Day of the Jackal book review

Thhe Day of the Jackal  was written by Frederick Forsyth and published in 1971. Widely regarded as a classic, it is often mentioned in lists of the top ten spy novels of all time. Although not strictly a spy novel, as neither of the protagonists is a spy, it does involve clandestine plots, and political assassination is a perennial spy-thriller theme.
Warning: Major spoilers are blacked out like this secret . To view them, just select/highlight them.

The Day of the Jackal: Logline

In 1960s France, die-hard imperialists hire a professional assassin to kill President de Gaulle. When the French discover the plot, the assassin must stay one step ahead of a brilliant French detective in order to complete his mission and change history.

The Day of the Jackal: Plot Summary

Anatomy of a Plot

The OAS (Organisation Armée Secrète, or in English, Secret Army Organisation) is a militant group that regards France’s president, General Charles de Gaulle, as a traitor because he has decided to grant Algeria independence. The Day of the Jackal opens with the OAS failing to kill de Gaulle in an ambush.
The OAS realise that they are compromised by the French secret service, and the only way to kill de Gaulle is to hire a professional assassin who is unknown to the French authorities. They find an assassin, codenamed ‘Jackal’. In return for completing the mission, the Jackal demands enough money to retire in luxury.
Having received payment, the Jackal prepares for the assassination. First he acquires false passports, then he travels to Belgium to commission a sniper rifle of unusual specification.

Anatomy of a Manhunt

The French secret service capture and torture an OAS bodyguard who knows a little about the plot, but not the identity of the assassin. President de Gaulle refuses to alter his routine and orders the Jackal must be stopped secretly, in order to avoid negative publicity.
The French Minister of the Interior assigns the best detective in France, Claude Lebel, to hunt the Jackal down.
Lebel contacts the British Special Branch, who theorise that the Jackal may be the same man who assassinated the Dominican President, Rafael Trujillo. That assassin was rumoured to be named Charles Calthrop, which sounds a bit like the French for Jackal, ‘chacal’. They find that a Charles Calthrop is living in London, although he is thought to be on holiday in Scotland.
The Jackal enters France by car, with his gun hidden in the chassis. He gets word from the OAS that the French Police are looking for him but continues anyway.
Special Branch raid Calthrop’s flat, find his passport, and deduce that he must be using a false identity. Lebel and the police come close to apprehending the Jackal in the south of France, but thanks to his OAS contact, the Jackal evades them.
With the police on the lookout for him, the Jackal takes refuge in the château of a woman whom he seduces. When she finds his gun, he kills her and, assuming one of his two emergency identities, boards the train for Paris…

Anatomy of a Kill

Lebel suspects someone is leaking information to the Jackal. He taps his superiors’ home phones and discovers the traitor. He also deduces that the Jackal has decided to target de Gaulle on 25 August, the day Paris was liberated from the Nazis, and the one day the president can be guaranteed to be seen in public.
The Jackal eludes the desperate French manhunt by picking up a gay man, going back to his apartment, and then killing him.
On Liberation Day, the Jackal disguises himself as a one-legged war veteran, carrying his rifle hidden in his crutch. He infiltrates the flats overlooking the area where De Gaulle is due to hand out medals.
Lebel hears about the one-legged veteran and guesses the Jackal’s plan, seemingly too late. But the Jackal’s first shot misses when de Gaulle leans forward to kiss the veteran he has just given a medal. The Jackal scrambles to reload.
Lebel arrives at the flat the Jackal is shooting from. The two men recognise each other. Lebel shoots the Jackal, killing him.
In London, the Special Branch are examining Calthrop’s apartment when a man claiming to be Calthrop arrives. The Jackal wasn’t Calthrop. He is buried in an unmarked grave, anonymous forever.