Rating: 
Summary: The Key To Rebecca = The Key To A Thrilling Suspenseful Read
Review: "The Key To Rebecca" is one of Ken Follett's most exciting suspense-thrillers. This novel has all the essential ingredients for an "unputdownable" read.The novel opens in 1942. World War II is raging, and German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel is having success after success with his Afrika Corps. The Nazis are planning to invade Cairo. The British are hunkering down, and doing everything possible to thwart the invasion. Rommel desperately needs access to British intelligence from their Headquarters in Cairo, in order to ensure his plan's outcome. So Rommel sends a master spy into British occupied Egypt. The spy, known only as the "Sphinx," covertly enters the country, and with a few mishaps, makes his way to Cairo. He has with him a radio, a code to transmit the information secretly, based on Daphne Du Maurier's book "Rebecca," and a piece of paper with the key to the code. Having spent much of his childhood in Cairo, the German-born spy, knows the city, language and many of its inhabitants well. The Sphinx's task is not as easily accomplished as he once imagined. A British officer, Major Van Damme, with whom he shared past adversarial encounters, is soon on to him - and after him. Enter a beautiful Egyptian Jewess, Elene, who Van Damme wants to use as bait to capture the Nazi spy. Sparks fly between Van Damme and Elene from their first meeting, making it difficult for him to send her into danger. The cast also includes a famous, erotic, and somewhat depraved, belly dancer. The main plot, although complex, is very realistic and reads smoothly. The various subplots are fascinating, and are often related to historical fact, such as the Egyptian Free Officers Movement's plot to subvert the British. This group of officers, headed by Gamal Abdul Nassar, and Anwar el-Sadat, plan to secretly side with the Germans, in order to rid Egypt of Britain's presence. They strategize to exchange their support - (thus Egypt's support), and throw in their cards with the Nazis, for postwar freedom for their country. Ken Follett is a master at creating lifelike characters. All of the book's characters have their own past history, baggage and inner conflicts - and their own dreams and plans for the future. There is not a one-dimensional figure in the novel, even with the minor characters. The novel moves at an incredible pace, ending in an unbelievable, and mortally dangerous chase through the desert. Hold on to your seats for this one. I highly recommend "The Key To Rebecca," and would have given it 4 1/2 stars, but that option is not open to me. I do like Follets "Pillars Of The Earth" and "Eye Of The Needle," more - which decided me on 4 stars. Still, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and well written book.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging and fast-paced.
Review:
In this story an English Intelligence Officer tracks down a german spy in Cairo during WWII. The story is well-written and engaging with a lot of good description regarding military procedures and intelligence practices. The characters are well developed for this type of novel and the story moves fast. The only thing I didn't like (warning - ** spoilers **) was that at the end the confrontation between the Brittish officer and the spy was somewhat anticlimatic. But all in all it was a good spy story and a quick read!
Rating:
Summary: another good follett, one of the better
Review: great story and character feel. i really couldn't put it dow it had everything i like in a book: suspense, a great story and in effect a few hours lolling around with my imagination and a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: Sleazy and unbearable
Review: Having read 'Eye of the Needle', 'Pillars of the Earth' and 'Hornet Flight' earlier and having thouroughly enjoyed them, I had enormous expectations from this book. To say that I was disappointed with it would be an understatement. Its supposed to be a spy-hunt set during WW2, but the neither the tension nor the enormity of the situation is actually established. And in some places, the book is so childish that is sounds more like a Hardy Boys mystery.
Examples: The spy is an extremely intelligent person who plans all his moves. Once he's made his move, the officer on his trail (Vandam) is Einstein reborn because he guesses the intent behind each of the spy's moves within the blink of an eye. Not just once or twice, but throughout the length of the book.
Add to it the sleazy, over-the-top love stories (if one may call them that) which leave you disgusted. In some instances, Follett's obsession with sex comes out stronger than the plot itself.
The book seems to go on, and at a point, you want it to end. And when the end does come, its absolutely pathetic. By that time, you neither feel malice towards the spy nor sympathy towards the the officer. What you do feel is a sense of relief that the book is over.
I agree with the reader who called this book a bunch of crap. It is. And its hard to believe its been written by the same guy who wrote 'Eye of the Needle' and 'Pillars of the Earth'. Highly unrecommended.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Follett's best
Review: I've read almost all of Ken Follett's books and would rate this as his second best, behind Pillars of the Earth, and right up there with Eye of the Needle. It has the usual stock elements found in any thriller: an admirable hero, a despicable villain, a vulnerable but brave young girl, but infuses them with real humanity and builds to a crackling and suspenseful climax. As in other Follett books, he makes the conflict many-layered: The hero (Major Van Damme) wants to apprehend the villain (Alex Wolf) not only because it can have an effect on the progress of the second World War in Egypt, but because they have a past together, and because the girl he is falling in love with has been used as "bait" for Wolf. Shades of Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. What I like about Follett's best work is that it really delivers the suspense and resolves the story in an incredibly satisfying way. Like many spy novels, there are contrived situations, but he "gets you to turn over the next page" (Ian Fleming's goal as author of the James Bond books) so eagerly that you just want to see how it ends. His female characters are far from cardboard as well: both of them are fully realized. And, best of all, he makes everyone vulnerable; he knows that we can identify with characters that have strengths and weaknesses, instead of the usual cast of robots exchanging gunfire from speeding cars.
Rating: 
Summary: Egyptian crime
Review: Mystery set in Cairo in 1942, I could picture it pretty well, having been there, which is why I read it in the first place. Was ok, although I did think there were far too many plot surprises - kind've like having to keep things going for so many pages. Very romantic for a war novel. Lots of [spicy scenes]. And the character of Alex (the bad guy) so disintegrated during the course of the novel that I don't think it was very true to life. Just a little too complex, as if I could see the writer writing.
Rating:
Summary: one of my fave...
Review: spy thrillers of all time! a must read! a true classic.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Follett's WW II thrillers
Review: There are not many fiction books that discribe this particular set of battle in the second World War, so besides the fun of reading a Follett book, you also learn something about the war in Africa. Follett has done a good job in picturing the struggle between a british army captain and a ruthless Nazi-spy, called "the Sphinx" in the streets of Cairo and through the desertic egyptian country. Also, the sensuality is a constant and present part of the plot, involving a beautiful young jewish girl working to defeat her tough past and to guarantee a safe future for her and her people. Second best of Follett, only behind "Pillars of the earth".
Rating: 
Summary: not as good as his others...
Review: this book falls short of his other books. i found the characters to be uninspiring and follett just didnt grab and hold my attention with this book as he has done with his other books like pillars of the earth, eye of the needle, code to zero etc. still an OK read...just not one of his best books.
Rating:
Summary: no good
Review: this book was not interesting at all. It went on and on and never came to a climax. The conclusion was the biggest piece of crap. I would not reccomend this book and I would never read again.
| 
