Rating: 
Summary: More like 2 1/2 stars.
Review: Being a big fan of the WW II espionage thriller and not having read one in a while, I looked forward to reading this book. Not far into it I realized that I read it already some 20 years ago when it was called THE EAGLE HAS LANDED. While SANDS is reminiscient of EAGLE it doesn't hold a candle to the Higgins classic.It took me four weeks to finish this book. Four weeks!!! That's how un-suspenseful and un-compelling I found this story. I read SHOGUN in less time. Meade's 3 main characters are paper thin, unsympathetic and just downright DULL. The back cover leads one to believe that you are going to read a thrilling cat and mouse pursuit between two friends who wind up on opposite sides of the war. Nothing like this happens. Weaver, the American "intelligence" officer, merely tags along behind Sanson, the British intel officer who figures out the threat, interprets all the evidence and does all the leg work. Halder, the German "super spy" thinks he can win the war without getting his, or anyone else's hair mussed. If you keep reading looking for the dramatic showdown when these two friends and the woman they both love confront each other, save yourself some time, it never really happens. Skip this one and pick up a copy of THE EAGLE HAS LANDED by Jack Higgins or EYE OF THE NEEDLE by Ken Follet.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Enjoyable Historical Thriller
Review: Historical thrillers can sometimes become tedious when the author becomes too involved in facts at the expense of character and plot development. Glenn Meade avoids this trap is this very entertaining World War II novel. The story is based on a triangle of friendship that is threatened by love and deceit. The historical setting is simply a prop to the story line. For those that found the assassination plot implausable, I ask them to come up with realistic scenario for such an act at any time, let alone in the middle of a war. It's not supposed to be easy to gain access to a U.S. President. That's why such acts don't succeed more often.
Rating: 
Summary: A good thriller
Review: i enjoyed it, not as much as follet's the key to rebecca, though, overall, it's a good WWII thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Good to pass some time. Excellent for a plane ride, or train
Review: If your looking for something lite to read, something without hidden meaning, to take you to the exotic local of Cairo, Egypt, then this is the book for that. The action was minimal, but enough to keep me interested, conflict between love, duty, and friendship plays a role in the 3 main charactors. Nothing stellar about the book, it was just OK. Lacked the drama and conspiritorial shine and polish of Christopher Hyde's WWII thrillers.
Rating: 
Summary: A SUPERB WORLD WAR II THRILLER!!!
Review: It's the fall of 1943. Allied bombing is slowly destroying the city of Berlin, and the Third Reich is drawing to an end. In desperation, SS General Walter Schellenberg comes up with a brilliant plan to assassinate the United States president when both Roosevelt and Churchill attend the conference in Cairo to discuss the invasion plans for Europe. With the approval of Hitler, the plan is to have Jack Halder (a man of German/American descent and the Abwehr's best field agent) infiltrate Cairo and prepare the way for a crack team of German SS paratroops to fly in and carry out the assassination. Jack has to find out exactly where Roosevelt is staying and then figure out how to get around the security measures to kill him. He'll have the help of Rachel Stern, a woman he once loved and who has been in a concentration camp for the past four years. Both Jack and Rachel lived in Cairo during the late Thirties and know the city like the back of their hand. They have also been told that if they don't succeed in this vital mission, members of their families will be killed as punishment. There's no turning back for the two of them. In Cairo, Harry Weaver, an officer in U.S. military intelligence, gets wind of the plot to assassinate the American president and is determined to stop it at all cost. What Harry doesn't realize is that he may have to kill the man who was once his best friend and the woman who stole his heart in order to prevent the assassination. Harry, Jack and Rachel have no way of knowing the strange path that destiny has chosen for them to follow, nor how they will react when the moment of truth arrives. THE SANDS OF SAKKARA by Glenn Meade is a crisp, cat-and-mouth thriller that brings back fond memories of the early novels of Alistair MacLean and Jack Higgins. Though the final outcome of the novel might be predictable to some readers, the actual fun is the journey of getting there. Both Jack and Harry are honorable and brave men who must overcome insurmountable odds to accomplish their missions, not to mention having to eventually choose between duty and friendship. The two men are also still in love with Rachel Stern and will do whatever it takes to keep her from harm's way. I found myself really liking the characters of Harry Weaver and Jack Halder, and was surprisingly moved by the ending of the book. I also enjoyed the play of historical facts with fiction and how Mr. Meade was able to weave them together into a suspenseful novel, while at the same time perfectly capturing the atmosphere of both wartime Cairo and Berlin. All in all, THE SANDS OF SAKKARA is an excellent weekend read that's filled with adventure, heroism, treachery, and romance.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining fiction.
Review: Overall I enjoyed this book. Yes, much of the book was unbelievable, and how Jack Halder and Rachel Stern continued to elude capture throughout the book was a bit overdone. I overlooked these factors, however, and just tried to enjoy the storyline and the thrilling conclusion. The characters, both heroes and villians, were very interesting and the setting was exotic. If you are looking for history, forget it. However if you enjoy espionage thrillers, particularly those set in WWII, this may be for you. A bit of advice, don't overanalyze. Just relax, the story will take you along and give you an enjoyable and thrilling ride.
Rating:
Summary: Briliant! Read Meade's 'Resurrection Day', banned in USA
Review: Sands of Sakkara is a terrific read! However, I recently finished his latest, Resurrection Day, oublished only in Europe, and not in the USA (banned, I hear, because of the controversial and sensitive subject matter!) Resurrection Day is an incredible book, prescient and right up to the minute, about an Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on Washington DC--and one of the best books I've ever read, a must for Meade fans, up there with Snow Wolf, and maybe even better. You have to read Resurrection Day--it's scary, fast paced, and stunning. US readers can order it through ... Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: BOOOOOOOOOrrring!!!!!
Review: The story line is excellent but unfortunately mired in too many depth-less characters and painfully convoluted subplots. It is slow on the uptake tho thankfully does pick up the pace, but only at the last, and after you have waded through so much extraneous babble that you often wondered where you were headed in the first place---which was, incidentally, a plot to assassinate Churchill and Roosevelt. The book flap summary---and even the design of the dust jacket---made it seem like I was in for a treat. Wrong!! I often did not want to pick it back up (it took forever to finish!!!) but I am determined that if I spend money on a book, I'm going to read it. I would recommend this story to only the most patient of readers and certainly will not read again myself.
Rating:
Summary: BOOOOOOOOOrrring!!!!!
Review: The story line is excellent but unfortunately mired in too many depth-less characters and painfully convoluted subplots. It is slow on the uptake tho thankfully does pick up the pace, but only at the last, and after you have waded through so much extraneous babble that you often wondered where you were headed in the first place---which was, incidentally, a plot to assassinate Churchill and Roosevelt. The book flap summary---and even the design of the dust jacket---made it seem like I was in for a treat. Wrong!! I often did not want to pick it back up (it took forever to finish!!!) but I am determined that if I spend money on a book, I'm going to read it. I would recommend this story to only the most patient of readers and certainly will not read again myself.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story
Review: This was a very well written book that keeps the reader interested and unable to put it down. The characters were great and the plot was excellent. A MUST READ !!
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