Day of the Jackal Author Had “Nothing to Do” with Assassination

Seventy-year-old thriller author Frederick Forsyth (Dogs of War, The Odessa File) was in Guinea-Bissau on a research trip when the president and chief of the army were assassinated. From The Telegraph:

“I can assure you I had nothing to do with the coup d'etat,” said the author, who has previously admitted to helping fund a 1973 coup attempt in nearby Equatorial Guinea, and whose 1974 book The Dogs of War recounted a failed plot to topple the government of a fictional African country.

When prompted, however, Forsyth maintained he might, at some point, be tempted to make lemonade:

“What I was researching had nothing to do with bumping off generals or bumping off presidents,” he said.

"But it’s a little extra garnish on the cake, so I’ll probably use it eventually in the book.”

The Telegraph piece is here.