The Fist of God: A Novel

I just recently read this book, and even though it is many years old and the setting is the first gulf war, it is suspenseful and full of military action. There is a large cast of characters that takes a bit of time to get to know, and perhaps a couple of events not central to the plot that seemed improbable and I didn’t care for, but I’m not going to give anything away by dropping spoilers. On balance this was very well written, mostly believable, and provided an in depth and up close, personal, gritty look at war on the ground. There was a seemless blend of the spy craft and the military action. Not quite 5 stars, but this is one of the better books in the genre and I recommend this to all fans of military and spy novels.

Well, it could've happened that way. The author takes gulf war one and there is a plan by Saddam to gather a nuke before the coalition forces invade Iraq. It also gives some insight into the resistance by some Kuwaiti leaders while being occupied by Iraq. Written in the mid nineties, it is somewhat plausible, but the most interesting aspect of the book is it seems to be amazingly prophetic about what would happen to Iraq and the entire mid-east if Saddam was eliminated, and it gives a very likely explanation why we did not go forward and take him out. Clearly we had the means and opportunity. At the time most Americans wondered why we left him in place. (Unfortunately now we know what could happen.) I enjoyed the characters and the story and I highly recommend the read.

I'm biased. Forsyth is my favorite writer, and he does not disappoint in this fictionalized version of the first Iraqi war. He may have written fiction here, but he uses many of the real-life people who conducted the war. And he must have had wonderful inside information, because his story is "too real to not believe." So, we'll never know if Sadam really had a giant cannon that could fire a nuclear shell into the gathering American soldiers who were about to destroy his scheme to take Kuwait. That may be the fiction part, but the behind-the-scenes spying and scheming is just too good to not be true. Whatever, Forsyth never disappoints, and this thriller will keep you page-turning until the conclusion. When God decided He needed to put a novelist on this Earth to show us how it's supposed to be done, He gave us Forsyth. Thank God!!!

This is a technothriller. If you are looking for Great Literature, look elsewhere, that isn't the point here.Although the technical stuff gets repeated a bit, the story itself and especially the climax is so exciting that reading the same explanation twice fades into insignificance.And, besides, how often do you get to read a novel carefully embedded in the first Gulf War -- the one liberating Kuwait from the monster, Saddam?And done so well it is hard to be sure which bits are true and which bits are not.

The different subplots. The research behind all of this book is amazing. I learn as I read. I’m 69And that makes the theme setting age appropriate. The feel of the entire book is that of aHistorical review from a knowledgeable perspective. I’m finding that true for the 4 books I’ve read. I’m coming from a life of aviation which adds impact on a personal level.

A spell-binding read that's nearly impossible to put down. I originally bought a hard-bound copy in a used book store several years ago, read it with amazement, then lent it to a brother-in-law and planned to lend it to others when I got it back. Brother-n-law lost it! When I found it in paperback on Amazon, I bought three -- one for me and two to give as presents.The author lays a foundation of historical people and facts, and then layers that foundation with compelling fictional and factual people and events to illuminate the lead-up to and execution of the 1991 Gulf War. If you want to know why Iraq is what it is today, in 2011, this is the book to read.

The Fist of God will keep you engaged to the very end. Although trite, the phrase "couldn't put down" , is appropriate here as this action novel will keep espionage as well as military action fans entertained from start to finish. Forsyth does his usual best with well researched and accurate storytelling of a first rate action novel. All fans of Forsyth will highly enjoy this story. Very much recommended.

I've always been a fan of Forsyth, and I think that this has to be one of his best yet. His storytelling skills, interesting characters, and interesting subject matter all prove to make one excellent book. Very rarely does a book give me chills or goosebumps, but this one certainly did (Especially the surprise ending!). The idea of writing a fictional story based around a real event (The Gulf War) was pure genious. It really helps set the stage. This novel is hard to put down and super-exciting to the very end. Read it.

Frederick Forsyth is famous for fabricating great adventures out of events that might occur and events that have occurred. This novel is of the latter, being about the Iraq invasion of Kuwait and the West's alliance to combat it. I am pretty convinced that a good deal happened as he tells it, for the knowledge variously of aircraft, firepower, terrain and language is awesome and the amount of research that must have been done is impressive. He uses real people like General Norman Swarzcopf, the American in charge of it all, to build up a military force to take back Kuwait. The methods used include exciting accounts of an undercover British SAS major and support personnel from the SAS, the American SIS and daredevils of the British and American Airforces. There is also a mysterious Arab passing knowledge to the allies which all in all produces so much tension as to threaten the onset of incontinence in the reader. As someone not suited to indirectness I was slightly disturbed by the avalanche of Acronyms for the various organisations and military units but I found it difficult to put this book down. A real rollercoaster.

It is a marvel how Mr Forsyth manages to uncover and complete such wide ranging issues in such incredible detail. It is a great tribute to such a fine writer that not only is he master of the genre but is master of research. The array of knowledge of complex military, geographical and governmental information Forsyth has at his fingertips results in a page turning read which is a delight to experience.Just one annoying 'encounter' crept suddenly into the story, unconnected to the rest of the book, written not surprisingly in detail, and unusual to find in any of his other books so far read (prompted by the Publishers to include I wonder??) was so revolting,, I am now redirecting my intended further purchases elsewhere. Pity because I wanted to send this book as presents to others.

Being a Forsyth fan, I had great hopes for this book, but I did not feel that it was up to his usual standard. The author relied far too much on lengthy descriptions of various weapons of war, cribbed (copied and pasted?) from arms manufacturers web sites and the story seemed rather far fetched, even for Saddam Hussein era Iraq. In addition, the continuity did not work too well in at least one place and characters did not have the usual Forsyth three dimensional feel. When the author forgot word count and started writing now and then, the old FF magic came back, but those instances were too few and far between to really bring this story to life.

This book can only be given the highest rating. Such detail in a complicated story can only be written by a master storyteller. A challenge for the reader but so clearly it was written by a man with total command of the details of the subject. I can only advise the readers of espionage, military stories must read and admire. I could not put this book down.

I have not noted when this book was written but probably I am coming on to it late. While I assume that may be considerable author licence the research must have been considerable. The outcome is an informative and very worthwhile read. It brought back the information and disinformation provided by press and politician at the time but left the big question... "Why was the job not finished properly at the time."