The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Key to Rebecca
Book Review: Follett & WW2...It doesn't get much better
Summary: 4 Stars
I am an avid fan of Ken Follett and, with the exception of "Pillars of the Earth", he is at his best in the world of WW2 intrigue. "Key to Rebecca" drops us smack into the middle of the desert war with Rommel's Afrika Corps. Follett has created another fascinating undercover agent, a dynamic, intriguing woman and a host of other gritty characters lurking in the shadows of Cairo. Hang on for a lightning fast, twisting ride barreling along toward a dynamite ending. Book Review: The Key to Rommel, Cairo, Belly-dancers, and Caviar
Summary: 4 Stars
Ken Follett's The Key to Rebecca is a classic WWII thriller pitting the Nazi super-spy Alexander Wolff against a renegade forlorn Englishman Vandamm. It is set in the early days of the war in colonial Egypt. Follett is doing us a service here as Americans are generally unaware of the North African phase of the war, since our major involvement really came later. Few rememember that the French in North Africa, after the fall of France, fought American and especially British forces, but let's leave that story for another day.
In 1942, Egypt was a British colony, with strong nationalist forces chafing under the control of the Turkish king, installed by the British. Egyptian nationalists, led by Sadat and Nasser, saw little difference between British and German colonial rule, and typically aided the Germans in this theatre. Sadat is a minor character in Follett's book.
Into this quagmire appear Alexander Wolff, born of German mother and Egyptian father, trained by the Germans in the latest espionage techniques; and Major Vandamm, a minor British military intellligence official burdened with personal grief and moronic superiors. Wolff successfully establishes a direct link into British intelligence by his clever manipulation of a belly dancer and another British officer. With this information, Rommel is beginning to rout the British.
Fortunately for us Anglos, Vandamm devises a honey trap to snare the Nazi. His instrument is a young Jewish girl who is terrified at the prospect of Nazis in Cairo.
All in all, a well crafted thriller. Follett uses the historical context and byzantine relationships of the colonial era to great advantage. It is not a great work, as some parts are a bit formulaic and easy to predict, but read it for the history and the adventure.
Book Review: smutty spy thriller
Summary: 3 Stars
Ken Follett is a very good tale-spinner and The Key to Rebecca has a promising premise.
The setting is 1942 Egypt--Cairo is threatened by Rommel's advancing army. German-born and Arab-raised, Alex Wolff is the perfect Nazi spy--calculating and ruthless. Almost perfect--Wolff has an eye for pretty girls. Wolff's partner is Sonja el-Aram, a sensuous belly-dancer with a depraved mind--perfect for Wolff. Major William Vandam, a straight-laced British Intelligence officer who has seen better days, is hot on Wolff's trail. To set the trap, he recruits Elene Fontana, a beautiful Jewish runaway with nothing to lose. Together Vandam and Elene must stop Wolff at any cost!
The action is heart-pounding (typical Follett), the locations are beautifully described, and the key relationships are well-developed. My only two complaints are the brevity with which everything is resolved at the end and the overly graphic descriptions of some twisted sexual encounters. Please, leave some of that to the imagination next time!
Book Review: Another Ken Follett Thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
If you have read Follett's "Eye of the Needle," you might call this story "Son of Eye of the Needle." Both stories have a German spy in English territory (in this case, British Egypt) and a dogged pursuer who finally gets the spy. But that does not make this book any less thrilling. First, the story parallels actual events in Egypt during Field Marshall Rommel's North African campaign in World War Two. Second, Follet does a magnificent job of making his characters real, with fears, dreams, disappointments, and personal baggage. Add to this the fact that the German spy, Alex Wolff, has information that will insure that Rommel will defeat the British Army and conquer Egypt, and you have a breathless thriller of the sort that Ken Follett does so well. The story has thrills, tender romance, kinky sex (not connected to the tender romance), and a slam-bang climax. If you like thrillers, it is well worth reading.Book Review: Ok until the last 80 pages
Summary: 2 Stars
I like the setting and the writing. Sorry, but the wierd sex and how the plot is based on it is not believable.
But I can forgive all of that. What I can't forgive is that the author dropped the ball in the last 80 pages. The ending is a letdown. Seemed rushed and not well thoughout.