Customer Reviews

The Dogs of War

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The time: the early 60's. Successive British governments are shedding their empire. The place: Africa where regimes are emerging through barbarism and chaos. Mercenaries are fighting on all sides. Some work for the highest bidders and some work for leaders they believe will bring stability, justice, and freedom. Mercenary Cat Shannon, former royal marine, is on one of the last planes out. His side has been overrun.

In the African hills of Zangaro, a British miner takes soil samples in the belief that it holds copper, but the samples reveal a rich deposit of the rarest ore in the world--platinum.

Once his employer discovers the real value, he hatches a scheme to get the mining rights. He will hire mercenaries to overthrow the regime and install a puppet who will give him the mineral rights to the mountain. Reenter, Cat Shannon who is hired to do the job.

Shannon recruits the best. He knows how to gather what he needs in secret, getting large sums of money out of the country, and acquiring the weapons and equipment he will need without arousing suspicion, fending off jealous competitors, but he has to speed up the operation.

His employer discovers the Soviets have also found out about the platinum and are sending a ship of surveyors and mining experts of their own, and the current Zangaro regime is far more inclined to do business with them. It has become a race against time.

Shannon and his men land off the coast and begin their operation, but there is a twist that even his employer did not count on. It is worthwhile reading this book to find out.

Forsythe manages to introduce an amazing amount of detail about mining, finance, smuggling and Africa to the point that you believe he is expert in each. He weaves these details into a story that builds with suspense and intrigue. The climax, as usual, will surprise you.

Cry Havoc! Let slip the Dogs of War. But, don't let the book slip away from your shelf.

A routine analysis of an African Republic's mountain's ore content uncovers a motherlode of one of the most rare metals on the planet, platinum. However the African Republic's government is a ruthless dictatorship, rabidly anti-western and pro-communist. Facts that do not intimidate Sir James Manson, chairman/managing director of Manson Consolidated Mining Company Limited, in the least. Not surprising when, even at dirt cheap prices, the mountain is worth ten billion dollars. Eager to snag the mining rights, Manson quickly sets forth a rather unique plan. Hire mercenaries to help overthrow the government, replace it with a pro-west puppet dictator, have a shell company buy up the mining rights to the mountain, have ManCon buy the shell company, and rake in the cash by the basket full. Easier planned than done, as others quickly get their eyes on the same prize.

Frederick Forsyth narrates with a reporter's deadpan voice and backs up the seemingly outlandish story with a huge amount of detail that makes it all seem credible. While the book does crackle with energy and keeps the pages turning, it lacked that something special to lift it up above the average page turner. But fans of Cold War era Men of Adventure tales will be sure to love this, recommended.

The Dogs of War is a how-to manual for setting up a mercenary coup of a third-world African country. The detail was impressive and shows that Frederick Forsyth really researched the ins and outs of arms smuggling and mercenary deals while a BBC journalist in Africa.

The main character, Cat Shannon, disseminates just as much information as is minimally necessary for each and every component of his operation so that he's exposed no more than necessary. He's an experienced mercenary who lives the life of danger, whether brandishing weapons in the jungle or obtaining end user certificates for arms shipments in Yugoslavia. His life is exciting, yet he's in control all the time and the reader learns that this is why he's lived as long as he has.

The country in question, Zangaro, is home to a platinum reserve that could rival known deposits in quantity and British mining magnate, James Manson, wants it all to himself without the fuss of dealing with the existing dictator. Where Cat Shannon is meticulous in setting up arms purchases, transportation issues, and hiring experienced killers, Manson is a master craftsman at avoiding legality in the business world through setting up shell companies, forging scientific surveys and filing false reports to government agencies.

The detail is both the strength and the weakness of this book. It's not an action/adventure. It's a how-to, as I pointed out earlier. That works to a point, but somewhere in the fourth or fifth iteration of end-user certifications, I got bored and just wanted them to get to Africa and kick some ***. For that reason, I can't give it a high rating even though Forsyth writes so beautifully I'd read his "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" essay from fourth grade. This just isn't his strongest work.

But, if you're going to overthrow a nation-state, please read this book.

Amazing research needed for this, great how it all knits together. Good surprises and plot twists, very good ending. Not his best but definitley better than the opposition. No wonder it takes Forsyth on average 5 years to produce a novel, keeps everybody on tenderhooks waiting for the next brilliant book.

Ironically, I read most of this book while in a West Africa country a couple months ago -- not far from where this supposedly took place in real life -- it kept me interested during flights and at the hotel. Truth is stranger than fiction but this fiction is pretty darn good.

The twist at the end was surprising and thought provoking. If you like history and intrigue, you'll probably like this book. In fact, I think I'm going to buy another copy for someone's Christmas gifts.

I re-read this book every couple of years. Sometimes I buzz through the parts about Swiss bank account transfers and customs-house forms. Other times I drink in all those technical details like a foaming schooner of Flemish ale. Depends on your mood, I guess. Regardless, I always savor the action sequences, which are relayed in splendid detail, and Forsyth's unique brand of gallows humor.

This is about how one man sets up and carries out a coup d'etat, dollar by dollar, bullet by bullet. It it not just a shoot-em-up, and those who wish to read such a book should go elsewhere. But for those who savor the details, and camaraderie shared among wild geese in an Ostend bar at the end of a good day's scheming and plotting, this book is one in a million.

I think this is an interesting read even if it a novel. I read this after a reference to this book in a news story about the coup de etat in the island nation of Comorros. At that time, some South African mercenaries overthrew the crazed rule of the African ruler of Comorros. That is where the reference to the Dogs of War was made.
One of the previous reviewers thought it was bad for Forsyth to spend so much space on how the coup was organized. The procurement of all the arms with the export license was very fascinating. What Forsyth revealed was that coups could be done privately witout the knowledge of governments. One only had to know how to procure and organize for the overthrow of a government. I think Forsyth did this well.
This is an interesting read. This may not be on the level of his previous books, but it is still a good read.

This is the mercenary counterpart to what is an anatomy to an assassionation in the Day of the Jackal.

A closely-guarded secret discovery of rich platinum deposits in the Crystal Mountains in a tiny African state led a British entrepreneur Manson to finance a coup in the state to obtain control of the deposit. Keeping himself anonymous and working only with 2 greed-motivated underlings, Manson sought out a notable mercenary leader Cat Shannon who just returned from an unsuccessful mission from Africa.

Unwilling to be pawn to an unseen mastermind, Shannon initiated his own counter-espionage to learn more about his paymaster and the interest in the apparently insignificant African state. To add spice to the game, the Russians, who had the major influence in the state, also learned that a British survey completed several months before in the Crystal Mountains which reported no significant tin deposits (the original object of the survey) may not have been completely truthful ...

The start of the tale focus on the cat-and-mouse game Manson and his underlings played to keep their discovery a secret while trying to launch a military takeover, finding the suitable men to fight and another to be the puppet head. The middle of the tale looks at the mercenary acquiring, financing and transporting the necessary hardware from various sources in Europe. The narration is well-detailed, showing for the right price, anything can be bought from the street hoodlums or from the your own government.

Manson and his underlings were well-constructed, appearing to be more mercenary than the soldiers of fortune. Shannon, on the other hand, a man who after his earlier African experiences could not adapt to a cog-in-the-wheel life in civilised Britain, showed such sharp mettle and acumen that one could not help but wonder what a splash he would have made if he had found the determination to make his mark in the business world. The other mercenary characters were also colourfully potrayed, though sometimes their identities became mixed.

Another aspect well-written was Shannon's inner self who found himself always fighting a war whose ultimate beneficiaries were the people he despised bitterly. An entertaining moment was found in Manson's daughter, beautiful model well-versed in the ways of the world, a barracuda to break men of wealth, becoming almost innocent and childlike when confronted with Shannon's world.

Unfortunately, unlike the promise of the book's introduction at the backcover, the Russians never did was played to their full potential.

This book offered an alternative perspective to the 60s & 70s, contrasting the concerns and motivations of Europe then to the really dark times in Africa. Certainly an interesting book, enough to occupy for a long journey, best read uninterrupted if one does not want to lose track of the details.

This book holds together quite well, although is noticably dated at this stage. It is entertaining and is a worthwhile addition to the collection of any Africa enthusiast, if for no other reason than memories of 1970's Africa which it is bound to arouse.

I loved this book because the characters are real, the plot seems authentic, and the hero achieves what men always desire...to use ones' honor for an honorable cause.