Book Look - #12

THE DOGS OF WAR by Frederick Forsyth

Plot: A UK based business maniac discovers the abundant presence of the mineral in demand - Platinum - in a politically unstable African province Zangaro; He wishes to dethrone the dictator there and install a new ruler of his choice so that he can get the mining rights and monopolise. He chooses a mercenary for the dethroning operation and the planning & execution of the operation by the mercenary crew form the fascinating majority of the book.

Highlights:

• As is often the case, the meticulous ways of the protagonist - a mercenary Shannon here - is a major highlight of this work.
• The way his plans are presented give us tremendous insights on to the relatively unknown mercenary operations trade, smuggling of ammunitions across the sea etc.
• The final action of Shannon which makes him a true hero has a message which gets delivered right at the end - the last page!

Lowlights:
After a decent enough hype, the role of the Russians as the party-poopers turn out to be insignificant at the end.