Code to Zero

Rating:
Summary: Did George Lucas Adopt Skywalker¿
Review: "The Eye Of The Needle" by Ken Follett was the first book I ever read in this genre. It remains to the present one of the best of the entries in the category it occupies. It was damaged by a movie, but many books share the same fate. Unfortunately, for me at least, subsequent books never reached the level of the mentioned novel, and Mr. Follett chose to explore other subjects and I stopped reading his work. When I read of the release of, "Code To Zero", I thought he had returned to his earlier subject matter and style. "Pillars Of The Earth", and other works were very good, but not the type of work that introduced me to him as a writer.

Little issues when they multiply are annoying, when combined with a story that lacks originality, has characters that are a bit on the shallow side, and ridiculous coincidence is the order of the day, the book became a disappointment.

Luke Lucas is the star of the show. I understand that not everyone has read or even cares about Star Wars, but for those who are familiar, this name was one of the sillier contrivances for a name I have read. So when this name appears laughter ensues. When Luke is trying to regain his memory he reaches a point of discovery and declares, (I'm not kidding), "I'm a rocket scientist"! And the clichés keep on coming.

Imagine that you entire memory is gone, even to the point that you have forgotten this book. What would be a plausible period of time to regain any clue as to who you were? Virtually any length you would suggest is more believable than this storyline. Probably the weakest aspect was the Author's decision to just introduce his cast, and then pick them up, fast forward a few years, and place them all down in circumstances that are less likely than winning the lottery, twice. Members of this group who serve time in the military and describe their first lethal event recall events so similar, you will wonder if you read incorrectly, you are reading a clue, when all it is, is laziness.

I had very high hopes for this work as Mr. Follett has written some wonderful novels. This book is many things but wonderful it is not. No Author writes a brilliant book every time out, and this is such an example. If you choose to pass on this, you will have missed little.

Rating:
Summary: good idea, bad implementation
Review: 1 star for mr. follett and his creative juices coming up with the story
another star for a fast paced novel that makes a good read on the plane
and the last star for keeping me entertained

i withhold the last two stars: good but not great, and the other follet books are GREAT. also, i felt it was flat, i really like the idea of the story, but never felt it.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Follett with a nod to Ludlum
Review:

With his latest offering, Ken Follett returns to his Cold War roots with a bang up story full of espionage, intrigue, covert operations, secret agents and the space program thrown in for good measure.

A man wakes up in Washington D.C.'s Union Station with a terrible hangover and no memory of how he got there or who he is. A series of close encounters with those interested in his actions show him to be resourceful and even quite dangerous.

I couldn't help but think back to THE BOURNE IDENTITY as I read this book. Follett has lifted a lot from Ludlum's masterpiece in this boilerplate tale, but he kept me interested enough to finish the book in two sittings.

The first decade of space program and our race to beat Russia is the backdrop for the book's plot and flashbacks to the glory days of life before World War II are used to set up the characters' histories.

It's not too hard to figure out who's who, but Follett keeps the plot moving quickly enough to avoid boredom.

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Farfetched Premise but Interesting Nonetheless
Review: Although "Code to Zero" is overall a fairly fast-paced interesting story, there are a few too many coincidences and loose ends to make the story very plausible. The protagonist, Luke Lucas wakes up one morning in 1958 in a bus station with a hang-over, dressed like a bum, and not knowing who he is. Through many scrapes and close calls he steals a car and a fresh set of clothes, breaks into someone's house to take a shower and change, and starts relentlessly pursuing any clues to his past. He walks through the halls of Georgetown University hoping someone will recognize him and tell him who he is! How believable is that?

The reader is lead through a series of flashbacks to Luke's pre-war days at Harvard and parallel scenes at the rocket launch site in Cape Canaveral, and is thrust into the tension of the U.S. vs. Russia space wars of the late 1950's. Each chapter is introduced with a brief statement about the various phases of rocket design, which doesn't really add any useful or interesting information to the book. Luke gradually uncovers the secret to his past and why he has been subjected to his drug-induced amnesia. The reader figures out who the "bad guys" are long before the end of the book, but you're never really sure why they became bad guys in the first place. The novel could have benefited from a more thorough character development of some of the critical players.

Not one of Follett's best books, but that's not much of an indictment since some of his earlier novels are among my perennial favorites, including "Eye of the Needle" and "The Key to Rebecca".

Rating:
Summary: A good, captivating page turner
Review: Although I am a Ken Follet aficionado and continue to unabashedly wave his banner "Best adventure thriller writer alive today" this was not his best work, nor his second best work, but it is a good, captivating page turner none-the-less.

The momentum builds in the first half but peters-out in the later half, like a roller coaster that almost reaches the pinnacle, but lacks the umph and falls a few feet short of the critical hump. Thus, predictably, this story, like the roller coaster, slides backwards the last part of the novel. The last half is predictable and a bit unsatisfying. If you are a Ken Follett fan then you may find "Code to Zero" lacking the violence, intrigue and exotic passion (zero zing) that most of Follet's spy thrillers have had (Key to Rebecca - Eye of the Needle - Lie down with Lions). That said, though this was not a one night, "burn the midnight oil" read, it was a story that I wanted to finish in two nights. "Code to Zero" is worth the purchase. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Space Race thriller
Review: Code to Zero is an unusual book. The main part of the plot takes place over a period of a couple of days in 1958, though there are flashbacks to earlier periods, some of them the better part of two decades. The author jumps between the plot and the flashbacks rather seamlessly.

In the main story, the protagonist wakes up in a men's room in a train station, dressed as a bum. He's not certain what or who he is, but he thinks he has skills and that his clothing isn't a good representation of his status. He soon gets his bearings and begins to regain his footing, stealing clothes and a car, then working on figuring out who he is. Eventually this develops into a mystery: once he knows who he is, he must find out why he lost his memory, and more importantly what he was supposed to forget.

I did have a few problems with the story. Though I won't give away any of the twists of the plot, I will tell you that I thought it a bit much for the main character to be all of the things he is in the story. And I will say I found the solution to the story to be a bit obvious and predictable. Those things being said, the writing is good, and the action flows along quickly and seamlessly, so you don't notice you're reading that much.

This is a good book, and I enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: fast and trite
Review: Follet knows his history, which always makes reading his stuff both fun and educational. In this story we're taken back to the McCarthy era and dropped in the world of communist spies and the race to control space. It opens with our hero Luke waking up in a train station bathroom with his memory wiped. He must discover who he is and why he has amnesia. Plot twists ensue. Regrettably, the story is fairly easy to decipher from page one. But thankfully the characters are pretty interesting, even if they are over the top sometimes. AS always, his women are very strong independant characters, which is something I find refreshing. Follet's writing is usually a bit better than than this, and he seems more comfortable when he is in his WWII mode. (Actually, some of the story flashes back to WWII). That this occurs during the 50's may have been one reason the environments and action seem dull. I read this in a couple of days, breaking for work and what not, but I could easily have finished it in a weekend, and I'm a slow reader. The only thing that really bothered me was that it took place over two days. Seemed kind of implausible to me. But it was a fun read overall.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting historical novel
Review: Follet's Code to Zero shows me that the horrible "Third Twin" is just an abberration on his otherwise great collection of novels.

Code to Zero, written in 2000, covers the 2 days preceding the launch of the United States' first successful satellite rocket launch.

The story revolves around 4 friends who met at Harvard before WWII. Follet throws in some background about Luke, Anthony, Elspeth, and Billie's days at Harvard and then time spent as spies during the war. The lives of the four are intertwined till the very end and there is love and betrayal at every corner.

Follett's strength is his charactarization and his research of the time period and the subject matter. This is a solid novel that is fun to read, but the end isn't a jolting climax, just a logical ending to all that preceded it.

Rating:
Summary: Pure formula
Review: Follett is a talented enough writer that even this implausible, formulaic, cloak and dagger tale is not a total bust. Still, I expected a lot more. I have greatly enjoyed several of Mr. Follett's other books (though I haven't read any recently), but I found the plot of this book to be so contrived, and the lead character's struggle with amnesia to so implausible, it tainted the whole experience for me. Like most stereotypical cold-war spy thrillers, the lead character is a former OSS operative who learned his craft behind enemy lines in WWII. In this tale, conveniently, an entire group of college chums/lovers become secret agents either during or after the war and their relationships form the basis for the plot. I found the calm, analytical, behavior the amnesiac possesses as he proceeeds to solve the riddle of his past to be totally unrealistic. Fortunately, he works out enough of the riddle to find his way to his ex-secret agent, ex-girlfriend, who also happens to be a renowned leader in the field of memory loss. Heh, heh, heh. I'm not kidding. Pure, B-movie stuff. For those of you who really enjoyed this book--more power to you. Enjoyment is what reading is all about. But to those who gave it five stars, I have to wonder whether you've ever read a truly good cold-war thriller (or a good Follett thriller).

Rating:
Summary: Good but not Great
Review: Having been a long-time fan of Mr Follett's early work, I was a bit disappointed by his last two novels (The Third Twin & The Hammer of Eden).

"Code to Zero", which is again set in the Eastern US, starts off quite well and is an entertaining read over all, but after finishing it (which doesn't take very long at barely 300 pages net) I found it suffered from the same flaws that Ken Follett's other recent novels had: it's just too superficial.

The lost memory idea is not really new, but a gifted author like Mr Follett should have made so much more out of a pretty simple storyline. Like its two predecessors, "Code to Zero" reads like a TV-thriller script which includes a strangely shallow love interest sideline.

I'd rather wait two or even three years for a new Follett novel that's up to the standards of "The Pillars of the Earth", "Night Over Water" or "Eye of the Needle" than be slightly disappointed again by another rush-job like the new book.

I really wish this review could've been more positive, but in comparison to earlier Follett classics "Code to Zero" is a terribly flat affair.

You might check out a "A Tourist in the Yucatan" a different kind of thriller. I liked it!