The Negotiator

It is the early 1990s and a major global issue is the potential for the world's oil supplies to dry up within a generation. The American President and Mikhail Gorbachev of Soviet Russia have agreed a Nantucket Treaty, committing them both to massive disarmament. Subversive elements inside the Russian hierarchy want to invade Iran to secure their oil reserves for the Motherland. Rogue oil men in America plot to force an American invasion of Saudi Arabia for a similar purpose. In the midst of all this the American President's son is kidnapped and held for ransom. Quinn, ex-UK Special Forces and a retired hostage negotiator is brought in to return the boy. Quinn's negotiations go well, but at the last moment tragedy strikes. Quinn takes on show more a personal mission to track down the members of the kidnap team. As he does so, he finds himself drawn into the larger plot to destroy the Nantucket Treaty and secure the Saudi oil fields.

Written in 1989 this was originally a thriller ripped from the front pages of the newspapers; this could be happening right now! Of course, from today's perspective (this review was written in 2025) we know that the geopolitical predictions here were wrong, particularly about the oil industry. Add to that the social/cultural/technological gaps - no personal computers, no internet, no mobile phones (everyone here is endlessly queuing for public telephone booths) - and I think it best to view this as historical fiction, perhaps even alternative history.

We know what Frederick Forsyth can bring to a thriller - exciting action set pieces, a detailed knowledge of the workings of government institutions, intricate plotting and that feeling that you are reading the news, not a novel. Unfortunately, not everything is working as desired with this book. The plotting is a little loose (the Russian invasion of Iran is forgotten almost as soon as it is introduced) and most of the geopolitical elements fade into the background as the meat of the book focuses on the kidnap and the subsequent hunt for the kidnappers. Forsyth tries to inject some semblance of reality into the proceedings by describing every journey in the excruciating detail you would expect from your boring Uncle Bob - Quinn drove down Street A, turning left onto Street B, then right on to Road C before joining Highway D, avoiding the rush hour traffic...

Forsyth does know how to write and, excepting the dated setting and the overlong narrative, this is a good genre read. show less

A pequena ilha de Natucker, no litoral americano, é palco de um acontecimento histórico. Com imagens transmitidas pela televisão para o mundo inteiro, Mikkail Gorbachev, líder da União Soviética, e John Comack, presidente dos Estados Unidos, assinam um tratado de desarmamento. Nem todos, porém, estão respirando com satisfação os ventos promissores que sopram. Cyrus Miller, um magnata do petróleo tão poderoso quanto racista e reacionário, consegue aglutinar outras forças ortodoxas - empresários conservadores, políticos de direita - para pôr em prática um plano audacioso que culmina no sequestro do filho de Cormacke e que pode comprometer o processo de consolidação da paz. Neste momento entra em cena o senhor Quinn, show more ex- combatente do Vietnã com uma incrível habilidade para atuar como mediador em processos de libertação de reféns. Só que os sequestradores resolvem subestimar sua inteligência, e é aí que cometem o maior erro: ninguém fica impune quando trai O negociador. show less

The first fourth of this book is pretty boring, but then something big happens and things liven up so that it ends up being a first class thriller.

In the book, the US President and Russia’s Gorbachev are about to sign a disarmament treaty that has conservative hard liners TICKED -- enough to do serious damage to derail this treaty and see it go away. And so the president's son is kidnapped over in England. The White House calls in the best hostage negotiator in the world, a retired commando named Quinn, who agrees to do it only if he can do it his way. They reluctantly agree and then start breaking their agreement almost from the beginning.

The first 100 pages or so of the book is a set up leading to this moment. The next, I don't show more know how many, numerous pages are of Quinn and the hostage taker negotiating and it's excruciating. Truly boring. But necessary to the plot and I understand that. So when, halfway through the book, the president's son is set free, I wondered what Forsyth was going to do to fill up the rest of the pages. Only to see this kid get blown sky high just as he's wandering back to the good guys. Wow! Did not see that coming. Suspicion falls on Quinn, of all people, and he takes off to Europe with Sam, his female FBI lover, to chase after the hostage takers, all of whom are being taken out before he reaches them. But how? And by whom? Something's not right and he has to get to the bottom of it. It turns into a real page turner and I've got to say, I was not disappointed. I tend to love Forsyth books, even with all of the detail. So, recommended. show less

Reasonably well worked thriller but with a slightly disappointing ending.

Quinn was once the world's foremost hostage Negotiator, now he lives in retirement in a comfortably small village in the Spanish hills. Meanwhile President Gorbachev and the new American President Cormac look set to sign a historic arms reduction treaty, saving both their nations vast sums of money and also the oil required to maintain them. This of course displeases the industrial-military arms complex in both countries. Co-incidentally a few key players happen to meet and discussions occur. Then the American president's son is kidnapped while he's studying in the UK and Quinn is called in by the CIA to be their official presence on the negotiations to obtain his show more release. All is going as smoothly as might be expected until the official 'oversight' starts interfering in Quinn's duties, and he makes a break to deal with the kidnappers on his own.

Set in early 90's the concerns regarding the oil shortages were real, but haven't yet to come to pass, the perestroika of Gorbachev and the issues this raised in the Russian factions are also well known. I'm not quite sure given this 'real' background why it was necessary to invent an American president, but it doesn't clash too badly with the rest of the story. The story jumps around a lot between the various parties, especially at the beginning, and the vast number of names is a bit confusing. Though there is fair warning of this as a cast of characters is included at the beginning! Like all of Forsyth's books that I've read, this is not a fast paced thriller, more of a slow build up of suspense with intricate details determining the final outcome. This makes the whole final third of the book a bit of a let down, where the plot switches to a more direct action sequences. Intelligent and otherwise clever conspirators suddenly seem to lose all their wits when Quinn shows up in person - only 1 phone number in a list of hundreds is in code? Blurting out al the answers when you have Quinn at your mercy instead of finishing him off professionally? These are the sorts of mistakes amateurs make, and neither the characters nor Forsyth as an author is an amateur.

However while not exactly gripping throughout there is a certain level of interest maintained and a desire to see how it all works out, and whether Quinn will get to the bottom of the mystery. I suspect though, that this book will age badly as the global events and tensions rapidly fade from the pressing concerns they were a few years ago.

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Excellent thriller, but again what else can be expected from Mr. Forsyth.
What I like about other Forsyth's is present here too - author did research on subject(s) he is writing about.

Excellent thriller, highly recommended.

De zoon van de Amerikaanse president wordt gekidnapt. De CIA slaagt erin een ex-groene baret, een ervaren onderhandelaar, over te halen als onderhandelaar op te treden. Deze man, Quinn, bereikt overeenstemming met de kapers over een losgeld, maar na zijn vrijlating wordt de jongen alsnog vermoord. Bij zijn speurtocht naar de daders wordt het Quinn duidelijk, dat de ontvoering onderdeel vormde van een gigantisch complot, dat tot doel heeft een ontwapeningsverdrag tussen de USA en de USSR onmogelijk te maken en om de olievelden van Saoudi-Arabië in handen te krijgen. Behalve dat de verschillende verhaallijnen knap met elkaar verbonden worden, waardoor er vaart en spanning ontstaat, besteedt de auteur veel aandacht aan de authenticiteit show more van zijn onderwerpen. De situaties zijn politiek zeer actueel en zullen dus snel verouderen, maar dat zal voorlopig niemand er van weerhouden het boek in één adem uit te lezen. Pocketeditie, zeer kleine druk. - G.P. Schuring. show less

Not as good as Forsyth's other thrillers.