Frederick Forsyth, ‘The Day Of The Jackal’ Author, Dies At 86

Last Updated:June 10, 2025, 07:08 IST

British novelist Frederick Forsyth, who authored bestselling thrillers such as "The Day of the Jackal" and "The Dogs of War," has died aged 86.

British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth dies at 86

British best-selling novelist Frederick Forsyth, known for thriller novels such as ‘The Day of the Jackal’ and ‘The Dogs of War,’ has died at age of 86.

“We mourn the passing of one of the world’s greatest thriller writers," his agent, Jonathan Lloyd said in a statement.

Forsyth published more than 25 books, also including The Odessa File and The Dogs of War, and sold 75 million books around the world, he said.

A former correspondent for Reuters and the BBC, and an informant for Britain’s MI6 foreign spy agency, Forsyth was known for using his experiences as a reporter in Paris to pen the story of a failed assassination plot on Former French President Charles de Gaulle.

Who Was Frederick Forsyth?

Born in Ashford, Kent in 1938, Forsyth flew fighter jets during his national service, but when the Royal Air Force couldn’t guarantee he’d stay in the cockpit he set out to see the world.

Later, he became a war correspondent for the BBC and Reuters. He revealed in 2015 he also worked for British intelligence agency MI6 for more than 20 years, starting from when he covered a civil war in Nigeria in the 1960s.

He made his name with his first novel, 1971’s The Day Of The Jackal, which he wrote when he was out of work. The novel, in which an English assassin, played in the film by Edward Fox, is hired by French paramilitaries angry at de Gaulle’s withdrawal from Algeria, was published in 1971 after Forsyth found himself penniless in London.

Written in just 35 days, the book was rejected by a host of publishers who worried that the story was flawed and would not sell as de Gaulle had not been assassinated. De Gaulle died in 1970 from a ruptured aorta while playing Solitaire.

But Forsyth’s hurricane-paced thriller complete with journalistic-style detail and brutal sub-plots of lust, betrayal and murder was an instant hit. The once poor journalist became a wealthy writer of fiction.

“I never intended to be a writer at all," Forsyth later wrote in his memoire, “The Outsider – My Life in Intrigue". “After all, writers are odd creatures, and if they try to make a living at it, even more so."

His publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr, said that “Revenge of Odessa," a sequel to the 1974 book “The Odessa File" that Forsyth worked on with fellow thriller author Tony Kent, will be published in August.

“Still read by millions across the world, Freddie’s thrillers define the genre and are still the benchmark to which contemporary writers aspire," Scott-Kerr said.

(With inputs from agencies)

London, United Kingdom (UK)

News world Frederick Forsyth, ‘The Day Of The Jackal’ Author, Dies At 86