The Afghan by Frederick Frosyth

So the master is back! But is he really the master this time? From a debutant, The Afghan would have been considered a superb effort, but coming from the veteran of The Day of the Jackal and The Fist of God, it doesn’t quite arouse the same feelings! The book it seems swings between extremes, on some points one can detect the Forsyth magic at its work, but at others one can feel the lack of attention on the author’s part.

The storyline is current and in sync with the present world situation. It talks of a terrorist threat to the world that would even make 9/11 look insignificant. As the western intelligence agencies get wind of a possible catastrophe being planned by Al-Qaeda, they are desperate for more information. But who would provide it to them? For they have no moles in Al-Qaeda, and the secret is so well guarded that only the elite amongst the elite of the Al-Qaeda hierarchy actually know about it.

It’s impossible to plant someone in the Al-Qaeda unless they manage to pass of a westerner as an Afghan among the Afghans. Colonel Mike Martin is a 25 year old veteran of war zones, but more importantly is dark, been raised in Iraq and can pass as Izmat Khan, the true Afghan!

Is it possible for the British Colonel to pass of as a former senior commander of the Taliban? Does he have the potential to pass a test, the failure in which would surely guarantee a death ticket, but not before a journey through hell.

Forsyth has made references to the use of latest technology in the book and it seems that the modern thriller is going to have more of technology and less of the old-fashioned thriller stuff. However there are some glaring mistakes, mistakes which I feel a bit more of research and some good technical editing could have easily removed. One more thing which we as Indians would be especially interested in, Kerala has been referred to as providing a fertile place for Islamist extremism to grow!!!

On the whole I would say that The Afghan is surely not up there with The Day of the Jackal, but it does merit one reading.

Rating: 6/10