Icon, Frederick Forsyth
Icon, Frederick Forsyth
List: $14.98 | Sale: $10.49
Club: $7.49

Icon

Author: Frederick Forsyth

Narrator: Stephen Lang

Abridged: 6 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2000


Synopsis

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the master of the novel of international intrigue comes a riveting new book as timely and unsettling as tomorrow's headlines.

It is summer 1999 in Russia, a country on the threshold of anarchy.  An interim president sits powerless in Moscow as his nation is wracked by famine and inflation, crime and corruption, and seething hordes of the unemployed roam the streets.

For the West, Russia is a basket case.  But for Igor Komarov, one-time army sergeant who has risen to leadership of the right-wing UPF party, the chaos is made to order.  As he waits in the wings for the presidential election of January 2000, his striking voice rings out over the airwaves offering the roiling masses hope at last—not only for law, order, and prosperity, but for restoring the lost greatness of their land.

Who is this man with the golden tongue who is so quickly becoming the promise of a Russia reborn?  A document stolen from party headquarters and smuggled to Washington and London sends nightmare chills through those who remember the past, for this Black Manifesto is pure Mein Kampf in a country with frightening parallels to the Germany of the Weimar Republic.

Officially the West can do nothing, but in secret a group of elder statesmen sends the only person who can expose the truth about Komarov into the heart of the inferno.  Jason Monk, ex-CIA and "the best damn agent-runner we ever had," had sworn he would never return to Moscow, but one name changes his mind.  Colonel Anatoli Grishin, the KGB officer who tortured and murdered four of Monk's agents after they had been betrayed by Aldrich Ames, is now Komarov's head of security.

Monk has a dual mission: to stop Komarov, whatever it takes, and to prepare the way for an icon worthy of the Russian people.  But he has a personal mission as well: to settle the final score with Grishin.  To do this he must stay alive--and the forces allied against him are ruthless, the time frighteningly short. . . . 

Praise for Icon

“Vintage Forsyth, intricate, exact and gripping.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Another strong performance by a writer who knows exactly what he's about, and who here catalyzes narrative with another memorable protagonist, the stealthy and daring Monk.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“One of his best works for a long time, which provides an all-too-real look at a chilling new millennium.”—The Sunday Times, London

About The Author

Frederick Forsyth is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of seventeen novels, including The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File, as well as short story collections and a memoir. A former Air Force pilot, and one-time print and television reporter for the BBC, he has had four movies and two television miniseries made from his works. He is the winner of three Edgar Awards, and in 2012 he won the Diamond Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. He lives in Hertfordshire, England.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Simon on May 28, 2012

Originally published on my blog here in November 1999. Frederick Forsyth always has interesting ideas, but his writing never does them justice. Icon is no exception to this rule. The idea - a new Hitler attempting to take power in the chaotic ruins of a Russia devastated by mega-inflation and uncontr......more

Goodreads review by Xabi1990 on March 09, 2018

Creo que al poner estas estrellas (tres, y siendo generoso) a este clásico de Forsyth casi tengo que pedir perdón… El caso es que me he acostumbrado a los personajes con cuerpo, reales, y aquí sólo veo un desfile de nombres que hacen cosas. Y eso no me gusta. Como todo el mundo dice que es magnífica,......more

Goodreads review by Razvan on June 23, 2023

A two-books novel; the first one is more like a documentary: sharp, accurate, mixing with many historical and espionage facts and persons. The second one is more fictitious, so it's more readable, although is not the more valuable. The plot is ok, so are the characters, there are some twists in the......more

Goodreads review by Bernardas on April 03, 2025

Kai man sako, kad vakariečiai nieko nesupranta apie Rusiją, visada prisimenu du šį įspūdį paneigiančius pavyzdžius: Iano Flemingo "From Russia With Love" ir Fredericko Forsytho "Icon". Abu romanai demonstruoja ne šiaip Rusijos išmanymą ir supratimą, bet gilią rusiškos politikos mechanizmų ekspertizę......more

Goodreads review by Rohit on November 02, 2020

A nice racy thriller by the master of espionage fiction. It interweaves actual events surrounding the biggest spy scandal of Aldrich Ames in USA and how he became an agent of USSR leading to wiping out the entire CIA field agents in Russia. This plot is beautifully embedded in the book where James M......more


Quotes

“Vintage Forsyth, intricate, exact and gripping.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A mature mastery of storytelling melded with a deep knowledge of realpolitik . . . another strong performance by a writer who knows exactly what he's about, and who here catalyzes narrative with another memorable protagonist, the stealthy and daring Monk.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Frederick Forsyth's latest epic . . . has reverted to the masterly storytelling that has won him so many fans. But instead of going into the past, he has set Icon in the future, and allowed his imagination to rise above the constraints of the facts that he uses to frame every book. The result is one of his best works for a long time, which provides an all-too-real look at a chilling new millennium.”—The Sunday Times, London

“For years, Frederick Forsyth has been known as the man who wrote The Day of the Jackal, the yardstick by which all his subsequent books have been measured. Icon—dare I say it?—is as good or better. What makes this book so special? Because it could easily happen. All the ingredients for disaster are now in place, which makes for a terrifyingly real scenario.”—Detroit Free Press

“A tautly written thriller with a big cast of characters that Forsyth juggles with skill . . . Forsyth's storytelling ability makes Icon one of the best spy novels in recent years.”—Star Tribune, Minneapolis