Rating: 
Summary: Failed research
Review: One of Follett's research assistants must be suffering a premonition as he has a PV444 Volvo in the story (in 1941), a car that wasn't introduced until 1944.
Rating: 
Summary: OK Read - Better than average
Review: This was an OK read. I would recommend it, but not a top list read. One character that was interesting was Peter. He is one evil dude. Also the relationship of Karen and Harold was interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: There are worse ways to spend two afternoons on a beach...
Review: It's May, 1941, and something is rotten in the state of Denmark- - yep, it's those darned Nazis again! Luckily, Ken Follett's got 'em in his sights, and everything turns out swell. There, you've saved $7.99 (plus tax).This isn't exactly a *bad* book. But you'd be well advised to heed several implicit warnings before you buy it: (1) the paperback blurbs are from, well, less than encouraging sources (Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and so on); and (2) the blurbs themselves are either suspiciously fragmented ("Tense...") or say things like "up to [his] usual standard" and "meets his usual standards." Hmmm. And indeed, there's ample reason for this damning with faint praise. The prose is, at its best, workmanlike- - a kind of flat, toneless storytelling whose principal aim (and perceived virtue) seems to be to stay out of the way of the plot. This ain't Le Carre. The dialogue tends toward the stilted, with occasional lapses into downright awkwardness (and unintentional humor) in the demanding places you'd expect: family relationships, patriotic sentiment, young love. This ain't Elmore Leonard, either. Making these weaknesses (just) bearable is Follett's story, a ripping Boy's Own tale of good 'n' evil: the fledgling Danish Resistance needs to get specs and photos of a devastatingly effective German radar installation back to Britain for the RAF, a task ultimately realized by two plucky Danish teenagers- - blond boy-physicist Harald and his knockout girlfriend, long-legged ballerina Karen- - in the eponymous Hornet, a sporty little two-seater airplane owned by the heroine's father, reclusive millionaire Bruce Wayne. Oh, wait, that's not his name. Anyway, there are enough simple mistakes (Danes measuring things in feet and inches) and historical lapses (Stalin communicating with Churchill on June 23) to remind you that formulaic thriller has to be a forgiving genre: don't ask too many questions or you'll spoil your own fun. As Ken himself warns us on the page before the prologue: "Some of what follows really happened." He might just as well have put it "Some of what follows is really entertaining." The rest you have to put up with- - or save your $7.99, wait for the movie, and hope the dialogue (etc.) improves in the screenplay.
Rating: 
Summary: Very intriguing! Highly Recommended!
Review: I believe that this is one of Ken Follett's best recent thrillers. I'm sure you've read the other reviews and heard what it was about, so I won't go into detail! If you like spy thrillers and war stories, buy this book right now!!
Rating:
Summary: airport reading
Review: This is not a great novel, but it is a fast, easy read and made the time go by quickly on a recent flight home from vacation abroad. Major faults of this book are shallow characters, and a simple plot without many twists. (Also, the author flagrantly exceeds the limit of the humane use of the phrase "ersatz coffee.") On the other hand, I finished the 400-something pages in a single day, which is a testament to how a simple story can be compelling, and how much a person will put up with flying coach on an airplane. It's more like a novelization of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie than a good thriller by the likes of Frderick Forsythe, John Le Carre, or even the earlier Follett.
Rating: 
Summary: contrived, predictable, simplistic
Review: How Ken Follett could produce some of the best recent fiction, and then this makes me wonder whether he's just in it for the money--relying on his good name and his fans' gullibility to sell this stuff. I'll think twice before picking up his next one--and that's a great disappointment. Disappointment because he obviously knows good writing.
Rating:
Summary: Hornet Soars!
Review: A great story. I loved all of the characters, and found myself cheering out loud for young Harald. Of all of Ken Follet's previous book I have read, this if by far the best. I had to pace myself because I did not want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Formulaic crap from a former master
Review: Yeah, I read the whole thing, even gasped several times. But as the plot contrivances began to pile up, I just got depressed. The whole thing is a series of cheap coincidences, manipulative character "development" (oh gee, the evil policeman takes care of his invalid wife--he can't be ALL bad!) and transparent obstacles the plucky young heros must overcome. There's never any doubt what's going to happen, so you slog through all these tedious plot-delay tactics, yearning for an actual surprise. Bottom line: Creaky, crappy, and mechanical. And this from a man who wrote some of the best books of the genre. I'm beginning to suspect he's created a computer program to plot his books--he just feeds in the old storylines and clicks commands, in this case, "Norwegianize!"
Rating:
Summary: For what it is it is good - airport reading
Review: I got this book as a Christmas gift. It makes for entertaining if not 100% plausible reading. Recommended - especially if one is on a commercial airliner and you want the time to pass quickly. After the book I wanted to resume my flying lessons. Jack in Toronto
Rating:
Summary: busy as a bee
Review: I had a hard time putting this novel down, there are no easy stopping places in this well-paced thriller. The setting is early war-time Denmark, recently surrendered to the Germans, and under a then light Nazi heel (the only privation seems to be limits on petrol and butter). The British bomber fleet is having a disastrous time of it flying across Denmark, for unknown reasons obvious to the modern reader. It takes a while to develop a fast pace-with diversions into three discreetly developed love stories-but Follett always has something going on: sneaking, spying, flying, hiding, plotting, chasing, etc. We see developments through the words of several characters, from Danish innocents to dutiful Nazi Socialist sympathizers in the police. The premise is intriguing. There are clearer explanations of flying an airplane than I've ever seen before, in very basic Hornet and Tiger Moth biplanes. The whole book smells of a concoction, or more charitably, an entertainment. Reading the unfortunately explicit blurb first, much of the suspense was removed for me. You can watch Follett pre-positioning the people, skill, and equipment needed for the successful espionage. You can kinda tell what's going to happen: who's going to be the hero, who's going to get which girl, how they'll escape. Another reason this isn't a real thriller is the lack of atmosphere, it never hits you in the gut, just buccolic Denmark in the summer of 1941. It lacks ominous scenes, shocking coincidences, menacing Ge.sta.po, or vibrant descriptions of anybody or anyplace. The characters are pleasant or bad enough, but no one's "grey' or conflicted and it all seems a bit easy for them. Even the schoolboy hero can figure out the Germans' technology before the British physicists. The ending seems much too hasty after the long buildup. Smoothly written but lacking emotional involvement. Enjoyable enough if you don't have high expectations, or want a mild taste of life in a collaborationist country. It makes a nice historical novel for young readers.
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