The Day of the Jackal

The Day of the Jackal is a 1971 thriller by Frederick Forsyth. The novel is centered around a professional assassin, known only as the Jackal, who is hired by a French paramilitary group to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle. Forsyth’s realistic, research-based writing style builds suspense through a detailed account of the cat-and-mouse chase that spans across Europe, showcasing the complexities of security and espionage during a tumultuous political era. The novel has been adapted for film and television, including a 2024 television series starring Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne as the Jackal.

This guide uses the 2021 Penguin edition.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of graphic violence, political assassination plots, and references to wartime trauma.

Plot Summary

The Day of the Jackal is split into three parts. The first part, Anatomy of a Plot, starts in 1962 following Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry’s failed attempt to kill Charles de Gaulle. The attack is ostensibly motivated by de Gaulle’s decision to grant independence to the state of Algeria. Bastien-Thiry is a member of the Secret Army Organization (OAS), which has sworn vengeance against de Gaulle. After Bastien-Thiry’s arrest, the French government retaliates against the OAS in a secret underground skirmish. Though Bastien-Thiry believes that no true Frenchman would raise a gun to him, he is shot by a firing squad.

After several attempts to fend off the French secret service, the OAS decides that the only way to carry out its assassination is to hire an independent, unrecognizable assassin. Rodin, the OAS deputy who takes over from Bastien-Thiry, organizes a meeting with the assassin. The chosen assassin is an unnamed Englishman who agrees to take the contract in exchange for half a million dollars, shocking the OAS leaders. The OAS accepts his terms, as well as his proposed codename: the Jackal. The remainder of Part 1 concerns the Jackal’s complex preparations for the assassination. He obtains a real British passport under a false identity by using the name of a deceased child. Then, the Jackal travels to Belgium and hires an expert gunmaker. He wants a small, portable rifle to kill Charles de Gaulle, though he does not name his intended target. He also visits a forger, whom he hires to manufacture a collection of false French documents. These documents involve the identities of two people whose passports he stole in London: an American student and a Danish priest. He also carefully selects a time and place for the assassination attempt. He knows that de Gaulle is too proud to change his schedule following the previous assassination attempt and counts on the French leader’s arrogance to create an opportunity.

While the Jackal is meticulously preparing his assassination, the French security services grow concerned. The leaders of the OAS have secured themselves in the top floor of a hotel in Rome, refusing to exit. Since they cannot apprehend the men without causing a diplomatic incident, the French authorities surveil the hotel. Eventually, they orchestrate the kidnapping of one of the OAS’s henchmen, a Polish former legionnaire named Kowalski. Under torture, they are given a few fragments of information. They deduce that the OAS hired a foreign assassin. To catch the Jackal without causing public outcry, they turn to Claude Lebel, France’s best detective.

Part 2, Anatomy of a Manhunt, concerns the French secret service’s attempt to find the Jackal while suppressing public knowledge about the campaign to assassinate de Gaulle. Lebel is given unlimited powers and resources to conduct his investigation. He tries to compile a list of possible foreign agents who might be operating in France, relying on a network of policemen around Europe to help him. In Britain, the Welshman Bryn Thomas becomes a vital ally. He provides Lebel with the name Charles Calthrop, in connection with the unsolved assassination attempt of the dictator of the Dominican Republic several years earlier. When Thomas provides him with the false English identities and the stolen passports from tourists in Britain, Lebel is able to move his investigation along.

At the same time, however, there is a leak in the French security services. The OAS recruited a woman with a grudge against Lebel to seduce a high-ranking member of the French authorities. Each night, she encourages him to tell her the secrets of Lebel’s investigation. She passes them along to a member of the OAS, who then passes them along to the Jackal, allowing the Jackal to stay a step ahead of the investigation. Even when the Jackal suspects that Lebel is on his tail, he decides to continue with his assignment: He cannot hand the money back to the OAS.

The Jackal rents a car and drives from Italy to France under a false identity after collecting his handcrafted Belgian rifle. Though the armorer gave him no issues, the forger attempted to extort the Jackal, who killed him and left. Traveling under the false documents, the Jackal moves slowly through France. At a country hotel, he meets a middle-aged woman who has recently become estranged from her husband. With Lebel closing in, the Jackal flees the hotel and tracks down the woman. He kills her and makes his escape, taking a train to Paris and changing identity. In Paris, he switches hotels often as Lebel draws closer. With the day of the assassination looming, he seduces a middle-aged man and stays at his apartment. When news of the woman’s murder is broadcast on the television, however, he kills the man. He stays in the apartment for several days as the assassination date nears.

Part 3, Anatomy of a Kill, concerns the days up to and including that of the Jackal’s assassination attempt. Lebel has the security council’s phones tapped, suspecting that there is a mole, who turns out to be the mistress of the colonel. Thomas uses a database of recently stolen passports to get closer to the Jackal’s identity. On August 22, Lebel postulates that the Jackal will attempt the assassination on the 25th, which commemorates Paris’ liberation during World War II. He knows that the arrogant de Gaulle will not forgo these public appearances.

The Minister dismisses Lebel, confident that he can take over the remainder of the investigation. On the 24th, the Minister reinstates Lebel, but to no avail. The Jackal poses as a wounded veteran and conceals his sniper rifle in his crutch. Just as the Jackal gets into position, Lebel rushes into the apartment building with a CRS officer. The Jackal fires at de Gaulle but misses him as he stoops to kiss a veteran. The CRS officer bursts into his room and is shot. Lebel enters behind him and kills the Jackal.

At the novel’s end, the Jackal’s identity remains unknown: The Special Branch bursts into Calthrop’s apartment just as the real Calthrop is returning from a holiday in Scotland. Baffled, the English authorities choose to believe that the Jackal was an anonymous assassin who posed as an Englishman. The French police bury the Jackal’s body in an anonymous grave during a funeral service attended by few, including Lebel.