The Kill List

Last updated

The Kill List 2013 cover.jpg
Author Frederick Forsyth
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre
Published Random House in 2013
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages352 (paperback)
ISBN 9780552170154
Preceded by The Cobra  

The Kill List is a novel by English writer Frederick Forsyth, published in 2013 by Random House. [1] The story concerns the response to murders by Muslim radicals.

Plot

Several random mid-level authority figures in the United States and Great Britain are brutally murdered by Muslim extremists, all of whom seem to have been radicalized by the online sermons of a mysterious veiled man known only as "the Preacher". Perplexed by his unknown origins and his flawless command of the English language, the U.S. government soon places him on the Kill List, a list approved by the U.S. President and his senior advisors of individuals who are to be eliminated as soon as possible.

The agency charged with finding and killing the people on the list is the Technical Operations Support Activity or TOSA. It soon dispatches its best headhunter, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel known to most only as "the Tracker" [2] (who also has a personal agenda in this matter, as his father was murdered by one of the Preacher's assassins), to discover the Preacher's identity and eliminate him. [3] [4]

The Tracker's investigations are slow to progress until he recruits a young and very skilled aspyish computer hacker he codenames "Ariel" to act as his tech support. Ariel traces the digital signatures of the Preacher's sermons to find him somewhere in Somalia, but the Tracker realises that the Preacher must have an ally in England to broadcast his sermons from and act as a middleman between the Preacher and his followers. The Tracker's investigation into the Preacher's history uncovers a British Pakistani pickle mogul who he discovers to be a childhood friend of the Preacher, and Ariel obtains his IP address to uncover the Preacher's location. Further investigations go nowhere until the Mossad reveals to TOSA that they have a Falasha agent codenamed "Opal" in Somalia who they can use to get close to the Preacher.

Meanwhile, a band of Somali pirates belonging to another clan of Muslim extremists headed by a sadistic sheikh, capture a Swedish cargo ship. Onboard, the son of the ship's owner is working as a sailor under a fake identity. The sadistic sheikh takes the Swedish boy to torture him.

When more of the Preacher's sermons result in further violent shootings, the Tracker tracks down a film crew, a skilled impressionist, and an actor who somewhat resembles the Preacher, whom he uses to create a fake video showing the Preacher exposing himself as a fraud (Ariel having mirrored the Preacher's channel). The video has the desired effect: the Preacher is unsettled and attempts to flee, allowing Ariel to follow both him and Opal via satellite.

The Preacher buys the Swedish boy from the sadistic sheikh, intending to personally behead him on his next livestream to make his followers believe in him again. The exchange is to take place in the desert. The Tracker, who has followed the exchange through Ariel's input, parachutes in the vicinity of the exchange with a British Army Pathfinder Platoon: they successfully rescue both Opal and the Swedish boy, killing all the extremists from both clans, and the Tracker personally kills the Preacher in a knife-fight.

Related Research Articles

Abdullah el-Faisal is a Jamaican Muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was convicted of stirring up racial hatred and urging his followers to murder Jews, Hindus, Christians, Americans and other "unbelievers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Pearl</span> American journalist beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan (1963–2002)

Daniel Pearl was an American journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal. On January 23, 2002, he was kidnapped near a restaurant in downtown Karachi and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Forsyth</span> English novelist (born 1938)

Frederick McCarthy Forsyth is an English novelist and journalist. He is 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, The Cobra and The Kill List. Forsyth's works frequently appear on best-sellers lists and more than a dozen of his titles have been adapted to film. By 2006, he had sold more than 70 million books in more than 30 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anjem Choudary</span> Pakistani-British Islamist and political activist (born 1967)

Anjem Choudary is a Pakistani-British Islamist and a social and political activist who has been described as "the face" of militant Islamism or the "best known" Islamic extremist in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zakir Naik</span> Indian comparative theologian

Zakir Abdul Karim Naik is an Indian Islamic public orator who focuses on comparative religion. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and Peace TV. He is a well-known figure in the Islamic world, and while he does not claim to be a follower of any one school of thought in Islam, he is most closely associated with the Salafi school of thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germaine Lindsay</span> Jamaican-British al-Qaeda 7/7 bomber (1985–2005)

Germaine Maurice Lindsay, also known as Abdullah Shaheed Jamal, was one of the four Islamist suicide bombers who detonated bombs on three trains on the London Underground and a bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings, killing 56 people, and injuring more than 700. Lindsay detonated the bomb that killed himself and 26 other people on a train travelling on the Piccadilly line between King's Cross St Pancras and Russell Square tube stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul-Rahman Al-Sudais</span> Imam in Mecca

Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz al-Sudais, better known as Al-Sudais, is one of the nine imams of the Grand Mosque, Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia; the president of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques; a renowned Qāriʾ ; he was the Dubai International Holy Qur'an Award's "Islamic Personality Of the Year" in 2005.

Jackal (<i>The Day of the Jackal</i>) Fictional character

The Jackal is a fictional character, the principal antagonist of the novel The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. He is an assassin who is contracted by the OAS French terrorist group of the early 1960s to kill Charles de Gaulle, then President of France. The book was published on 7 June 1971, in the year following de Gaulle's death, and became an instant bestseller. In the 1973 original film adaptation, he is portrayed by Edward Fox. A revised version of the character was portrayed by Bruce Willis in the 1997 remake adaptation of the original film, having a divergent storyline and set in the U.S., with a fictional First Lady of the United States as the target of the assassination.

<i>The Afghan</i>

The Afghan is a 2006 thriller novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anwar al-Awlaki</span> American imam and suspected Islamist extremist (1971–2011)

Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki was an American Islamic scholar and lecturer who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a drone strike from the U.S. government. U.S. government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's constitutional right to due process, including a trial.

Fuad Mohamed Qalaf, also known as Fuad Shangole, is a Somali-Swedish militant Islamist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feiz Mohammad</span> Australian Muslim preacher

Feiz Mohammad is an Australian Muslim preacher.

Sheikh Uways Al-Barawi was a Somali scholar credited with reviving Islam in 19th century East Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raed Salah</span> Palestinian politician

Sheikh Raed Salah Abu Shakra is a Palestinian-Israeli religious leader from Umm al-Fahm, Israel. He is the leader of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. He became the mayor of Umm al-Fahm in 1989 but stepped down in 2001 to focus on his religious activities. He has eight children, and is a former poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki</span> American member of al-Shabaab (1984–2013)

Omar Shafik Hammami, also known by the pseudonym Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, was an American citizen who was a member and leader in the Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. A federal warrant for his arrest was issued in 2007. In November 2012, the FBI added Hammami to its Most Wanted Terrorists list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brixton Mosque</span> British mosque located in South London

The Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre is a mosque located in Gresham Road in the Brixton area of South London. It is managed by Black British converts and is known for its history of controversy.

Shady Alsuleiman is a Muslim imam and the president of the Australian National Imams Council and the United Muslims of Australia. He is from a Palestinian family who migrated to Australia in the late 1960s. He initially obtained an Ijazah (licence) with Sanad in complete and sound memorization of the Quran at Darul Uloom Al-Husainiah in Sindh, Pakistan.

Aboud Rogo Mohammed was a Kenyan Muslim cleric. He was alleged to have been an Islamist extremist and was accused of arranging funding for the al-Shabaab militia in Somalia. He was shot dead in Kenya, and his death triggered protests and violence by hundreds of protestors. Rogo is the fifth alleged Islamic radical killed in Kenya in 2012. David Ochami, a Kenyan journalist, stated that Rogo had the oratory prowess of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the logic of Egyptian ideologue Yusuf al Qaradawi.

Abdul al-Qādir Mū‘min is a Somali Islamist and the leader of the Islamic State in Somalia. He was formerly a senior religious authority in al-Shabaab.

<i>Boy from Heaven</i> 2022 film by Tarik Saleh

Boy from Heaven, released in most English-speaking countries as Cairo Conspiracy, is a 2022 Arabic-language political thriller film directed by Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh. The film is a co-production between Sweden, France and Finland. It had its world premiere on 20 May 2022 at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, where it was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. Saleh was awarded Best Screenplay, and the film received the François Chalais Prize at Cannes. It was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards but was not nominated.

References

  1. "The Kill List by Frederick Forsyth". Goodreads . Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  2. Frederick Forsyth, "The Kill List", Random House, 2013, page 14.
  3. Stuart, Jan (13 September 2013). "The Kill List by Frederick Forsyth and more". The New York Times . Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  4. "The Kill List by Frederick Forsyth and review". Daily Express. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.