Thrills & kills: Frederick Forsyth turns to modern-day terrorism
With his latest book, master storyteller Frederick Forsyth is back doing what he does best, writes Jo Baker
Aged 75, Frederick Forsyth allowed himself a small concession in researching his latest book. In Somalia, he hired a bodyguard.
"I've only done it once before," says the veteran novelist, reclining at a desk in his Hong Kong hotel suite. "We didn't stay inside what's called The Camp - a kind of sandglass-walled and barbed-wire enclave used by most foreigners - but in a hotel in the city. Which was … interesting. My wife said I was a stupid old fool, but I felt like if I was going to describe it, I had to see it."
Fans might have forgiven Forsyth for researching Mogadishu, one of the world's more dangerous cities, from a distance. But the British thrill master felt his latest look into the world of modern-day terrorism, , should be held to the standards that helped take his 12 other novels to the top of the bestseller lists.
Having debuted as a novelist in 1971 with , Forsyth has become known for his melding of fictional characters and plot lines with real political machinations, using research techniques from his days as a journalist.
"I've always been intrigued in the things the establishment don't tell us, rather than those they do," he says, with a smile. "Nowadays we think we know it all, and Mr [Edward] Snowden tells us, 'Oh no, you don't know the half of it - what they're listening to, eavesdropping on.'"
A journalist in the 1960s and 70s, Forsyth has developed a sense for the world's lurking dangers and blind spots. Growing up in a small, "one horse" town in the southern English county of Kent, with little money, he failed to secure the career he wanted with the Royal Air Force but dreamed of travel. The idea of diplomatic corp cocktail parties, however, was less than thrilling.
