"Knocking off a bank or an armored truck is merely crude. Knocking off an entire republic has, I feel, a certain style." So says mining magnate Sir James Manson, a shadowy titan of London's financial district, who is scheming a coup d'état in the small West African dictatorship of Zangaro, where a secret source of platinum lies waiting to be exploited.
The man selected to plan and carry out the sack of Zangaro is Cat Shannon, a 33-year-old Anglo-Irishman from Nigeria. If the goal is clear, the means are not, for there are no up-to-date manuals on overthrowing governments by force. By the time he has set forth this sinister venture in all its ramifications, Frederick Forsyth has fashioned that manual and given us a classic of terror and enthrallment.
Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan, and recently The Cobra and The Kill List.
The son of a furrier, he was born in Ashford, Kent, educated at Tonbridge School and later attended the University of Granada. He became one of the youngest pilots in the Royal …
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