Jackdaws - Softcover

Follett, Ken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451219597 ISBN 13: 9780451219596

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2006

Synopsis

In his own bestselling tradition of Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca, Ken Follett delivers a breathtaking novel of suspense set in the most dangerous days of World War II. Look out for Ken's newest book, A Column of Fire, available now.

D-Day is approaching. They don't know where or when, but the Germans know it'll be soon, and for Felicity "Flick" Clariet, the stakes have never been higher. A senior agent in the ranks of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) responsible for sabotage, Flick has survived to become one of Britain's most effective operatives in Northern France. She knows that the Germans' ability to thwart the Allied attack depends upon their lines of communications, and in the days before the invasion no target is of greater strategic importance than the largest telephone exchange in Europe.

But when Flick and her Resistance-leader husband try a direct, head-on assault that goes horribly wrong, her world turns upside down. Her group destroyed, her husband missing, her superiors unsure of her, her own confidence badly shaken, she has one last chance at the target, but the challenge, once daunting, is now near impossible. The new plan requires an all-woman team, none of them professionals, to be assembled and trained within days. Code-named the Jackdaws, they will attempt to infiltrate the exchange under the noses of the Germans--but the Germans are waiting for them now and have plans of their own. There are secrets Flick does not know--secrets within the German ranks, secrets among her hastily recruited team, secrets among those she trusts the most. And as the hours tick down to the point of no return, most daunting of all, there are secrets within herself. . . .

Filled with the powerful storytelling, unforgettable characters, and authentic detail that have become his hallmarks, Jackdaws is Ken Follett writing at the height of his powers.

About this title

Review:

Ken Follett has made his mark as one of the most assured thriller writers in the business, and although his form has faltered of late, Jackdaws shows that he's lost none of his steely skill. The time is May 1944, and Follett takes us into the provincial French town of Sainte-Cecile, suffering under the Nazi yoke for several years as the novel begins. Follett's heroine is the resourceful "Flick", whose real name is Felicity Clairet. She is English, and honoured throughout the town as the wife of Michel, who heads the Resistance circuit based in Rheims. During the day, Flick performs first aid for the townspeople; by night she risks her life alongside her husband in the Resistance.

Flick has to persuade herself that she is ready for her most important mission: to inaugurate a fighting team for an attack on a château used as a key Gestapo base--her team (all women, with one exception) are the eponymous "jackdaws". This fresh concept is carried off with the kind of effortless skill that was the distinguishing feature of Follett's best books, and his protagonist Flick is a distinctive, unusual creation. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

Praise for Jackdaws

"The book's celebration of uncommon courage and unlikely heroes couldn't be better timed . . . a distaff Dirty Dozen." --People

"A very entertaining, very cinematic thriller about a ragtag, all-female band of British agents, code-named Jackdaws, sent to blow up a key telephone exchange in France on the eve of D day . . . adventure, romance, derring-do. . . . [Jackdaws] promises to be one of Follett's most popular novels ever." --Publishers Weekly

"Compelling reading . . . great entertainment." --The Baltimore Sun

"Deeply satisfying." --Entertainment Weekly

"Suspenseful, gripping." --New York Post

"With its vivid characters, suspense, patriotism, and examples of supreme bravery, Jackdaws is a fitting tribute to the women of World War II." --The Orlando Sentinel

"Cleverly plotted. . . . The characters are sharply drawn and fully realized [and] the pace is rapid-fire." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"A sort of distaff dirty (half) dozen. They don't come any tougher, smarter, braver, or for that matter, deadlier than Major Felicity (call her 'Flick') Clairet. Quintessentially female and sexy as all get out, she kills without compunction if that's the way the mission goes." --Kirkus Reviews

"Carried off with the kind of galvanic skill that was the hallmark of Follett's early books . . . a memorable, complex heroine." --Publishing News

"For fans of the sixties movie The Dirty Dozen, this could be called The Perfumed Six. . . . It's certainly pleasant to have the main character be female." --The Buffalo News

"[Follett] is dead on-target . . . updating that World War II workhorse in which a gang of misfits goes behind Nazi lines to do the impossible . . . thoroughly entertaining." --Booklist

"Follett delivers one of his most entertaining thrillers." --The Denver Post

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0451219597
• ISBN 13: 9780451219596
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432