bunch of frustrated Nazis. Unfortunately, the ending is just too neat - it ends the book with everything too well resolved.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

 This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Icon by Frederick Forsyth.

 Reviewed on October 9, 2005.

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