The Dogs of War

What could have been a ripping tale about an African coup d'etat is spoiled by an amateurish mistake: The author is in love with his hero and can't bear to put him into any truly tight spot. Auctorial providence intervenes as routinely as in the vita of a medieval saint. Then, after the predestined victory, we are treated to a bathetic ending. I didn't mind reading this book but have never felt an impulse to pick up anything else by Mr. Forsyth.

This one took me a while to finish but only because of me not the book. Due to the work and my complete lack of focus I forgot to pack this book and ended up with other bunch that I finished in the meantime just to go back to this gem and read it to the end in matter of couple of hours.

One of the reviewers said that book is slow and action consists of only last chapter - that is correct. Forsyth's books are as a matter a fact very detailed shows that confirm that actual violence, strike of assassins knife in the dark, silenced gunshot or all-out bombardment are either side-shows or culminations of days if not months of very careful planning and maneuvering. Without logistics, planning, asset acquirement there would be no actual action show more to execute in the first place.

Excellent book, highly recommended to anyone enjoying spy and mercenary literature. show less

This book is a fun read. A ruthless billionaire hires mercenaries to topple a corrupt government in Africa to get his hands on the platinum in the country.

The book poses some interesting questions on corruption. Who is corrupt? The western business man, or the African leader?

In the end, the mercenary is the one with scruples and morals.

A good book, all the better for describing the one hundred days of planning.

The ending is disappointing, It seems as though Frederick Forsyth ran out of steam,

In my opinion, this is Frederick Forsyth's best work. An exceptionally detailed and well researched look into the lives and operations of a mercenary group, right down to the fine detail. No wonder they thought it was a planning book for a real coup!

The story draws you in with the fine detail from the start. It appears at first to be an innocent discovery of oil in an african nation. But then, it take's you through the dangerous world of mercenary work as the main character recruits his troops, trains them and equips them for the job. The story twists and turns in typical Forsyth style, and he really is in his element here.

A must read for anyone into Military fiction.

The Dogs of War is another excellent Forsyth book that is well plotted and heavily detailed with some limited action at the end. It's almost an injustice to call it a thriller, but a thriller it is. Just a slow paced one.

It's about Zangara, a small republic in West Africa, where a mountain is discovered that is thought to have tin in it. However, it's discovered to be platinum and about 10 billion dollars' worth. The mining company that has done this survey, located in London, is eager to gain mineral rights to the mountain, but the dictator of the country is cozy with Russia and the concern is once it's made known what's in the mountain, Russia will get first dibs. So, the owner of this company dreams up this elaborate scheme to hire show more mercenaries to overthrow this African nation's government and install a puppet regime which will give him mineral rights to the mountain containing the platinum.

Enter Cat Shannon, mercenary. He's one of the best, if not the best around. He and his gang are looking for work when he's approached with this offer and so begins a lengthy round of planning and logistics that would bore the hell out of many readers (including my wife), but really gives one the feel of what it takes to purchase, transport, and store black market arms, as well as other goods. Shannon has 100 days to execute his plan. He buys a ship, hires a few more men, trains, and on Day 100 storms the beach, ready to take on the dictator's men. I'm not going to give away the ending of the book, but suffice it to say that there is such an unexpected plot twist that I pushed my rating up from four to five stars based solely on that alone. Simply brilliant.

This isn't Forsyth's best book, but it's really pretty good. I understand they made a movie of it and now I shall have to seek it out and watch it. If you're easily bored by books that aren't fast paced 100% of the time (or even 50%), this isn't the book for you, but if you like good political and military thrillers with depth, I'd give this a try. Recommended. show less

Mercenary leader Cat Shannon is hired to put together an invasion of a small African nation run by a mad dictator. Author Frederick Forsyth lays out the detailed process in preparing and executing a mercenary invasion, with knowledge gained by his alleged involvement with the Biafra war. Shannon has to constantly dodge legalities and an unsuspected vengeful competitor for the contract. It's a sampler of an era and a mid 1970s Africa which has since changed, but only in details. A very interesting book.

It isn't all well's end well, not all the mercenaries survived and the protagonist died from a serious illness, though he chose to die in his own way. I shed a tear at the end, maybe for his courage or for his humanity, I don't know.