Frederick Forsyth : Novel : The Dogs of War

Sir James Manson, has come up the hard way in life. Born to nobodies from some place. He has grown to become the Chairman of ManCon, construction and exploration company.
Starting as a mine worker, James Manson realized that money was not made by underground mining workers but by above ground white color guys who invested money. He learnt the skills of mining astutely.
And when he was promoted as director of his company , he quit his job. He realized that he had the potential else he would not have been promoted. After quitting he started his company. Initial days were testing days. But he bid for all small projects and got hold of the nuances of running a company. Slowly but steadily he had built up his company to become one of the largest construction and mining company in UK.
A report on the desk of Sir James Manson had his attention. It was the report of recent exploration work done by one of the consultants that the company hires. The results of the exploration were startling... The Crystal Mountain, located in Zhangaro, a small African county, had the largest platinum deposit ever found.
Zhangaro, virtually unknown country, is being run by a guy called Kimba. Kimba is known to be a very unstable guy who claims he can talk to the gods. The land is dominated by Vidhu tribe. Kimba had forcefully occupied the country and has driven out all his opponents. He virtually controls all the moves of people.
James Manson desperately wants the exploration rights of the crystal mountain and exploit the contents. But it is impossible to do till kimba is around. So he comes up with a dangerous and grandiose idea.

Sir James trusts his 2 lieutenants Martin Thorpe and Simon Endean. They were handpicked by James and groomed to become his trusted juniors. He talks about his plans with Martin and Simon. Simon is assigned the job of finding a mercenary who can carry out the grand plan.
Carlo Alfred Thomas Shannon (a.k.a Cat Shannon) is a mercenary who has fought all types of wars in Africa. He is familiar with the psyche of Africans. He is back in London after his assignment and is loafing around. He wants a new assignment is not sure how to get one until Simon calls him up.
Cat Shannon has trusted partners in Kurt Semmler, Marc Vlaminck, Langarotti and Dupree. They have worked with him in africa. They are the Dogs of War.
Cat Shannon accepts Simon's proposal and starts his preparation.

What follows is an interesting and adventerous story of Cat and his team.

Amazing novel. Frederick at his best, as usual.
I liked the way the story progresses, the way characters are built up. Shannon's methodical prepration is amazing and explained in great detail. However i felt it could have been shortened.
James Manson's character is a great read. Simon and Martin are simple in their characters.
The story revolves around Cat Shannon and his men. Cat comes out as a very interesting man who knows what he can do and does it efficiently.
The story also has characters like Dr. Steinhofer, Swiss banker, Sergei Golon, the under secretary, Charles Roux who has a score to settle with Shannon, Johann Schlinker who supplies shannon with his vital requirements, baker who helps Shannon with other requirements, Lambert who helps with some vital parts, Jack Mulrooney the Surveyor of Crystal Mountain.

However I was not too happy with Julia's character. I felt it was not required. She is there in the picture only for one purpose and that could have been achieved by any other person. A detective agency could have done the job that she does.

Overall an interesting novel. I would give a 7 out of 10 and a must for all Frederick Fans.