Reviews

Very nice spy novel filled with suspense. Follet's description of Afghanistan, the nature and the people is suuper interesting and well researched. The only thing that really annoyed me was his weird obsession with breast-feeding which seemed very out of place. Further, his male gaze on sex and women was unmissable and the last quarter of the book seemed rushed, especially referring to the romance between Ellis/Jean-Pierre & Jane. Nevertheless, it is a quick page-turner and I had lot of fun with it.

jpederson4's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sandin954's review against another edition

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3.0

A CIA operative is sent to Afghanistan to help with the war against the Russians. Lots of action, thrills, and overdone sex scenes. A nicely performed audio.

tusenord's review against another edition

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1.0

I bought this because it was the bestseller on NY TIMES list on the day I was born. I almost gave up right at the start because I didn't understand what the rest of the book would be about, but I braved on. I even come to enjoy it for a while, and thought that bestsellers might just be that because the authors are better than the rest.

I came to page 246 before I hurled it into the wall (well, tore the marker out of the book and pushed it away). I forgave the multiple introduction of characters and "weird" personality quirks (unless your readers have all lost their short term memory, they will remember a woman finding her baby suckling as an erotic act), unmoving characterization, the horrific 3 sex scenes all put together in one chapter - but at this moment he heaped another twist on the great spy battle. I can take twists but this "twist" is added to keep the story going - not because it's a part of the original plot. Granted, I can't get what the plot is supposed to be. It seems to lack a story arc.

Also, the woman main character is painted in a pathetic light and the Good Guy/Bad Guy are both quite uncharming, which made the story end up with absolutely no one I could feel for. With a bewildering plot and no redeeming characterization, I simply won't spend another 100 pages with this story. Despite the fact I remember I loved another Ken Follett book, I'm not likely to pick him up again.

siobhanmcb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kamrynharned's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I made it through the book, but there definitely wasn’t many redeeming qualities about this book. A hint of misogyny, a touch of western superiority, and outdated politics make for a pretty hard-to-swallow read. The adventure was fast-paced, but the pacing felt very off with all the large jumps in the timeline. The Afghans in this book were mostly portrayed in a kind light, and I did appreciate Jane’s distaste with war in general, instead of taking a firm “America is right” stance. However, she was was a female character that was VERY obviously written by a man. The way she “thought” was so simple it was almost offensive to her character. Overall, for a free side-of-the-road book that would have otherwise been rained on and ruined, it could have been worse, but I would not recommend it to anyone and will be donating it to the thrift store.

virginiacjacobs's review against another edition

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3.0

This book came out in the 1980s, and so you have to backtrack to the political climate of that time. It's hard for me to rate this book because the antagonistic character is pro-Russian communism, and the protagonist character is pro-US funding the organization that eventually became al-Qaeda (although that's outside the time-frame of the book). But it's unfair to judge a book on politics I don't like, so I'm giving it three stars. The book had enough action and was decently written. It wasn't a bad story at all, and if you're a fan of Ken Follett, you'll likely enjoy it.

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