The Fist of God by Frederick Forsyth - Book Review

Frederick Forsyth’s The Fist of God, which was published in 1994, is set in the Persian Gulf War.

It is a work of fiction that revolves around real events of the Gulf War by pitching an alternate reality where Saddam Hussain did possess a weapon of mass destruction.

It is the first of the two novels to feature Martin brothers – Mike and Terry. After Saddam Hussain invaded Kuwait, British Special Air Services (SAS) agent Mike Martin was sent undercover to build up the Kuwaiti resistance force. Mike’s dark complexion and fluent Arabic makes it easy for him to pass as an Arab.

The Allied forces pull Mike out of his Kuwaiti operation and reassign him to infiltrate Iraq after learning that Mossad has a high-level agent codenamed Jericho within Saddam’s inner circle. The new mission is to establish contact with the mysterious Jericho and reactivate him to learn about the Iraqi dictator’s battle plan for desert storm.

In the process of running Jericho without knowing his true identity, Mike receives a potentially explosive piece of intelligence. It suggests that Iraq possesses an atomic bomb which is destined to deal a massive blow to the American forces if they embark on the operation, Desert Storm, in Saudi Arabia.

The bomb is set to be delivered to its target by means of a supergun called ‘The Fist of God’. It was developed by Canadian weapon specialist Dr. Gerald Bull who designed it thinking it was supposed to project satellites into space. He was assassinated by his paymasters to keep the existence of the supergun a secret.

Though initially sceptical about Jericho’s intel, the Allied forces later realize that it is true and are forced to take swift action. What ensues is a high-octane climax that brings the story’s multiple subplots together and reveals the identity of Jericho.

Forsyth, being a former war journalist and RAF pilot, used his expertise to beautifully describe the western military forces’ wide range of gadgetry and aircraft. This alone makes The Fist of God worth reading for military buffs.