Book
Jackdaws / Ken Follett.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780525945635
- ISBN: 0525945636
- Physical Description: 451 p ; cm.
- Publisher: New York : Dutton, 2001.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- World War, 1939-1945 > Secret service > Fiction.
World War, 1939-1945 > Underground movements > Fiction.
France > History > Fiction.
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Elkford Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
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| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elkford Public Library | FC FOL (Text) | 35170000148734 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #2 October 2000
Follett has written a string of best-selling thrillers over the past 20 years, but none of them has matched the electricity of his breakthrough novel, Eye of the Needle (1978). His latest, however, may change that. As with Needle, this cold-war thriller uses a time-driven espionage plot to generate remarkable tension. The plot hinges on the activities of four former Harvard classmates, one of whom, Claude "Luke" Lucas, is a scientist working on the launch of the first American satellite, Explorer I, in 1958. With Sputnik safely in orbit, the Russians hope to sabotage the American launch and take control of the space race. When Luke wakes up in a toilet in Washington's Union Station with autobiographical memory loss, it's clear the game is afoot; will he be able to reconstruct his identity in time to figure out who's behind the Russian plot and save the launch, scheduled for that same night? As the story unfolds, Follett jumps between the present, January 1958, and December 1941, when Luke and his Harvard friends were about to be swept up in the maelstrom of World War II. Follett's strength as a writer has always been plot over characters; his people are alive enough not to undermine our commitment to the story, but, finally, they take a backseat to the tumult of the action. Don't look for ambiguity here, or for le Carre's specialty, espionage as metaphor for the problem of identity, but frankly, as the launch clock ticks down to zero, you won't be thinking about identity. A classic page-turner on a classic theme: cold-war skulduggery. --Bill Ott Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2000 December
Waking up with a hangover on the bathroom floor of a train station is never an enticing proposition. But doing so with absolutely no recollection of who you are or how you got there is even more unpleasant. Unfortunately, that is exactly the predicament faced by Luke, the protagonist in Ken Follett's latest thriller, Code to Zero.Luke is a man without an identity, yet he possesses skills no homeless drunk would have. He effortlessly completes a crossword puzzle; he has no difficulty disarming and subduing an aggressive police officer; and he seems to know French. But he does not know who he is.
Set over less than 48 hours in 1958, Code to Zero takes place during the height of the American space race with the Soviet Union. The countdown for launch has begun for Explorer I, America's best hope to catch the Soviet Sputnik and regain the lead in space exploration.
As Luke tries to find out who he is and why he's important enough to have his identity erased, he uncovers long-kept secrets about four old friends from Harvard. The cast of characters is diverse: Anthony Carroll, now head of the Technical Services branch of the recently formed CIA; Billie Josephson, a brilliant researcher at Georgetown Mind Hospital; Bern Rothsten, Billie's ex-husband, now a famous author, and a longtime friend and rival of Luke's; and Luke's wife Elspeth, of whom he has no recollection.
Time is running out for Luke to reclaim his identity. He knows something that someone would like him to forget, and he realizes the key to piecing his life back together is somehow tied to the rocket that stands ready to launch at Cape Canaveral.
The author demonstrates a convincing understanding of American culture and language. Many readers may not be aware that Follett is British, and after reading Code to Zero they wouldn't suspect it.
Follett has made a name for himself by writing taut, well-researched thrillers, and Code to Zero is no exception.
Wes Breazeale is a freelance writer living in the Pacific Northwest. Copyright 2000 BookPage Reviews
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2000 October #2
From veteran spymeister Follett (The Hammer of Eden, 1998, etc.), the story of a the space race that never gets off the ground.Amnesia is the engine Follett chooses to drive his latest and, not unexpectedly, the worn-out thing sputters. Dr. Luke Lucas, waking up on the cold, hard floor of a public toilet in Union Station, Washington, D.C.âheadachy, nauseous, shabbily dressedâwonders how he got there. Well, thereby hangs the tale. It's January 1958, midâCold War, and the Soviets have already orbited Sputnik. The Americans, intent on catching up, are set to launch the first US space satellite. Rocket scientist Luke is central to the success of the effort, in part because of his brilliant mathematical mind, but also because he's accidentally stumbled on a plot to keep Explorer I from ever leaving its Cape Canaveral pad. Determined to block Luke's attempt to block their attempt to block a launch, Communist agents have hijacked him and administered memory-robbing drugs, which explains his rude awakening. If that doesn't work, they plan to knock him off him. Why not simply kill him and be done with it? More efficient, true, but a certain strategically placed CIA mole happens to have been Luke's Harvard classmate, and at first he chooses friendship over pragmatism. So, though Luke no longer knows what he knew, the game's afoot as our hero, in hiding, strives to retrieve enough of his memory to figure out why old pals and former lovers are now bent on betrayal, while the desperate Commies seek him here, there, and everywhere.Full of misplaced Cold War nostalgia and dreary, threadbare characters. And really now, amnesia? In this day and age? With a straight face?First printing of 425,000; $400,000 ad/promo; first serial to Reader's Digest; film rights to ColumbiaPictures; Book-of-the-Month Club/Literary Guild main selection; TV satellite tour Copyright 200 Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2000 August #1
Explorer I is about to blast off at Cape Canaveral, ready to challenge Sputnik in space, and Luke Lucas finds himself lying on the ground in a train station. He doesn't remember who he is, but he does know a terrible secret that could affect blast-off and peace in the time of Cold War. Sounds like a classic Follett thriller. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2000 November #1
With Eye of the Needle and the numerous novels that followed, Follett established himself as a master of the thriller. This latest tale of Cold War espionage is one more bit of evidence. In a narrative that moves smoothly between the World War II years and 1958, when the Soviet Union began the space race by launching Sputnik, Follett reminds us of an almost forgotten time when the very thought of Soviet successes in space terrified us. Scientist and former OSS agent Dr. Claude ("Luke") Lukas knows that something terrible will happen to a coming space launch, but he has been drugged and now suffers from amnesia. What follows is the taut and exciting story of Luke's attempt to find his identity and stop an unknown disaster from occurring. Recommended for all popular fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/00.] Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2000 November #4
HAfter dabbling in his last few books in historical sagas and various thriller subgenres, Follett returns to his espionage roots with this absorbing, tightly plotted Cold War tale about skullduggery in the early days of the space race. Set in 1958 shortly after the Soviets beat the Americans into orbit, the story tracks the frantic movements of Dr. Claude Lucas, who wakes up one morning in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, dressed as a bum. A victim of amnesia, he has no recollection that he is a key player in the upcoming launch of Explorer 1, the army's latest attempt to get a rocket into space. While Lucas slowly unravels the clues to his identity, the CIA follows its own agenda. The agency, led by Lucas's old Harvard buddy Anthony Carroll, has its own murky reasons for wanting Lucas to remain amnesic, and will kill him if he tries to interfere with the launch. Follett (The Hammer of Eden) does a wonderful job of keeping readers guessing about Lucas; is he a spy trying to foil the launch, as the CIA apparently believes? From the nation's capital to Alabama and Cape Canaveral, Lucas manages to stay one step ahead of his pursuers, steadily learning more about his memory loss, his wife, Elspeth, and his college friends Carroll, Billie Josephson and Bern Rothsten. Suspense junkies won't bedisappointed by Follett's man-on-the-run framework; tension courses through the book from start to finish. Yet where the story shines is in the chemistry between Lucas and the four other major characters. As told through a series of well-chosen flashbacks, all the old college chums are now working or have worked as spies. The dilemma, skillfully posed by Follett, is figuring out who's friend and who's foe. (Dec. 4) Forecast: In his first hardcover for Dutton, Follett is wise to return to his forte of espionage thriller, and to base this novel on a real event, the unexplained delay of the 1958 Explorer 1 launch. Given the promotional hoopla which includes a 425,000 first printing and $400,000 ad/promo plus first serial to Reader's Digest; status as a BOMC, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; simultaneous audios from Penguin Audio; and the sale of movie rights to Columbia Pictures, this book has a good chance of dancing with the charts. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.