Genres
Publication
Bantam Press (2018), Edition: 01, 320 pages
Description
Former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service Adrian Weston is awoken in the middle of the night by a phone call from the prime minister. Her news is shocking: the Pentagon, the NSA, and the CIA have been hacked simultaneously, their seemingly impenetrable firewalls breached by an unknown enemy known only as "The Fox". Even more surprisingly, the culprit is revealed to be a young British teenager, Luke Jennings. He has no agenda, no secrets, just a blisteringly brilliant mind. Extradition to the US seems likely - until Weston has another idea: If Luke can do this to us, what can he do to our enemies?
User reviews
LibraryThing member Susan.Macura
This was a tough book to put down. It is the tale of an autistic teenager in England who finds purpose in the world of the Internet. It appears he has a gift that is not explainable - he is a super hacker. When the U.S. government finds he has hacked into their secret intelligence agencies, at
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first they are furious, but then they work with the teen to cause trouble for our enemies - particularly Russia and North Korea. It is a fast paced thriller filled with tons of fun. I loved this book! Show Less
LibraryThing member maneekuhi
It is almost fifty years since Forsyth’s “Day of the Jackal” was published. What a great story. Here was a book which focused not on the good guy, but on an assassin. It traced, in great detail, his recruitment, his preparation, steps he took to eliminate any trace of his identity. Meanwhile,
So now, twelve books later we have “The Fox”. In the intervening years, I tried two or three other Forsyth’s and was disappointed in all. None came close to the tension and reader pleasures of the Jackal. Despite all the disappointments, I was intrigued by blurbs of “The Fox” plot. A teenage genius can somehow uncover access codes to enemy super computers. He wreaks havoc amongst all the evil empire enemies – Russia, North Korea, Iran, China. And now they’re out to get him. Will they succeed? Well, Luke has a protector, an old guy, semi-retired, buddy to the PM……There is every emergency known to man from NK missiles to Iranian centrifuges and a few new ones mixed in. Interesting stories, maybe a bit too much in the way of technical detail (“The Orsis T-5000 is a remarkable weapon capable of blowing away a human skull at 2000 yards with its .338 Lapua Magnum rounds”.) But surprisingly after the first half of the book, there’s little tension, it feels like things are on auto-pilot. And there is very, very little character development. And a rather improbable ending. There is one very nice little passage following the rescue of a hostage. Too little, too late. I don’t think a movie will be made of this one. Sadly I will finally add Forsyth’s name to my list of masters whom I enjoyed years ago, (including LeCarre) but whose new books I will pass up.
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the good guys were fumbling. Clues seemed to come their way despite themselves; somehow as they continued to bungle they managed to draw closer to their unknown target. But so too the Jackal. Then stories emerged that the plot was loosely based on a real life Jackal; the rumors clearly did not hurt book sales. Readers found themselves pulling for the Jackal – would he succeed in his mission? As I reflected a bit on history of the times, this too was a rather remarkable twist. After all it was still less than a decade after JFK’s assassination, and while De Gaulle was no JFK…. “Day of the Jackal” spawned dozens and dozens of new thrillers over the intervening years, and one very good follow-on movie. I have read the book at least twice more since its debut, and enjoyed it thoroughly each time.So now, twelve books later we have “The Fox”. In the intervening years, I tried two or three other Forsyth’s and was disappointed in all. None came close to the tension and reader pleasures of the Jackal. Despite all the disappointments, I was intrigued by blurbs of “The Fox” plot. A teenage genius can somehow uncover access codes to enemy super computers. He wreaks havoc amongst all the evil empire enemies – Russia, North Korea, Iran, China. And now they’re out to get him. Will they succeed? Well, Luke has a protector, an old guy, semi-retired, buddy to the PM……There is every emergency known to man from NK missiles to Iranian centrifuges and a few new ones mixed in. Interesting stories, maybe a bit too much in the way of technical detail (“The Orsis T-5000 is a remarkable weapon capable of blowing away a human skull at 2000 yards with its .338 Lapua Magnum rounds”.) But surprisingly after the first half of the book, there’s little tension, it feels like things are on auto-pilot. And there is very, very little character development. And a rather improbable ending. There is one very nice little passage following the rescue of a hostage. Too little, too late. I don’t think a movie will be made of this one. Sadly I will finally add Forsyth’s name to my list of masters whom I enjoyed years ago, (including LeCarre) but whose new books I will pass up.
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LibraryThing member RonWelton
Dull, unrewarding reading -
LibraryThing member Tatoosh
“The Fox” is a geopolitical fantasy centering on the worldly ability of a Luke Jennings, an autistic teenager, to penetrate state-of-the-art computer firewalls that require a jumble of letters, figures, symbols, and hieroglyphs in exactly the right order. This ability permits him to gain access
Despite the vicarious satisfaction offered by “The Fox,” numerous shortcomings are apparent in this weak offering by Forsyth. The plot is too thin to sustain a full-length novel, Forsyth relies almost exclusively on narrative to “tell” readers what the characters are thinking and feeling, and the protagonist’s abilities to deal with the issues they confront are never explained.
The story begins with an initial action scene in which Luke and his family are taken into custody. After that Forsyth engages in a lengthy, languid backfill during which nothing much happens. He takes four pages to say how easy it is to pocket a thumb drive containing millions of digitized records that would fill a fleet of trucks. Another boring, multi-page discourse on cybersecurity could have been summarized in a single sentence. In these instances, and throughout the book, Forsyth’s slow, methodical build-up to a brief scene comes across as obsessive. Tedious, boring, and mildly insulting are reactions that came to mind. It seems unlikely that Forsyth is so out of touch with contemporary readers that he thought it was necessary to explain information that is now common knowledge. More likely is that the excessive detail was necessary to expand what is essentially a novella to book length.
“The Fox” relies almost exclusively on narrative, opting to “tell” readers the character’s thoughts and motives instead of “showing” them. An example is the explanation of the intricate cognitive process used by Sir Adrian Weston to indentify a traitor in the British government. The explanation was interesting, but the brief narrative would have been more riveting if shown. Forsyth’s approach results in two-dimensional characters.
“The Fox” lacks dramatic tension because a valid threat never materializes. Numerous Russian, Chinese, or North Korean menaces are presented, but Luke quickly provides the key needed to invade the hostile computer systems and sabotage the process. Forsyth never explains how Luke is able to hack into these complicated systems, so no matter how threatening the menace or complicated the defensive firewall, readers know that Luke’s mysterious talent will prevail. Forsyth also invokes a magical “sixth sense” at critical points to explain why the plans and plots of the villains fail at critical junctures. These shortcuts permit Forsyth to create complicated schemes without having to come up with a realistic way to avoid them.
In short, “The Fox” is a flawed effort that would have benefited from an insightful revision that rectified these and other lesser shortcomings.
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to databases that are vital to the safety and security of the major world powers. Upon learning about his ability, the security services of the United Kingdom decide to take advantage of Luke’s skill to sabotage Russian, Chinese, and North Korean programs designed to subjugate the NATO powers and Israel. Despite the vicarious satisfaction offered by “The Fox,” numerous shortcomings are apparent in this weak offering by Forsyth. The plot is too thin to sustain a full-length novel, Forsyth relies almost exclusively on narrative to “tell” readers what the characters are thinking and feeling, and the protagonist’s abilities to deal with the issues they confront are never explained.
The story begins with an initial action scene in which Luke and his family are taken into custody. After that Forsyth engages in a lengthy, languid backfill during which nothing much happens. He takes four pages to say how easy it is to pocket a thumb drive containing millions of digitized records that would fill a fleet of trucks. Another boring, multi-page discourse on cybersecurity could have been summarized in a single sentence. In these instances, and throughout the book, Forsyth’s slow, methodical build-up to a brief scene comes across as obsessive. Tedious, boring, and mildly insulting are reactions that came to mind. It seems unlikely that Forsyth is so out of touch with contemporary readers that he thought it was necessary to explain information that is now common knowledge. More likely is that the excessive detail was necessary to expand what is essentially a novella to book length.
“The Fox” relies almost exclusively on narrative, opting to “tell” readers the character’s thoughts and motives instead of “showing” them. An example is the explanation of the intricate cognitive process used by Sir Adrian Weston to indentify a traitor in the British government. The explanation was interesting, but the brief narrative would have been more riveting if shown. Forsyth’s approach results in two-dimensional characters.
“The Fox” lacks dramatic tension because a valid threat never materializes. Numerous Russian, Chinese, or North Korean menaces are presented, but Luke quickly provides the key needed to invade the hostile computer systems and sabotage the process. Forsyth never explains how Luke is able to hack into these complicated systems, so no matter how threatening the menace or complicated the defensive firewall, readers know that Luke’s mysterious talent will prevail. Forsyth also invokes a magical “sixth sense” at critical points to explain why the plans and plots of the villains fail at critical junctures. These shortcuts permit Forsyth to create complicated schemes without having to come up with a realistic way to avoid them.
In short, “The Fox” is a flawed effort that would have benefited from an insightful revision that rectified these and other lesser shortcomings.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Paul_S
Brain dead wish fulfilment fantasy. The British flicking everyone's noses. The hacking is dumber than in the dumbest Hollywood film. And everyone lived happily ever after.
Awards
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Mystery/Thriller — 2018)
Language
Original publication date
2018
ISBN
0593080599 / 9780593080597
Other editions
The Fox by Frederick Forsyth (Paperback)