Joby Warrick revisits the rise of Carlos the Jackal in new nonfiction account
National security writer Joby Warrick’s new book, The Jackal, traces the career of Carlos the Jackal, the notorious terrorist who moved through nightclubs and luxury hotels while carrying out killings and kidnappings and evading law enforcement for years. The book revisits a figure whose blend of glamour and violence made him one of the defining fugitives of the 1970s and 1980s.
National security writer Joby Warrick turns to one of the most notorious fugitives of the late 20th century in his new book, The Jackal. The book focuses on Carlos the Jackal, a self-styled playboy terrorist whose long career of violence included killings and kidnappings, even as he eluded law enforcement and moved through spaces associated with wealth and leisure.
Carlos the Jackal became infamous not only for the crimes attributed to him, but for the strange contrast between those crimes and the life he seemed to project. According to the material behind Warrick’s book, he was known for frequenting nightclubs and luxury hotels while remaining able to stay ahead of authorities for years. That combination of glamour and menace helped turn him into a defining international figure of the 1970s and 1980s.
Warrick’s book arrives in a literary and journalistic tradition that examines political violence through narrative nonfiction. By focusing on a figure like Carlos the Jackal, The Jackal places attention on the way terror, celebrity, and mobility could overlap in the modern media age. The story is not only about one man’s criminal career, but also about how a fugitive could become globally notorious while continuing to evade capture.