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Summary: I am going to reread this--again
Review: If I cannot find my copy, I am going to buy another. I have read this book three times, and I found it thoroughly engrossing.I lived in the Persian Gulf many years ago, later worked in a Swiss Bank in Basel, and later worked on the National Security Council Staff during the Carter Administration. As other readers have said, it is difficult to guess how much Forsyth really knows and how much he invents. The story is still fascinating, and--to me at least--is far more believable than other thrillers. Given the present situation in the Iraq, this is timely again.
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Summary: another classic
Review: Forsyth once again shows why he is the master of espionage novels. The details are so vivid, you almost feel like you are eavesdropping. His handling of technical details is superb, even when explaining nuclear physics, so that even someone who has little understanding of these things has a clear idea of what's going on (I only wish he were writing high school textbooks). I think I read this thing in about two days. Top-notch.
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Summary: Writing in the Sand
Review: A belated scissors and paste attempt to cash in on the first Gulf War. It reads like 50 magazine articles stitched together with a bit of 'Jane's' thrown in to keep armchair warriors like myself engaged. Characters are not even one dimensional - they are zero dimensional. Vacuous but readable in a disposable way.
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Summary: struck by the fist
Review: forsyth's researched beautifully. his best along with dogs of war, and odessa. --ash.
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Summary: Superb historical novel
Review: After reading "The Day of the Jackal" for the first time in over 25 years, I decided to read "The Fist of God" for the third time to see how the two stacked up. Both are superb pieces of work, but I think I'm going to give a slight edge to "Fist". Not that comparisons need to be made. The novel covers the period from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and ends about when the ground troops invaded the country to take it back. In between it tells a story to try and explain why Saddam Hussein just let the forces come in and do this. He could have temporarily backed out, and re-invaded at a later time, when momentum to build more forces would not have been as high. Was this just a bad military move, or did he have something extra up his sleeve? Whether or not this secret is true or not is not important, although it would not be unbelievable if true. What makes it a great novel is all the places it takes us during this period. This was a big event that happened not too long ago, that still has world-wide ramifications to this day. Yes, we see the historical figures such as George Bush Sr., Margaret Thatcher, Norman Schwartzkopf, and yes, Hussein. But except for Hussein, these are minor characters. It is the ordinary characters, most of whom are very interesting that make it great reading. Although there are many characters, the main one would be Mike Martin, who is most instrumental in pulling off the plot. He is a British soldier of Arabic ancestry who begins the war going to Kuwait to be an almost one-man underground resistance movement. When a mole is discovered in Hussein's inner circle that wants to sell the good guys information, Martin is transferred to Baghdad to get this information. He has his share of tense moments as his contribution to the war effort. We are also taken into the world of Saddam Hussein, although we have to imagine a good part of it comes from the author's mind. Let's face it. They don't exactly have "People" magazine there, so information like this is extremely tight. But we do get to meet his generals, his cabinet, and his torturers. The tactics used to not only get information from people, but to keep the population itself properly scared out of it's mind are done in detail graphic enough to convince me that we indeed are the good guys. And, like all good spy novels, we do get to see that it's a very dirty business, and often the good guys get their hands just as dirty as the bad ones when it comes to the tricks of the trade. It is historical fact that if the CIA had played fair with one of great designers of big guns in the world, he would have never gone to work for the bad guys. And there is also a subplot involving the loss of at least one innocent life, done by the "good guys", that makes you respect "our side" a lot less. Like I said, I just read it for the third time. I will no doubt read it again some day.
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Summary: The power of spies
Review: An excellent book of spies and tyranny of the gulf war, here Forsyth wrote as he knows and he keeps you reading all the time, I think that everything in this book could be real, nothing is exaggerated as in other books.
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Summary: Hard to Put Down
Review: Great book, it is even more interesting now then when it came out given the current Middle East issues and the focus on Saddam. I have read a number of non-fiction books about the Gulf War and Saddam and they really dove tail into the details the authors provides. There is a well developed set of main characters that add a punch to the book. The details of the war and society of Iraq are really special, you almost think parts of the book are non-fiction. The plot is think with additional relevant sub plots that add to the story not just add pages to the book. The book is a work of fiction so there are some liberties taken but overall a very solid, well constructed story and is believable.
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Summary: Or What the Iraqi Prostitute Said to the Bishop
Review: Forsyth's "Fist of God" is a fictionalized adventure set in the Gulf War, concentrating mainly on the undercover ops of the British SAS. Has some interesting descriptions of modern encrypted spy radios as well as an interesting hypothesis about the Iraqi supergun. The scene with the Iraqi prostitute should have won an award for the least sexy sex scene. I won't share the details. All in all, however, Forsyth is too fully subscribed to the Tory/GOP loyalties that much of the book reads like an official war history rather than a thriller.
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Summary: intriguing
Review: Although this represents my first Forsyth novel and my first spy novel I know a good one when I read one. I've watched quite a few good espionage movies including "The Day of The Jackel" and "The Odessa File" (based on Forsyth novels). I read this book because I was impressed at the depth of the two movies mentioned above. After 9/11/01, I also wanted to read something which relates to the going ons in the middle east. The obtjectives of the story are simple: First, to find out if Saddam Hussain has any weapons which may pose a serious threat to the allied forces in the gulf. Secondly, if he has any weapons destroy them before he plans to use them. The story becomes somewhat complex because in order to meet the objectives, a well coordinated intelligence operation involving people in the US, Europe, Iraq, Israel and Kuwait must take place. The entire operation involves scholars, spooks and sneeks (special ops and spies) and even someone with close connections to Saddam himself. The whole story of how an SAS man was able go deep into Iraq incognito was fascinating and believeable. The SAS man whose name is Mike Martin was sent in Iraq to gather intelligence on the weapons and then help to destroy them. The information Mike gets is not first hand however. Mike must depend on another mysterious character known only as Jerico. (...)
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Summary: Gripping Novel of the Gulf War
Review: This gripping novel is set against the backdrop of the Gulf War of 1991
It is jam packed with suspense and action and we never know who will survive and who wont
We see into the inner workings of the governments and secret services of the USA , UK and Israel
As well as into the chilling terror of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and get a glimpse of Saddam's evil mind as well as the unbelievable cruelty of Hussein and his minions such as the head of his secret police Amn -al -Amn Omar Khatib and General Abdullah Kadiri , men who delight in the most horrific cruelties on those who get in their way.These tortures and deaths are described in a way that enables us to feel for the vicitms
The heroes of the story include Mike Martin , a SAS agent working in Baghdad and Don Walker , a US Air Force Fighter Pilot
I was a bit disappointed about the way he dealt with the MOSSAD operations in Vienna. As an admirer of the MOSSAD Id have hoped that their antics would have been more heroic and gripping than his story of a MOSSAD agent romancing a lonely and dowdy female bank worker in order to get bank secrets and then abandoning her
The central message of the novel-outlined in the postscript is the terrible danger the West is putting herself and the world in by selling dangerous and unconventional weapons to Arab and Third World dictatorships
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