New York | Frederick Forsyth, who used his early experience as a British foreign correspondent and occasional intelligence operative as fodder for a series of swashbuckling, bestselling thrillers in the 1970s and ’80s, including The Day of the Jackal and The Dogs of War, died on Monday (Tuesday AEST) at his home north of London. He was 86.

His literary representative, Jonathan Lloyd, who confirmed the death, did not specify a cause, saying only that Forsyth died after a short illness.