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: A Definite Page Turner!
Review: This was an excellent story about World War II. Three friends who share quality time at Sakkara on an archeological expedition are seperated by the War. Harry Waever is in military intelligence for the United States. His other two friends,Jack Halder and Rachel Stern are at work for the Nazis. They are setting up a German plan to assasinate Roosevelt and Churchill in Egypt. It is up to Weaver to stop them. They are of course reunited. This excellent book has many surprises as well as manytwists and turns. The book will definitely leave you wondering what if? Be sure to read this book, you will not be dissapointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Average historical fiction marred by numerous errors
Review: The plot and characterization of this WW2 thriller are handled reasonably competently, but it has too many errors to allow the suspension of disbelief necessary to enjoy a book like this. It may sound pedantic but to enjoy these sort of boys books, I at least need to feel confident that the author knows what he is talking about. Two of the more frequent and irrating errors: British (and British derived) air forces do not use army ranks but have their own air force ranks. Thus Mr Meade's air force captain would in fact have been a Flying Officer. And Lieutenant Colonels are addressed as and call themselves "Colonel".
Rating:
Summary: Predictable and overly melodramatic
Review: Rachel Stern, Jack Halder, and Harry Weaver are all friends working on an archeological dig in Egypt in 1939. Both Jack and Harry are actually in love with Rachel, but war in Europe looms and the three must part. Rachel, a German Jew, and her parents plan to wait out the war in Istanbul while Harry returns home to the USA and Jack to Germany. However, they're destined to meet in Sakkara again in early 1944 as Jack and Rachel lead a German commando team whose mission is to assassinate Franklin Roosevelt as he meets with Winston Churchill in Egypt. And it's Harry's job to stop them. This book is loosely based on an actual German mission that apparently came very close to succeeding. However the addition of Jack, Rachel, and Harry are pure fiction. And the author has taken liberties with how the mission was actually conducted which is, of course, his perogative. I was bothered by a number of things with this book. First, why is it that the heroes can always take beatings, gunshot wounds, stabbings, etc and it never slows them down. I know, I know, it's fiction. But this sort of thing threatens the versimlitude of the story and makes you leave the author's world. Second, why do the bad guys, whenever they have the good guy at their mercy, always do dumb things. For instance, at the end the evil Major Kleist (a cartoon SS major who's also along on the mission) has the drop and both Harry and Jack (who have joined forces by this time, don't ask). Kleist hates them both, Jack because he's the son of a rich Prussian, Harry because he's the enemy. Kleist relishes their death as he holds a machine pistol on them. One pull of the trigger and our two heroes are both history. However, Kleist has even a better idea. Let's get them into the boat and drop them in the Nile for the crocodiles. Of course this gives Jack and Harry the opportunity they need to escape. Nitpicky? Perhaps. But if the situation is dumb, the author doesn't have to put them into it. There are other ways to do these kind of things. Another example. To find out if Roosevelt is really in the secure compound Harry and Kleist have to crawl through a dirty, dusty tunnel which takes them past the defenses and onto the grounds. They're wearing US Army uniforms. They walk freely about the secure compound and Harry actually gets right next to Roosevelt. Didn't they get dirty from crawling through the tunnel? Even if they weren't recognized for Axis spies the first officer who'd seen them in the dirty uniforms would have stopped them, especially with the President of the US nearby. Once again, details the break the versimlitude of the story. The ending. I won't give you details, but it drags on and on and on. This was my first Glenn Meade book and it will probably be my last.
Rating:
Summary: Friends or Foes?
Review: I enjoyed this novel thoroughly and think it is the best of Glenn Meade's books. Three old friends amidst the exotic setting of Egypt are plunged into the geopolitical reality of pivotal World War II events (and not necessarily on the same side). The strength of this novel are its characters. The story line does not slow down at all throughout. The exciting audio abridgement of this novel is worth a listen as well.
Rating:
Summary: SandStorm Thriller!! Story: Spy-War-Love-Indiana Jones
Review: This was my first GM book I had read and I ENJOYED it! I'm looking forward reading all his current and future books. This was a well written historical thriller story. It was also a well balanced story filled with adventures and the friendship of three people during the war. Fast-Paced Action Thriller!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great book, questionable history
Review: A am approximately half way through this novel. It is the first book I have read by Mr. Meade and I am enjoying it immensely, I cannot wait to read his earlier offerings. That said, I am somewhat of an ameteur history buff and it bothers me when I see easily researched historical fact presented incorrectly. For example, Mr. Meade refers to Paulus's 5th army at Stalingrad when in fact Paulus comanded the 6th army. In addition, President Roosevelt did not suffer from childhood polio he caught it as an adult. I know I am being picky about an otherwise wonderful novel, however it is possible to learn quite a bit about history by reading good historical fiction. Accordingly I believe an author has a responsibility to his or her readers to present such facts accurately, particularly if such facts do not get in the way of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: No more Glen Meade for me.
Review: I don't read many military thrillers, but I was attracted to this book because it appeared to be set in the context of an archeological dig in Sakkara. How misleading that was! There is no doubt that this is easy stuff to read, but it is mental chewing-gum. Even a child would find this plot implausible. If you read a Freddy Forsythe novel like the Day of the Jackal or the Odessa file the material is well researched, but more importantly the plot is plausible, we believe that this could have happened. The story is told so well you cannot but believe. But as for Meade....A German spy, a plane load of paratroopers and a Jewish prisoner from a concentration camp on a mission to shoot Roosevelt in Cairo. What officer in his right mind would sanction such a mission. And to be told that Hitler was relying on this to win the war. Oh come on! Give me a break. What also annoyed me intensely was the American focus of operations in Cairo. I am no anglophile, but let's face it Cairo was a british city in WW2. I won't be reading any more of this unbelievable tripe. Oh by the way, Meade is not even a good writer. His use of english is weak on top of everthing else. Worst book I've read in years.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!
Review: One of the better historical novels written. Action, romance, and believable! Best book read since Follett's "Eye of the Needle" and Ludlum's "Bourne Identity".
Rating:
Summary: bad,even for a beach book
Review: numbingly stupid thriller. Sorry, the plot is so implausible, the coincidences so staggeringly forced, the characters so thinly drawn, and the editing so poor, that you end the book wondering why you wasted valuable vacation time reading it. I like historical thrillers and search them out, but got burned on this one. It's very lazy. Two examples: 1) A seedy hotel is first described by a character seeking asylum, and 50 pages later by the guy trying to find him, using exactly the same phrases. 2) A British officer in charge of a POW camp, talking about a German prisoner, says "He usually beats me at chess hands down all the time". How can you usually do something all the time? Where's the editor? Blecch.
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