Jackdaws

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Summary: Jackdaws
Review: It's been many long years since I dipped into a Ken Follett novel; I recall reading The Eye Of The Needle as a youngster--I may have been about twelve years old!--and it dazzled me. The plot synopsis of Jackdaws was enough to pull me back into the Follett fold, to see what he's up to these days.

In this fast-paced espionage romp, we have a small team of brave women hastily cobbled together to infiltrate and sabotage a key telephone exchange in Nazi-occupied France of 1944. These so-called "Jackdaws" are led by one-woman dynamo Flick Clairet, who may amaze and enchant you with her craftiness against all puffed-up German (or French anti-Resistance) spycatchers. In fact, if Flick shares this book with anyone, it's her chief nemesis: Dieter Franck, master torturer and interrogator. He would love to get his hands on Flick, just to pick her brain for the masses of information she knows (that's the lady's one Achille's Heel...she's done so many missions she's a veritable font of secret connections and data, and her capture, plus torture, could spell doom for many of the Allies' clandestine operations), to say nothing of discovering the Jackdaws' main mission.

The book, then, is a prolonged cat-and-mouse game between Dieter and Flick. To my mind, the other characters swarm around these two opponents like obedient, or--on both sides respectively--disobedient satellites. Will Flick's mission be foiled by the lack of discipline that exists from the get-go within her own team of "rejects" and lost souls? And over in Dieter's camp, just how much will his reluctant reliance on thick-headed Gestapo thugs be his undoing? The incessant chaos erupting at every turn, the constant changing of plans on the fly for the Jackdaws, plus Dieter's ability to second-guess Flick's tactics (or her his) give the book a true edge of tension.

But--the emphasis on turnabout, and sudden disruption amongst the Jackdaw line-up from square-one (of course I don't want to give away who lives and who dies, or how shockingly fast), may foster the book's biggest weakness: Besides Flick and Dieter, characters seem hastily drawn and inserted for plot's-sake. The chief cat and the head mouse get so much page-time that characters who had been interesting, initially, get short-shrift as the action escalates (which it always does).

However, I was in a hurry to pick this one up again and again, to keep up with the battle of wits that percolates throughout the entire thriller. By that standard, Jackdaws is a winner.

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Summary: Predictable, Yet Solid Entertainment
Review: In "Jackdaws", Ken Follett returns to the form of "Eye of the Needle" and "The Key to Rebecca", spinning a tale that if a bit melodramic and not quite believable, is still entertaining and well worth the time. "Jackdaws" is reportedly based (very loosely, one would assume) on the true story of female allied spies operating in Nazi-occupied France during WWII. It "stars" Felicia 'Flick' Clairet, a British agent married to a French resistance fighter. As with many of Follett's novels, the sub plot of a love affair is woven into the story line, likely to insure additional appeal for broader audience, as well as the attraction for a possible screen play. Follett at his best is a master story teller, and he is in top form with "Jackdaws". He crafts a suspense that is palpable and engrossing, set with just enough history to establish some credibility. But while the plot and story development are superb, the same level of depth falls short in the character development. The characters appear to come straight from central casting: the brave but irreverent hero/spy, the sadistic Nazi officer, a female crew of ally agents reminiscent of "The Dirty Dozen". On balance, a good book for the beach or a long plane trip: mindless entertainment that will neither make you think nor disappoint.

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Summary: A master of WWII fiction
Review: Ken Follett is a master of putting you in the time period he is writing about. With Flick Clariet as the heroine, he creates an exciting book during one of the scariest times in history. What adds to the book is an antagonist that is extremely capable and scary. In many other works of fiction, the antagonist is inferior to the hero. The strength of Dieter Franck makes the book that much more suspenseful and exciting. I also found it new to read a book where the main protagonist was a female, and this added to the book's excitement. It is exciting and you really feel like you are there with Flick every step of the way. I recommend this book to anyone.

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Summary: Generally good espionage novel leaves an odd feeling
Review: Ken Follett has been doing this sort of thing for years. His best work, other than perhaps the atypical historical novel The Pillars of the Earth, has been set in World War II, with Nazi and Allied spies chasing one another across the battlefields and occupied countries of the war. This latest entry starts with a shootout between French partisans, led by a British agent, and Germans at a communications center in occupied Normandy. The action takes place on the eve of D-Day, and the attack fails. The leader, however, is a determined woman named Felicity (Flick) Clairet, and she's one stubborn lady. She decides to try again, more subtly.

The action of the book follows Flick through her return to England, recruiting a very different team of irregular operatives to perform the mission, and their subesequent adventures in France. It alternates between this and the activities of a Nazi intelligence officer, a former policeman named Dieter Franck. Dieter is determined to stop the invasion and catch Flick, who he thinks can lead him to various resistance leaders in France.

The problem with the book, such as it is, is a strange one. The author seems unclear as to whether the Nazis are evil or not, as a group. Franck definitely isn't motivated by any animus towards Jews or anything, he merely wishes to protect Germany from invaders, and is willing to do things like torture people in order to achieve his goal. He has a beautiful French Jew for a girlfriend, and throws himself on her to shield her body when there's shooting, so you know he's attached to her. This creates a strange atmosphere for the novel: there's a sort of moral equivalence that's a bit distasteful. My wife tried the audio of this some time ago, and tells me that she had trouble caring about any of the characters, and stopped listening to the story before she finished it.

With that one (big) misgiving aside, this is a good book, and very well written. It's definitely worth the effort.

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Summary: One-Upmanship
Review: Have you noticed the recent spate of fiction that presents us with women heroines that would make Rambo feel totally inadequate? Ken Follett evidently became aware of this and decided he'd take this idea one step further. Enter a whole group of feminine freedom fighters.

It's WWII and D-day is close at hand. The allies have decided that a key telecommunications center, located in a small town in France, needs to be taken out. After a failed attempt on the center that involved numerous French resistance fighters, British senior agent Felicity (Flick) Clairet returns to England and recruits five women (actually 4.5 women, but I can't explain that here) to return with her to destroy the heavily guarded installation. Give them a few days training and they are off. Also in the story is the intelligent, somewhat evil German colonel who is hot on their trail. The chase is on. One setback after another plagues the wily women, but they elude their pursuers until... Well read the book and see what happens.

If you like WWII secret agent stories then this is just for you. Action, suspense, sleeping around, infidelity, gay love, cross dressing, torture, Neanderthal SS men, all the usual ingredients of the genre are here.

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Summary: My first Follett book........but it will NOT be my last!
Review: I had not read anything for several years when I picked up the book Jackdaws. This was my first Ken Follett book. I could not put this book down. This a brilliant WW 2 spy novel.....On to the next Follett novel.........

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Summary: One of the best WWII spy novels in years
Review: The jackdaw is a bird and, in this case, the code name of a group of six female British spies in WWII. They are assigned the daunting task of infiltrating a French chateau that serves as the communications center of the Nazis. Their mission is to destroy the communications of the Nazi northern European theatre on the eve of the D Day invasion thereby wreaking havoc in the Nazi defensive coordinations. Flick Clairet is the leader of this intrepid bunch and must deal with, not only the risk of the mission, but also the cattiness of her team. On the opposite side is Dieter Franck, a Nazi intelligence officer assigned by Rommel to thwart the efforts of the French resistance. He manages to stumble upon the mission of the Jackdaws. Franck is also a highly effective, yet ruthless, interrogator and with a team of sadistic Gestapo agents, obtains his information about the group. It quickly becomes a cat and mouse game to see if the British agents succeed.
Ken Follet has returned, once again, to the arena that made his reputation-- WWII spy intrigue. He has, by doing so, written one of his finest works and may be one of the best WWII spy novels in many years in terms of sheer thrills, rapid fire pacing and truly fun characters. Follett alternates the point of view between Flick and Dieter Franck so we always know what the other side is doing. This technique also serves to develop a sense of sympathy for both sides. Even though we know Dieter represents true evil, we also come to understand that ultimately he has a job to do and must do it at all costs even if he must make a pact with the devil. In spite of the horrors around him, he is a man with moral principals who justifies his actions by claiming he derives no enjoyment in the torture he must use to obtain his information. Flick is also a character consumed with conflicting emotions. She must also ruthlessly kill and justify her action under the umbrella of a war. The alternating point of view provides, not only this contrast in goals and ideology, but, propels the action faster and faster as Dieter pursues Flick. Ultimately, the pages fly!

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Summary: Jackdaws
Review: Jackdaws
I am a keen reader of Folletts work. Even though they all give similar flavor in different wrapping, I think his ability keep the reader on the tip toes must be commendable.
Jackdaws refers to a time when Allies were on putting final touches to the invasion of Europe. The main character named "flick", with remarkable endurance did the most damages to Germans before the invasion. They hit the heart of the German Communications, that connected the rest of Europe with Nazi HQ.

Storey is full of suspense the typical spy stuff even more it has a human angle to it as well. The author has added several twists to the story by way of adding several love and hate scenes to the picture. There is a similarity in this love and hate in Jackdaws as well as in "Lie down with Lions".
All in all JACJDAWS is a yet another excellent work from Ken Folletts.

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Summary: Liked More Than I Thought I Would
Review: I actually ended up liking this audiobook. Never having been a great fan of Follett's work, Pillars of the Earth being an exception, I actually found myself getting into the story. By no means is this great literature, but if you accept it for the excapist fun that it is, you can really get into the story of women spies during World War II. I really liked the character of Flick; although, at times she could be a little over the top. Some of Follett's historical accuracy was questionable, but this is "fiction," so I didn't worry about it too much. As for the narrator, Kate Reading is excellent. I've listened to several books narrated by Ms. Reading, Anne Rice's Pandora being one of the better, and she never disappoints. This bit of escapist fun is great listening for workouts.

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Summary: Lies, action, love, and battle coupled to make a great book
Review: As time grew closer to the middle of the 20th century, the entire world fought in an epic battle over land, humanity, morality, and freedom. Brittish and American high commands desperatly planned an all out invastion which would take place in a matter of days. The German's had superior warefare techniques, man-power, and machinery. Something needed to be done to insure a success in Allied offense. Jackdaws, an all-woman, special operative team, prepared to infultrate deep into France to cripple the German's communication capability. However, the leader, Flick, has her own personal problems which lead into lies, deceit, love, and intimacy. These things coupled create the ultimate action-adventure which twists the reader's mind. Ken Follett shows his amazing ability to bring the past into the present and to engulf the reader into the urgency of the moment. Jackdaws will definitly hold the reader's interest until the end, leaving a craving for more action.