Frederick Forsyth is making a stunning literary comeback with a sequel to his classic The Odessa File.
The novelist and veteran Daily Express columnist collaborated with writer Tony Kent on The Revenge Of Odessa, inspired by the recent rebirth of the far Right in Germany.
His original bestseller – often hailed by fans as his second best book after The Day of the Jackal – came out in 1972, adapted into a film of the same name starring Jon Voight in 1974. Its sequel, due out next year, features the grandson of Forsyth’s original hero, reporter Peter Miller, and is set in the summer of 2025.
Georg Miller is a Berlin podcaster who stumbles across evidence that the Odessa, a Nazi network whose goal is to return the fascists to power, has resurfaced – and their next attack could change the course of history.
Forsyth, 86, sold more than 75 million books and retired from writing novels in 2018. But having seen with horror the return of the far Right, he felt the time had come to revisit Odessa.
He said: “While The Odessa File was a product of my imagination over 50 years ago, the political realities it describes are still very much with us. I’ve been toying with an idea for a sequel for a few years. Working with the very talented Tony Kent, we’ve been able to conjure an exciting new contemporary story.”
Forsyth, who hung up his pen on his weekly Daily Express column on his 85th birthday last year after nearly two decades , exploded into public attention with his debut novel, The Day of the Jackal, written in just 35 days and published in 1971. It was made into a hit film starring Edward Fox as the titular ‘Jackal’, an assassin for hire targeting French President General de Gaulle. It has just been remade as a ten-part TV series starring Eddie Redmayne which starts streaming on Thursday.
Kent, 46, a criminal barrister and former boxer whose own bestselling books include the Dempsey and Devlin series, said: “Being asked to work with a living legend like Freddie is the biggest privilege of my writing career. I am a fan of thrillers just as much as I am a writer of thrillers, and as a fan there is simply no one in the genre to match him.
“One of my biggest ambitions was that he would one day read and like my own books – maybe say a few nice words – so to now find myself chosen to write alongside him really is a dream come true. Co-writing The Revenge of Odessa has been the most brilliant, most surreal and most enjoyable experience of my life as a writer, and I have loved every moment of learning from the master.”
The Revenge of Odessa will be published in August next year.
Forsyth’s editor, Bill Scott-Kerr, said: “I was entranced by The Odessa File when I read it as a conspiracy-hungry teenager many years ago so, when Freddie proposed this new book, The Revenge of Odessa, I leapt at the chance to revisit its characters and themes.
“I’ve been working with him over the course of many books and I’ve always been struck by his matchless ability to take contemporary events and weave a thrilling story about them. This new adventure is set to be no exception. Its pages will not only hold a mirror to the modern world but will entertain thoroughly at the same time.”
