Double Deal

by Frederick Forsyth

Mass Market Paperback

About the author

Frederick Forsyth, CBE was a English author and occasional political commentator. He was 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 more 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 Air Force at 19, where he served on National Service from 1956 to 1958. Becoming a journalist, he joined Reuters in 1961 and later the BBC in 1965, where he served as an assistant diplomatic correspondent. From July to September 1967, he served as a correspondent covering the Nigerian Civil War between the region of Biafra and Nigeria. He left the BBC in 1968 after controversy arose over his alleged bias towards the Biafran cause and accusations that he falsified segments of his reports. Returning to Biafra as a freelance reporter, Forsyth wrote his first book, The Biafra Story in 1969.

Forsyth decided to write a novel using similar research techniques to those used in journalism. His first full length novel, The Day of the Jackal, was published in 1971 and became an international bestseller and gained its author the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. It was later made into a film of the same name.

Reviews

[Frederick Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder why Goodread didn't have this book cover on their website. Probably an early book by the author and a damn good one at that. Double Deal bring us back to post war Germany in late 1945 to the south of Germany in Garmish and Mittenwald. The story revolved around the three main character in this book namely Anthony Sanderson a British Intelligent officer abducted by the SS in 1939 and spend pretty much the whole war in internment camp within Germany. Helmut Wolff a SS officer that kidnapped Sanderson and is the prime mover behind the SS removal of gold bullion out from the Reishbank at the end of the war under the nose of the American military government forces. The third character is Major Martin Black who head the military government in Garmish Partenkirchen area who has is as corrupt as they come when it comes to the stolen bullion under this command. There are plenty of killing and sex to keep you satiated for a long time in this book but the good type mind you. It really tells of the local situation in post war Germany and how the American deal with the civilian population and the corrupt underbelly of the beast. War is brutal and it is more so when the civilian are caught in the middle of it. However, in the midst of the carnage there is also a love story that somehow show us that there is still hope for humanity after all.
This book is a brilliant conception of the author to which I am forever indebted as a book lover. A page turner till the end.

[Raj Sharma · Rating 2 out of 5]

No where does Frederick Forsyth claim the novel titled Double Deal was authored by him. I have read the novel and it has been written in the distinctive Forsyth style. It is surprising that it is listed on Good Reads.

[Gowri N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greed, revenge, double crosses, and deals during the last leg of WWII. Gritty and fast-paced with a realistic (rather than rose-glasses satisfactory) ending.