Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Idea, But Follett Got Lazy with His Language
Review: Is this the same guy who wrote Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca? This book recounts an allegedly fictional story behind the headlines of the "space race". The time period is that which precedes and follows the Soviet launch of Sputnik. Reading like a spy thriller, Follett's book races to the final countdown of the launch of the Explorer in January 1958. Its main character (whose name I won't reveal) wakes on the floor of a railway station and remembers nothing of his past, including his name. Clearly he is a key player in the drama and much of the rest of the book is about his quest to recover his memory in time to save the space program. This is a very interesting storyline to think about and much of what is recounted here is plausible in an historical sense. However, the "memory struggle" of the book's main character becomes repetitive and tedious and the language between characters hollow. It's a shame that this book wasn't better having come from a very good author equipped with an interesting story line. Perhaps the author was thinking too much about Hollywood and too little about a really good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good thriller
Review: Ken Follett's novel is set in the time of the Cold War. Just in time where the US and Russia start their race to explore the space.
The book starts when a man wakes up in a public restroom, dressed in rags, terribly hungover and without a clue how he's got there. In the next hours he finds out that he is an important rocket scientist...but still he doesn't know how he's lost his memory. Then it comes to mind that someone made him lose his memory as he might know more than he's allowed to. With the help of some friends he finds out that he's involved into a big conspiracy, which threatens his life.
Follett's book is interesting, well-written and fun to read. Nevertheless a big minus of "Code to Zero" are the strange coincidences that are sometimes hard to believe. Not too good is also the end that simply doesn't keep up with the high quality of the rest of the novel. But I have to say that these things are less important..."Code to Zero" is a good book and definitely worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story of love and deception
Review: Luke woke up to find himself sleeping on the floor of a public toilet with a bum named Pete. It was a staggering start of a novel. Luke couldn't remember even his name. His street life began. These anecdotes of homeless bums are quite different from those of Street Lawyer by John Grisham. Soon a woman named Elspeth appeared. So the woman knows about Luke. The tale returned to the past; the year was 1941, and the relationship was unfolded between Luke and Elspeth, Luke and his colleague Anthony, and Luke and Billie Josephson who was dangerous to Elspeth's happy life with Luke. The tale was back to the present. The year was 1958. Luke was loitering in the city for his lost memory. He sensed he was followed by two people. His friend Anthony Carroll was now Luke's enemy. Somehow Anthony was responsible for his loss of memory. Luke was Dr. Claude Lucas responsible for space programs of USA. A rocket was to be launched soon, but something was wrong and Luke knows the reason behind his lost memory. He must get back his lost memory to save USA. Untold story by Luke's side was mysterious enough. I knew the enemies of Luke, but the enigma was Elspeth whose intention was not apparent. She is Lukefs wife, but acts against Lukefs welfare. The drama unfolds with lightning speed. Every chapter consumes only half an hour. Luke moves, Anthony counter-moves, Billie enters, and Elspeth spins the wheel. This setup was superb enough to attract and grip my heart to read along faster and faster to the final mind-numbing conclusion of this splendid masterpiece of love and deception. You wonft regret holding this book in your hand.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, but not without it's charms
Review: My thoughts are similar to others: this is an average book by an average writer. The concept is okay and the intermittent flashbacks are well done and necessary. Still, the book lacks in many places. Characters are poorly developed and you have a hard time buying their later actions. They seem to change on a dime, and motives are constantly in question. There is absolutely no suspense or mystery, as anybody can figure out who the bad guys are in a matter of a few chapters. Follett unintentionally spells it all out for the readers. I hesitate to point out specifics because I do not wish to spoil the read, but lets just say he leaves little to the imagination. For a description of the story, please read Amazon's editorial or some other reviews. There is no sense repeating the facts. I'd wait for the paperback. It reads fast, and may hold your interest for a couple days.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible book
Review: Not worth the paper it is printed on One of the worst books I have ever read...and I read a lot. The author uses a well-worn plot: spies from Russia against the spies from US. Yet he cannot make any of it credible. Everything in this book conforms to your worst expectations. Shallow characters, stereotypical actions, simple plot.. The plot is easy to enough see from the beginning of the book...It has short sentences and a fluent writing style that make it an easy read...Still what a waste of time....I was interested in this book because of its context in late 50's space exploration....but I learned almost nothing on it from this book.... If you want to read a good spy book, read John Carre. If you want to read a good book, read Hemingway or other equally great writers. Don't waste your time on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Eye of the Noodle
Review: Readers hoping for a story comparable to Follett's "Eye of the Needle" will be sadly disappointed by this limp effort. We have the standard impeccably upright and ultra-handsome hero, standard establishment villain (guess which one is named "Luke" and which "Anthony"), standard gorgeous women good and bad, standard sex scenes (so important to an actioner), standard totally implausible plot with unlikely coincidences, etc. To create a sense of portent or urgency the author resorts to the silly practice of interjecting "missile facts" every few pages. A frequent plot cop-out is that whenever the bad guy (a "trained agent") gets the drop on a good guy, the latter pushes him or trips him or punches him or something to upset the applecart. This happens so predictably that by the final, even less credible scene you expect it.
The only good thing I can say about this book is that it is probably - though not certainly - better than I could write. That's a miserably low standard for an author of Follett's talent. Don't waste your time on it.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: The awakening of Luke - in a public Washington washroom - with amnesia lead us through the intriguing world of espionage, mind control techniques, CIA intrigues, KGB spies, the growing of the american space program, flashback stories of Luke, his wife and friends in his search for the true in several locations like Washington, DC, Huntsville, Georgia and Cape Canaveral in Florida. A very well written thriller recommended for those who like this kind of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Code To Zero
Review: The title of the book that I am reviewing is "Code To Zero," by Ken Follett. This is one of my favorite books. It is a mystery/suspense story. The main character is a guy named Luke and the supporting characters are Anthony, Billie, and Elspeth. There are a few more characters, but they're not very important so I won't name them. The story takes place in several different places. The year is 1958, but there are a lot of flash-backs, so it's kind of hard to keep up with the story. The Cold War is just ending and America is still in the space race with Russia. NASA keeps delaying the launching of the Explorer 1 because of weather conditions. But, the real reason is because there was word of a soviet spies who plan on sabotaging the launch of the rocket.
The soviet spies found a way to destroy the Explorer 1 before it can exit the earth's atmosphere. If they succeed they can stop America's last chance to beat the Russian's and win the space race. There are only two people who know what is going on and can put a stop to it. Luke, the main character, is a who just wants to know the truth. In the beginning of the story, Luke wakes up in the men's-room of a subway with no memory of his past. He doesn't even know his own name. He's dressed like a bum so he automatically guesses that he is a hobo and drank all of his memory away. But, later in the book he finds out that he is really a rocket scientist and somebody deliberately erased his memory because he knew some very valuable information. With the knowledge he had, he could guarantee the outcome of the space race.
Anthony was Luke's best friend in collage until he switched sides. Now, his mission in life is to stop America from beating Russia in the space race and making sure that Luke dose not interfere. His causes are really unknown so I'll just call him a traitor. Billie is helping Luke get his memory back and stop Anthony. She is also in love with Luke, but you will find out more about that if you ever read the book. Elspeth is Luke's wife, but there is more to her than there may seem. To bad telling you that would ruin most of the story for you. This is a great book with lots of action and suspense. But, even it has some cons. The beginning of the book is kind of slow and there are a few pauses in the middle, but that just builds it up for more action and suspense. If you don't mind those small flaws then you will love "Code To Zero".
Rating:
Summary: Superb Possibilities
Review: There's one great strength of Follett's that some reviewers here don't mention. How do you get any better than with this opening line: "He woke up scared?" Are you compelled to read on? I certainly was. By the end, I enjoyed "Code to Zero" far more than "Jackdaws" whose characters seemed over-the-wall, though true life is often stranger than fiction so his motley WWII gang of women and homosexual spies may have been more realistic than we would assume. The only thing that stretched my disbelief in this novel was the speed in which the hero and NASA scientist recovered his memory as the 'clues' unlocked his drug-induced blocks. The good news is it has inspired me to read more about this amnesiac condition to find out if it could be so easily bypassed. There is no doubt Follet's masterful story telling talents are as gripping as ever even when readers complain about his treatment.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't stop reading!
Review: This book was so interesting trying to figure out who Luke was and what happened to turn his friends against him. So much at stake. I really cared about the characters. It kept going back to the fifties when everyone was young, so I couldn't wait to find out what had happened in the past and what was at stake in the future. And I didn't expect such a great romance. This book had everything!
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