Jackdaws

Rating:
Summary: The Dirty Half-Dozen
Review: Okay, so Ken Follett's "Jackdaws"borrows its basic plot concept from "The Dirty Dozen - a motley group of saboteurs is hastily assembled and trained for a perilous mission behind German lines in France in the few days before the D-Day invasion. Their objective, to destroy a vital Nazi communication center. If the target can be eliminated, the German's ability to coordinate a military response to the massive invasion will be fatally impaired, thereby assuring its success. The novel opens with an ill-fated attempt, doomed by faulty intelligence, against the installation by combined French resistance forces and their British commandos. Most of the rebels are killed, and the few that survive are brutally tortured by the Gestapo into divulging secrets that the Nazis hope will break the back of the insurgents. Among the survivors are the novel's heroine, Felicity Flick, a major in the British commando forces, and her husband Michel, leader of the French resistance cell. Leaving her wounded husband behind with a young woman from the resistance (whom Flick soon discovers her husband has been having an affair with), she returns to England, and quickly concocts a desperate scheme to have another go at destroying the communications center. She will quickly recruit and train five women who, after being air-dropped into France, will pose as cleaning women in order to gain access to, and sabotage the targeted chateau. Their code-name:Jackdaws. From this premise follows a taut,engrossing page-turner as anabsorbing game of cat-and-mouse plays out between Flick's group and her nemesis, Dieter Franck, special adjutant to Gen. Rommel, entrusted with the task of thwarting and eliminating the resistance fighters' efforts to stymie the Nazi's invasion response. To Follett's credit, he is for the most part successful in giving his characters human dimension where lesser writers would have been satisfied to present us with stock-and stick characters.The Nazi Franck is reasonably humane and not totally unsympathetic, while our heroine Flick, while courageous and admirable is often willful, peremptory and downright cold-blooded. In addition, along with desperately striving to stay one step ahead of her adversary's wiliness, Flick must contend with her group's vagaries and quirks: one is a transvestite, a second is a lesbian who is involved with a third, and yet a fourth is a pampered aristocrat who endangers the group with her inability to keep a secret. Flick herself must cope with the fact that she no longer loves her faithless husband and is falling for an American officer who is helping coordinate the operation. Follett, for most of the novel's length maintains a high level of reader suspense and keeps us turning those pages. Unfortunately, what keeps "Jackdaws" from being a total success is that toward the end, he descends into predictable action cliches, and many of the principals are transformed from the flesh and blood characters they had been heretofore, into cartoonish caricatures -most notably Flick's resemblance to Sigourney Weaver's Rambolina Ripley of the "Aliens" films. Nonetheless, "Jackdaws" is for the most part, an engrossing, suspenseful. and exciting read, more than well-worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: British ladies against Nazi intelligence
Review: Of 15 Ken Follett titles, I have read 15. Why? Because his stories are researched and spell-binding. I can trust the historical background he uses for the unfolding thriller. He sees history through his british spectacles, however, and the Nazis in "Jackdaws" are sadistic torturers up against one British heroine, who outwits them one by one. Even I, as being German, am satisfied when she thrusts her knife in the evil doers eye; at this point nationality doesn't matter anymore. The evil has to be stopped...and more power to the British ladies! [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A great thriller, start reading it on a Friday...
Review: ...because you won't want to put it down until you are done. Follett's Jackdaws is an exciting read from the first page to the last. Sure, some of it may be implausible, but it's a thrilling ride. Follett builds suspense by trading viewpoints between the Nazi, Dieter, in charge of finding the British spies in France; and with Flick, the lovely British spy who has led numerous groups of French resistance for years. Flick's challenge is enormous: in a day she needs to find a team of women in Britain who can speak French fluently, and possess the qualities she needs to blow up a telephone exchange. It's almost like "The Dirty Dozen" but with a female cast. Dieter is one of the greatest villains I've ever read about, unfortunately his atrocities are based in fact. Dieter pulls out all the stops to capture Flick and her group of spies. If you like WW2 stories and espionage thrillers, don't miss this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Stretch
Review: This is not Follett's best work. The plot is just not plausible. We have a group of untrained woman posing as commandos. After receiving several days of training in England, they are told to parachute into France with the task of destroying the central communication exchange link between France and Germany just prior to the D-Day invasion. The commandos include two lesbians, a transevestite and a convict paroled to participate in this dubious exercise.
The leader and heroine of this "Dirty Dozen" type group is Flick Clairet. Her main foe is a German officer named Dieter Franck.
Follett's character development of Dieter and the other Germans reminded me of the people in "Hogans Heros". They are distracted with fronification (Dieters French girfriend), Dieters "migraine" headaches and poor communications among themselves. Additionally, the Germans are constantly one step behind Flick and the French resistance.
The movie based on this book should include Jodie Foster as Flick. Maybe she can bring Hannibal with her to tortue the resistance along with Dieter.
Please save your money on this one and read Pillars of the Earth by Follett. That is an excellent read compared to Jackdaws.

Rating:
Summary: Very highly recommended for all Ken Follett fans
Review: Ken Follett is a master storyteller. Jackdaws is his tale of Felicity "Flick" Clairet, an officer in the British Special Operations Executive" with a plan to cripple Germany communications before D-Day. When her plan to destroy a German telephone exchange goes awry, she recruits an unusual six member team drawn from SOE rejects, an aristocrat who can shoot, and a couple of prisoners. These odd balls and misfits (including two lesbians and a German transvestite) infiltrate the exchange as cleaning women, and must dismantle it in just six hours. Unfortunately, the Germans are waiting for them. Jackdaws is a ripping good thriller in classic Ken Follett style. This 15 hour long, complete and unabridged audiobook edition from Books On Tape is superbly narrated by Kate Reading. Very highly recommended for all Ken Follett fans and an ideal acquisition for community library audiobook collections.

Rating:
Summary: bravo!
Review: An exceptionally great offering from Mr. Follet. Wonderful plotting and knowledge of his subject. This talented author knows how to capture the atmosphere of the times he is writing about. This was truely a "cant put down" read, worth its weight in gold. I cant hardly wait 'till the next release.

Rating:
Summary: Shopworn espionage thriller that delivers few thrills.
Review: Ken Follett's new novel, "Jackdaws," joins the scores of other historical novels written about clandestine spies and saboteurs performing heroic acts during World War II. Unfortunately, this novel has nothing new to offer and Follett's cliché-ridden writing weakens its impact considerably.

The heroine of "Jackdaws" is Felicity "Flick" Clairet, a formidable woman of considerable beauty who leads a ragtag band of resistance fighters in occupied France. Her foe is Dieter Franck, a German answering to Field Marshall Rommel. Franck has been assigned the task of crippling the French Resistance before the expected Allied invasion in June of 1944. Flick recruits a small band of women, known as "Jackdaws," to carry out a dangerous mission that, if successful, will help insure the success of the Allied invasion.

Ken Follett is capable of top-notch storytelling, although his powers have certainly waned in recent years. Here, he relies heavily on clichés: the beautiful and intrepid secret agents, the secret codes and signals, the dozens of close calls when capture seems inevitable, the scenes of torture, the "stiff upper lip" dialogue. Follett's narrative never comes to life, since he writes with little imagination, style or genuine feeling. Here is an example of painful writing: "Her pulse was racing and there was a cold sensation of fear in her chest. She was in the lions' den. If she were captured, nothing could save her." Ouch.

"Jackdaws," is replete with scenes of sex (both homosexual and heterosexual) and violence (the body count is high). However, with all of the manufactured excitement, this novel is a run-of-mill, rather dull and predictable spy story.

Rating:
Summary: Something to crow about
Review: Going back to the era of his best work - WWII, Follett comes up with a winner this time. He knows the period well and the detailed descriptions of conditions in wartime England and France feel authentic.

JACKDAWS opens in 1944 just prior to the allied invasion of Normandy. Female English spy Felicity 'Flick' Clariet and her French Resistance husband Michel are participating in an sabotage attack on a German telephone exchange. The plan goes sour and they are the only two to escape. Michel is injured.

That's the setup for the story - the return of Flick to France to finish the job. We follow Flick as she develops her unusual plan which relies on cover as domestics and telephone operators. As such it's a small team she recruits, and they're all women. The only qualifying criteria is that they all be fluent in French and know something about engineering and explosives. Half the fun here is in their recruitment - "one flirt, one murderess, one safebreaker, one female impersonator, and one awkward aristocrat."

The plot is sufficiently well developed with the familiar Follett twists and turns. There is enough deception, duplicity, and danger here to make this quite a satisfying adventure ride. It's been a while but let's hope the famous Follett formula for entertaining espionage thrillers is back for good.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting History
Review: Where can I learn more history than from reading Ken Follett? So exciting, so real, the best suspense story yet. And always tremendously satisfying to read about courageous women who fought for freedom. Thanks, and looking forward to the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, great movie (potentially)
Review: This book is great. I've enjoyed many of Mr. Follett's books. Emailed the author to tell him it would make a great movie, if handled properly. I also enjoy books by Jack Higgins, Nelson Demille, and David Baldacci, among others. Check it out. Cheers! Peace! MDC