The Works of Frederick Forsyth II Quiz

Answer: Sir Nigel Irvine

Although Frederick Forsyth's stories seldom connect to one another, this chap appears in several. Basically, his character was "recycled". In "The Fourth Protocol" he confronts a British traitor and makes him work for the SIS. In "Icon" he comes out of retirement to convince a former CIA agent to go back to Russia to stop a Hitler-wannabe coming to power.

Answer: True

The businessman was slandered on the front-page of a newspaper. He had unfortunately been associated with some crooked investors, but he had nothing to do with their scams. But the lazy reporter got his facts wrong and now the poor man's name and reputation are ruined.

But when he goes to the newspaper to complain the editor isn't very interested. However, the businessman concocts an unorthodox plan. He does some legal research, gets the reporter's address from the phone-book and goes to see him.

The reporter is equally disinterested and tries to close the door. But the businessman grabs him by the dressing-gown and "WHAM!". He breaks his nose. Then he does something even more surprising: he finds a policeman and takes him to the reporter's house. "This man has just been assaulted, officer." "Do you know who did it, sir?" "I did." "YOU did??" "Yes, and now I need you to arrest me." At the businessman's trial, he defends himself and tells the whole story from beginning to end (it's his "privilege" - hence the title).

He's invited a large number of reporters to the trial and before them he tells the judge: "This reporter and his paper slandered me. I had nothing to with any scams. Surely I would have noticed if I'd been charged with fraud, like this article claims! But this man never came to ask me. If he had I would have let him see my financial statements. But he didn't, he just got his ideas out of a whiskey bottle." The reporter with the bandaged nose is turning purple in his seat. He can see the other reporters eagerly writing all this down for tonight's edition.

Answer: Their son is later rescued by the hero

Mr. and Mrs. Walker hurry back south to Riyadh when they hear Kuwait is being invaded up north. They fly back to America with hundreds of others. It turns out the invading army does not attack Saudi Arabia but they weren't to know. However their son Don is in the US Air Force so he is soon kissing his parents goodbye and flying off to war. One night, months later in February 1991, Don is shot down whilst searching for "The Fist of God", the Iraqi secret weapon. Luckily Mike Martin the protagonist was nearby and rescued him from an Iraqi patrol. Obviously Mike had no idea this boy's parents had seen him back in August!

Answer: "The Dogs of War" - C.A.T. Shannon

Shannon was a seasoned mercenary of African wars. He was hired by an unscrupulous London mining tycoon to over-throw the dictator of Zangaro in a coup. The dictator was Jean Kimba, a horrible tyrant hated by his people. But Shannon's employer planned to install someone little better as president (to get unlimited mining concessions). Shannon put a stop to that.

He shot the intended replacement and flew in someone else to take control of the government. This man was another ousted African leader, but a benign one.

He vowed to make Zangaro a home and haven for the numerous civilians rendered homeless by the wars made possible by western businessman like Manson in London. After this noble act the Zangarans regard Shannon as a hero. But a few months later he slips into the jungle and shoots himself. Before accepting his assignment in London, he was told by a doctor he didn't have long left to live. An illness he'd picked up due to years of Africa.

Answer: Colonel Jean Bastien-Thiry

The book begins in 1963 with the execution of Jean Bastien-Thiry, the head of the OAS, by firing squad. He was so confident no French solider would shoot him, but his face shows the impact of reality before his body feels the impact of the bullets. The previous year he and his men had nearly murdered poor President de Gaulle, his wife and other Government officials. Since Mrs. de Gaulle was an innocent bystander, no clemency was given to the terrorist. (P.S. Yes I know Charles Calthrop wasn't really The Jackal, but I'm glad you were reading my wrong choices carefully!)

Answer: The elderly Londoner who was mugged and died

Poor Peter Benson had unadvisedly walked into a rough part of London. He was robbed and assaulted by two skinheads and later died in hospital. When the murderers are brought to trial everyone is surprised James Vansittart, a respected lawyer and a Queen's Counsel, appears to defend them. For free, no less! Thanks to this clever barrister weaving so much doubt and inventing alibis, the jury are forced to let the muggers go.

The judge, prosecutor, hospital staff and police cannot understand. This was supposed to be an open and shut case. Why has this revered lawyer let these obvious criminals walk free? The next day the two thugs' dead bodies are found.

As it turns out, Vansittart and Benson were buddies in the army years ago.

Answer: He actually thinks he's passing them to South Africa

Berenson loves South Africa. He lived there, worked at the embassy, knew their ways, enjoyed their hospitality and thinks the rest of the world is just being silly about Apartheid. When he returned to London he met Jan Marais from the South African Embassy.

The two men became friends and agreed if the USSR ever attacks Europe then South African aid will be crucial in the southern hemisphere. But she's always been excluded from NATO because of moral grounds. So Berenson feels it's only right to keep her informed about NATO developments.

However, before Berenson is confronted, the protagonist John Preston flies down to Pretoria to investigate. He learns Jan Marais has actually been dead for over 40 years. The man using his name really works for Moscow! When they tell Berenson he buries his head in his hands and groans "Oh my God! What have I done?"

Answer: The Odessa File

It's rare for Frederick Forsyth to write about things outside the world of fact. (I'm not saying there's no such thing as ghosts, you know what I mean.) He used to be a pilot in the RAF so "The Shepherd" is very detailed and convincing.

Answer: The woman never wanted to

Adam Munro was in love with Valentina in the 1960s, before Germany was split into two. 20 years later they meet again in Moscow. Valentina is a Kremlin typist and Adam works for the British SIS. Valentina (later code-named "Nightingale") is worried her Government may be about to invade the West.

She smuggles copies of meetings' minutes to Adam who passes them to his bosses. This information proves invaluable in negotiating with the Russians, and later foiling some Ukrainian Nationalists who go too far. Adam promises Valentina once her services are no longer needed his people will get her safely to Scotland and they can marry.

But Valentina disappears and Adam is devastated. But after all the crises are over, Adam meets the General Secretary at a Moscow dinner party.

He reveals Valentina is fine, and she has actually been working for HIM all along. He needed NATO to know how much pressure he was under from others in the Politburo to invade. He also relays a personal message from Valentina: she is very fond of Adam, but she doesn't want to marry him or leave her homeland, sorry. That was part of the deception; Adam was a pawn all along.

But he loves Valentina so much he is just happy she is all right.

Answer: False

He is mentioned fairly often, though. The text calls him "UBL" because "Osama" is sometimes spelt "Usama". Cal Dexter The Avenger has been hired to track down a Serbian warlord who has been hiding in Central America since the break-up of Yugoslavia. Cal does not know that the CIA are also interested in this Serbian criminal.

In a few days Zoran is going to contact Bin Laden and the CIA will be in a position to find and kill the terrorist leader. This takes place a few days before 9/11, after which of course it becomes much harder to find UBL.

But Cal wasn't to know.

Answer: Peter Miller - "The Odessa File"

The other three are American but Peter is a young German aged 29. Although he wasn't in Vietnam he did his compulsory military training. When he later confronts an SS commandant who murdered Jews in World War 2 the Nazi just shakes his head. "You were in the army, weren't you? You know what it's like to be given orders - you have to obey." Peter then reveals the ex-Nazi killed his father too, so the man's face pales when he realises antisemitism is irrelevant.

Answer: True

FBI agent Samantha "Sam" Somerville is assigned to help Quinn the negotiator. The president's son has been kidnapped and soon murdered after his release. It turns out the kidnappers' employers intended that to happen to force the president to leave office due to stress.

His vice-president is opposed to a new treaty with the USSR you see, and so the Russians are framed for the boy's death as well. Quinn disappears, along with Sam. They are determined to track down the murderers on their own. On the way they uncover corruption, deceit, double-agents and a psychotic thug who's wanted revenge on Quinn for nearly 20 years.

They were both in Vietnam and Quinn took exception to Moss' murdering women and children and punched his lights out. After Quinn saves Sam from Moss' "attractions", she agrees to marry him.

Her dad is a father in every sense of the word so it shouldn't be difficult to arrange.

Answer: Ukrainian

The story begins with the rescue of a floating castaway on the Black Sea. He has escaped from the Soviet Union and eventually goes to live in London. He is sponsored by Londoner Andrew Drake, whose family also came from The Ukraine. The two men join forces with a bunch of other angry Ukrainians who want to overthrow the Soviets' hold on their homeland.

They concoct a plot to murder Ivanenko, the head of the KGB. They cause his mother to be injured by a car driver and they wait outside Kiev hospital when her son races from Moscow to see her.

When he arrives they shoot him down in the hospital carpark. However the murderers are later captured in West Berlin, so Andrew Drake and the others decide to hijack an oil-tanker to bargain for their release.

Answer: Valeri Petrofsky - "The Fourth Protocol"

Valeri Petrofsky is a major in the KGB. He is their best agent when it comes to looking and sounding British. He is sent to England in 1987 under the alias James Duncan Ross. The real Ross died years ago in Africa but the Russians "stole" the identity and "saved" it until an agent or a mission required it. Petrofsky's mission requires an unassailable cover and he is perfect for the job.

His accent, dialect, and manners are so English no one he meets would suspect he was born and raised in Russia.

His mission is to assemble an atomic bomb using ordinary everyday items passed to him from Eastern Bloc visitors to the UK. Once it's detonated, the Russians hope the English will sever ties with NATO and begin a pro-Soviet relationship.

Answer: Four

The cold war is over. Rogue maverick agents like Sam McCready (aka The Deceiver) are not needed (or tolerated) any longer. The poor man attends a hearing where they decide whether to keep him or not. Sam and his assistant Dennis relate a series of his successes.

In the first "Pride and Extreme Prejudice" Sam obtained Soviet secrets from a defector in East Germany. In the second "The Price of the Bride" Sam ascertains a defecting Russian general in CIA care is not a real defector at all; it's a clever KGB ruse to con them to murder some of their own.

In the third "A Casualty of War" Sam foils a plot to ship Libyan guns to the IRA. In the final story "A Little Bit of Sunshine" he investigates a murder on a Caribbean Island.

Answer: Frederick Forsyth

Unlike a few world-famous authors like Clive Cussler, our author has never chosen to insert himself in a story with a cameo appearance. Pity, it would be quite interesting! Kim Philby is in "The Fourth Protocol", General de Gaulle is in "Day of the Jackal" and Alrich Ames is in "Icon".

Answer: Italy

Two American tourists, a husband and wife, are on their way to a festival in Siena, Tuscany. But a strange man stops them and tells them a strange story about the courtyard he's standing in. When the city was under attack one night in World War 2, the medics used this courtyard as a treatment area.

The doctors were few and the nurses all had their hands full, so each soldier's chance of survival was slim. But then...something odd happened. Each wounded man seemed to be getting better just by lying in that courtyard. No one could believe it! But they didn't question the miracle, they just kept bringing in more wounded.

By the time the sun rose and the Allies has re-claimed the city, there were no fatalities in the courtyard. The Americans are so moved by this tale they give the old man some money.

After they leave, the old man's business partner comes out from hiding. They both have a good laugh about how gullible tourists are!

Answer: Frederick was living there at the time

Although his Irish stories don't feature U2 or leprechauns, they still make interesting reading. A bungled truck hijacking, an eye-witness account of the execution of Patrick Pearse, a bullied immigrant who uses snakes to get even, a judge who plays cards on a train and an old man who won't vacate his condemned house.

Answer: A Fish

Surprisingly, the short story is actually about a present-day hen-pecked husband who wants to go fishing on his holiday. But his wife practically insists he check with her before using the lavatory, so he sneaks off early one morning. He ends up catching an emperor fish, but it's gone by the time he gets back to shore.

He tied it to the back of his boat and smaller fish helped themselves to it. But at least, in his moment of glory, the fish gave him a look which convinced him to stand up to his wife in future.

Answer: "The Fourth Protocol" - Kim Philby Betrayed His Russian Masters

In actual fact it was KGB General Karpov, but we are meant to think it was Philby. The great thing about each novel is the twist. Frederick Forsyth always shocks readers with an unexpected change that makes jaws drop. The earliest example in a novel is of course "The Day of the Jackal" when the Jackal turns out not to be the man they thought he was.

In the short-story "Whispering Wind" the hero turns out to have been dead for the last 100 years; he was actually a ghost. I think it's the twists that have really made our hero's stories stand the test of time. I always enjoyed them and hope you all did too (plus this quiz!).