The Day of the Jackal

The Day of the Jackal (1971), a thriller novel by English author Frederick Forsyth, follows an unnamed English assassin hired by a French paramilitary terrorist organization called the OAS to kill France’s President, Charles de Gaulle. The contractor races against two detectives commissioned by the French government, as well as the English Special Service, to complete his task. Widely considered one of the best mysteries of the twentieth century, it received one of the genre’s highest honors, the Edgar Award for Best Novel, in 1972. It is loosely modeled after a real-life assassination attempt made on de Gaulle in the 1940s.

The Day of the Jackal is split into three parts and an epilogue. The first part, “Anatomy of a Plot,” starts in 1962 in the aftermath of a failed attempt to kill de Gaulle made by Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry. The attack is ostensibly motivated by de Gaulle’s decision to grant independence to the state of Algeria. After Bastien-Thiry’s arrest, the French government retaliates against the OAS in an underground skirmish, which it tries to keep under wraps.

After several attempts to fend off the French secret service, the OAS decides that the only way to carry out its assassination successfully is to hire an independent assassin who is unknown to the agency. Rodin, the OAS deputy, meets with the assassin, who demands $500,000 in exchange for his services. The OAS accepts his terms, giving him the codename “The Jackal.” The rest of Part 1 concerns the Jackal’s complex preparations for the assassination. He takes on a false identity, obtains a British passport, and travels to Brussels, where he pays a gunsmith to create a specialized sniper rifle. After obtaining forged papers to use as his French identity, he flies to Paris and finds a spot to stage the assassination. Meanwhile, the French secret service captures Rodin, an OAS leader, but is unable to obtain the assassin’s identity. They commission France’s most prodigious detective, Claude Lebel, to find this information.



Part 2, “Anatomy of a Manhunt,” concerns the French secret service’s attempt to find the Jackal while suppressing public knowledge about the ongoing campaign to assassinate de Gaulle. Lebel is given unlimited powers and resources with which to conduct his investigation. Someone suggests that he look at the records of the English Secret Intelligence Service, since the assassin may be abroad. He finds a possible suspect named Charles Calthrop. Meanwhile, another detective, Bryn Thomas, is given similar powers to find the assassin. Unbeknownst to the French government, the wife of an Air Force colonel is spying for the OAS, transmitting a constant feed of recent news back to the organization. French agents raid Calthrop’s London home and find his passport, deducing that he is traveling with a fake identity. They close in on the Jackal, but he is tipped off by the colonel’s wife before they reach his hotel. The Jackal takes refuge with a woman he seduced earlier, then kills her, and boards a train to Paris with a secondary false passport.

Part 3, “Anatomy of a Kill,” concerns the days up to and including that of the Jackal’s assassination attempt. Lebel has the security council’s phones tapped, suspecting that there is a mole. He discovers that the mole is the wife of the colonel. Thomas uses a database of recently stolen passports to get closer to the Jackal’s identity. On August 22, Lebel postulates that the Jackal will attempt the assassination on the 25th, which commemorates Paris’ liberation during World War II. The Minister dismisses Lebel, confident that he can take over the remainder of the investigation. The Jackal hides in a gay bar, where he is taken home by a man, whom he kills. He uses his apartment as a hiding place. On the 24th, the Minister reinstates Lebel, but to no avail. The Jackal poses as a paraplegic veteran and conceals his sniper rifle in his crutch. Just as the Jackal gets into position, Lebel realizes his plan and rushes into the apartment building with a CRS officer. The Jackal fires at the President but narrowly misses him as he stoops to kiss a veteran. The CRS officer bursts into his room and is killed. Lebel enters behind him and kills the Jackal.

At the novel’s end, the Jackal’s identity remains unknown: the Special Branch bursts into Calthrop’s apartment just as the real Calthrop is returning from a holiday in Scotland. Baffled, they bury the Jackal’s body in an anonymous grave. The Day of the Jackal ends with this classic suspension of knowledge, rendering the mystery unresolved.