Icon

By Frederick Forsyth

Book Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the master of the novel of international intrigue comes a riveting new book as timely and unsettling as tomorrow's headlines.

It is summer 1999 in Russia, a country on the threshold of anarchy. An interim president sits powerless in Moscow as his nation is wracked by famine and inflation, crime and corruption, and seething hordes of the unemployed roam the streets.

For the West, Russia is a basket case. But for Igor Komarov, one-time army sergeant who has risen to leadership of the right-wing UPF party, the chaos is made to order. As he waits in the wings for the presidential election of January 2000, his striking voice rings out over the airwaves offering the roiling masses hope at last--not only for law, order, and prosperity, but for restoring the lost greatness of their land.

Who is this man with the golden tongue who is so quickly becoming the promise of a Russia reborn? A document stolen from party headquarters and smuggled to Washington and London sends nightmare chills through those who remember the past, for this Black Manifesto is pure Mein Kampf in a country with frightening parallels to the Germany of the Weimar Republic.

Officially the West can do nothing, but in secret a group of elder statesmen sends the only person who can expose the truth about Komarov into the heart of the inferno. Jason Monk, ex-CIA and "the best damn agent-runner we ever had," had sworn he would never return to Moscow, but one name changes his mind. Colonel Anatoli Grishin, the KGB officer who tortured and murdered four of Monk's agents after they had been betrayed by Aldrich Ames, is now Komarov's head of security.

Monk has a dual mission: to stop Komarov, whatever it takes, and to prepare the way for an icon worthy of the Russian people. But he has a personal mission as well: to settle the final score with Grishin. To do this he must stay alive--and the forces allied against him are ruthless, the time frighteningly short. . . .

Praise for Icon

"Vintage Forsyth, intricate, exact and gripping."--The New York Times Book Review

"Another strong performance by a writer who knows exactly what he's about, and who here catalyzes narrative with another memorable protagonist, the stealthy and daring Monk."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"One of his best works for a long time, which provides an all-too-real look at a chilling new millennium."--The Sunday Times, London

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553574604
• ISBN13: 9780553574609
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.3" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Compelling

I think it's ironic that this, the first Forsythe novel I read, should also be his last thriller. I read it on a long transoceanic flight a year ago and have become an avid Forsythe reader. This is my favorite of the books I've read so far, with Day of the Jackal a close second. I thought Forsythe's solution to the problem in the political system was intriguing, and the story was gripping.

Great spine tingler

I couldn't put this book down until I had finished. The places, dates and events brought History alive for me. Even the future events were vivid and realistic. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Forsyth's works. I give this work my highest recomendation. Read it, you'll like it, just as I did.

A Great Read!!

This is the first Frederick Forsyth book that I have read and I found the story to be riveting and the characters to be likable. The background historical information was very informative, too!

The Master's Final Stroke

In another example of his genius, in his last novel (Source : BBC World), Fedrick Forsyth has created a monster of a thriller of no mean proportions. The story starts off with the death of the President of Russia and the installment of a caretaker President who calls fresh elections. A former Soviet-era engineer with a gift of speech is one of the candidates and a cinch to win. However, his party has a secret manifesto, a black manifesto. A manifesto whoose objective is to cripple all of Russia's neighbours and establish a dictatorship even more powerful and renegade than the old Soviet Union. But, somehow by lax of security, even though the head of security is a former KGB colnel, the manifesto falls into the hands of a US diplomat. Alarms are immediatly raised, and a secret commitee is formed to discredit the candidate. A retired top - class agent is sent in a MI5 cum CIA operation. His misson? TO direct all ethinic minorities, the Islamic Mafia, the military, the Jewish businessmen, the Anti-Drug and Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Church of Russia against a advisary which would cause their mass slaughter. However, there is one trick still up the KGB colnel's sleeve - The Mafia, His own Balck Gaurd and 'Coup d'Êtat'. In future years this bestseller is sure to become a collector's item, not because of the fact that the author has declared it to be his final book but because of its sheer intense action and drama.