Rating: 
Summary: Good cold-war / space-race / spy-counterspy novel
Review: If you are a Follett fan, space-race aficionado, or cold war spy novel devotee, add this book to your must-read list. Fast-paced, well researched with enough plot twists and curves to keep you up until the wee hours of the morning. While certainly not the best of the spy-genre novels I have read, one of the better ones to come out in recent years.Jordan Ayan - Author: Aha! 10-Ways To Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas.
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Summary: Vintage Follett with a nod to Ludlum
Review: With his latest offering, Ken Follett returns to his Cold War roots with a bang up story full of espionage, intrigue, covert operations, secret agents and the space program thrown in for good measure. A man wakes up in Washington D.C.'s Union Station with a terrible hangover and no memory of how he got there or who he is. A series of close encounters with those interested in his actions show him to be resourceful and even quite dangerous. I couldn't help but think back to THE BOURNE IDENTITY as I read this book. Follett has lifted a lot from Ludlum's masterpiece in this boilerplate tale, but he kept me interested enough to finish the book in two sittings. The first decade of space program and our race to beat Russia is the backdrop for the book's plot and flashbacks to the glory days of life before World War II are used to set up the characters' histories. It's not too hard to figure out who's who, but Follett keeps the plot moving quickly enough to avoid boredom. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: This was one of the fastest reads I've ever had! I couldn't help myself, I really couldn't put it down! The suspense is skillfully done in this tale. It reminded me of the "Eye Of The Needle" - I found myself wondering if things I knew happened were going to happen in the book! If you enjoy Follett's work, all of his work, then you will enjoy this book. It's not as complex as "Dangerous Fortune" or "Pillars of the Earth" but it definitely grabs you and pulls you in immediately.
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Summary: Non-Stop Thriller Crossing Genres Is Flawed with Errors!
Review: Warning: Many people who start to read this book will not be able to put it down. As a result, you may miss some sleep unless you start reading early in the day. I stayed up until 2:17 a.m. to finish it. The story opens with an unforgettable scene. A man awakens on the floor of a men's rest room in Union Station in Washington, D.C. He has a terrible headache and no memory of who he is. He finds that he is dressed like a street person, and a man awakening in another part of the rest room tells him that he passed out from too much drink. The story evolves from there at solving three questions. First, who is he? Second, how did he lose his memory? Third, how can he avert the potential harm that led him to lose his memory? The story takes place primarily in 1958 as the United States was about to launch its first satellite, Explorer I. Flashbacks take the action back as far as 1941, when many of the characters were students together at Harvard University. When people ask me about a novel, there are a certain set of predictable questions that I get. As I thought about this book, I realized that it had something for almost everyone. My wife always asks me if it's a love story. Well, this one certainly qualifies as it builds the emotional relationships between two of the leading characters over 27 years. The next question is whether it is a fast read or not. This one also qualifies, because you are pulled along by the action. After that, someone always asks me if the story is like any other stories they might have read. Well, this one has echoes of The Manchurian Candidate (about mind control and induced memory loss), the best Cold War spy novels of Le Carre (with agents, double agents, and double crosses), the unrelenting action of The Day of the Jackel (charging from one crisis to another), and many elements from Love Story (irresistible attraction being overcome by events). I find that the truly successful and popular novels always add some important factual knowledge for the reader, that forever changes the reader's perception of the world. This book contains many wonderful details about the technology behind Explorer I that I would have loved to have known before. You will find these gems in a brief paragraph that precedes each little section in the book (divisions in time are denoted this way). It also is mind-opening in its development of the problem how someone would find out who they are if they lost their memory and had no resources. So why didn't I say that this book was a five star or higher book? Well, it suffers from very poor editing and proofreading. Every few pages, there is an appalling mistake that takes you completely out of the story while you focus on the mistake. Let me give you a few examples that most people would have caught. (1) The epilogue talks about Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and proudly proclaims that the year is 1968 in large bold type at the top of the page. Oops! Can people so soon have forgotten that it was 1969? Very sloppy. (2) The story makes a great fuss about how one of the characters will get into a house in Alabama. Then, another character mysteriously has a key when you would expect that there was no possibility of him having a key to the house. I was all ready for how he would break into the house, or how he would locate a hidden key. It was a big letdown when he used a key that shouldn't have been there. (3) One of the characters drives around in a Ford model that didn't come along for another two decades or so. And there was no reason for Mr. Follett to even tell us what model it was. This is pure sloppiness. I could go on. My advice to the reader is to simply expect lots of little mistakes, and to try to ignore them. My advice to Mr. Follett is that he correct the worst of these errors before the next printing of what is sure to be a top selling book for some time to come. Other readers who are not so generous will also quibble with using a public event that obviously turned out historically in a certain way as the backdrop for the novel. I must admit that the story would have been more interesting if I did not know that the satellite would successfully launch. Perhaps the story could have been made into a science fiction story where someone was trying to be sure that history stayed the same, along the lines of many Star Trek novels. That would have reminded readers of even more stories they have read before. Personally, I think that would have been a mere gimmick. Perhaps the only reasonable alternative would have been to focus around a future event of significance, like the first use of high speed engines capable of approaching light speed. But that would have meant I would never have learned all of the interesting details about Explorer I. All in all, I'm satisfied with the choice of using this event for this story. Following up on this story, I have an idea for you to consider. Imagine yourself pursuing an adventure in which you were shabbily dressed and had no money, no credit cards, no cellular telephone, and no assistance. How would you conduct yourself to get the resources you need and have fun doing it? Always be on the lookout for the right stuff!
Rating: 
Summary: It could have been a great thriller ¿¿.
Review: But the story has been developed too poorly (at least for Follet's standard). The idea is great, even if the "schizophrenic" protagonist reminds me Bourne, a Ludlum's character. There are too many coincidencies .... For example, I think that is quite impossible that a group of fellow students are, many years later, all involved in such an intrigue, with all these different rules A plot like this needs more pages and more details to be told, and, I know, the author is able to..... I'm thinking for example to "The pillars of the earth", but this time he didn't... This novel has been a great disappointment, expecially because I'm a Follet fan.... I've read almost all its books and this is, no doubt, one of the worsts.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts Off Strong but Suspense Not Sustained
Review: Without going into the details of the plot, Follet's latest thriller has an exciting beginning and has interesting and well-developed characters. Overall, Code To Zero is a fast and enjoyable "read". However, its suspense gradually wanes and the so-called "surprises" and eventual outcome become somewhat predictable. Further, you might feel that you have to suspend belief more than you are willing to in regards to the ease with which the main character: 1) discovers who he is and what he does after learning he has amnesia; and 2) uncovers the plot to sabotage the U.S.'s launching of its Explorer I satellite. Code To Zero, despite its limitations, is worth reading but I'd suggest you take it from the library. There are better books on which to plunk down $26.95.
Rating:
Summary: Far below par...
Review: This latest novel shows none of the brilliance of Pillars of the Earth, none of the fascination of Dangerous Fortune, none of the history in A Place Called Freedom, none of the intrigue and sharpness found in Eye of the Needle, and none of the action in On Wings of Eagles. I can't believe it could be the same author of the aforementioned stories. Even the editors dozed as they worked: neighbourhood, but favor. Follett borrows from Trevanian when using clothing to delineate characters: Bowler and Raincoat. For those who have read this book, How did Luke have his front door key with him in Huntsville when at no time had he found his own clothes, wallet or other, and none of his friends had given him a spare key? For me, this novel reflects the problem with large advances and small expectations for popular writers. The author's grand smile on the back cover may just reflect his awareness that he has put one over on his publisher and his dedicated fans.
Rating:
Summary: Far from his best
Review: Ken Follett is one of my favorite authors and I will forgive this sloppy deviation from his normally well constructed plots and flowing script. The first chapter really grabbed me and I eagerly read on, expecting more of the same. However, about sixty pages into it, I began to get the feeling that Mr. Follett was suffering from writer's block and let some 17 year old kid take over. Nevertheless I read thru to the end, but didn't really need to. The plot turned out to be incredibly amateurish and predictable. The shallow characters he created did not inspire me to wish any of them well. Has he joined the ranks of authors (ie: J. Patterson, P. Cornwell, J. Grisham etal) who, having been assured success based on previous acceptance, indulge in word mongering in order to crank out books in time for Xmas? I hope not. It would be impossible to reach perfection every time, but from Ken Follett I expect better than this. I hope the book's sales reflect the less than mediocre quality of this work. Maybe then the real Ken Follett will return!
Rating:
Summary: Code to Insomnia
Review: The bottom line, one of Follett's better books. Sure beats Hammer of Eden, but holds nothing to Pillars of the Earth. Nonetheless, I must retire this review early, since Code to Zero DID manage to keep me reading until 4AM last night. I quickly returned home from work today just to finish the delightful work. It's an easy reading book, with just enough detail mixed with intrigue and suspense to keep you hooked.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: By far the worst book Ken Follett has written. It is incredible to me that the same person wrote "Eye of the Needle" and "Pillars of the Earth." Ken Follett has been my favorite author for at least a decade and I always look forward with great anticipation to his new releases. I am thoroughly disappointed with "Code to Zero." Like another reviewer, I found myself getting angrier and angrier as I turned the pages.
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