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Jackdaws (Paperback)

by Ken Follett (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Jackdaws + Code to Zero + Lie Down with Lions
Total RRP: £21.97
Price For All Three: £17.94

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  • This item: Jackdaws by Ken Follett

    In stock but may require up to 2 additional days to deliver.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Code to Zero by Ken Follett

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  • Lie Down with Lions by Ken Follett

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Product details

  • Paperback: 608 pages
  • Publisher: Pan Books; New edition edition (6 Sep 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0330487388
  • ISBN-13: 978-0330487382
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11.1 x 4.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 171,296 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #27 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > F > Follett, Ken

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk 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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Two weeks before D-Day an attack by the French Resistance on a telephone exchange vital to the Germans fails against the heavily guarded building. A young British secret agent plans to parachute into France with an all female team known as the Jackdaws to penetrate the building but a ruthless German intelligence colonel is on her trail.
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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars This Is the Follett I Remember, 7 Nov 2002
By taking a rest - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Jackdaws (Hardcover)
One of the earliest books in this genre that I read was the, "Eye Of The Needle". The author has since ranged widely amongst a variety of subjects, however with, "Jackdaws", Mr. Follett returns to World War II just prior to the Invasion of Normandy. And like his previous efforts with this historical setting it is very well done, and will bring fond memories to those readers who were waiting for him to turn his pen once again to this theme.

The book is a substantial work offering readers well over 400 pages of taught writing that unfolds over a little more than a week prior to D-Day. Like all books of this event it contains heroes; however they play against the background here, as a heroine takes charge of the story as well as the events in the book. The book begins with a notation that states that 50 women worked as secret agents in France for The Special Executive during the war. The book never seems to reach the moniker of historical fiction, although comments at the end strongly insinuate there was a real woman who, at the very least provided the inspiration for the heroine, "Flick". The women who volunteered to serve behind enemy lines in occupied France, and repeatedly traveled back and forth across The Channel during the war were clearly remarkable women, and were as fearless as any of their male counterparts.

This novel is a bit scattered in its tone. The changes in the mood of the book work well as a whole, however they can seem a bit jarring and out of place as the book is read. If very graphic descriptions of the most brutal interrogation of both men and women are an issue, several areas of this book will be troublesome to read. I don't feel the length to which Mr. Follett took the level of detail was necessary, he is a wonderful writer, and many of these dungeon settings with their attendant horrors struck me as gratuitous. The main event of the book will either work well for a reader, or will be dismissed as being far too improbable. Mr. Follett increases the likelihood of the latter response as the team that is selected is from a practical standpoint untrained but for Flick, and their conduct is so outrageous it tests the reader's ability to suspend disbelief. There are always amazing true stories conducted by a group that should have a near zero chance of prevailing, however Mr. Follett takes the group a step further by making them all fairly dysfunctional as individuals. This is a bit like the stories of a group of jailed soldiers being granted a chance at redemption. The difference is they are at least soldiers, again with the exception of Flick, the group ranges as far as a member who can be likened to Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria, albeit reversed.

As odd as it may sound in conclusion I did very much enjoy the book. The only rationale I can offer is that the Heroine Flick was a wonderful character, beautifully written, and as competent as any Special Forces Operative. So while there may be bits that will make a reader wince with incredulity, read on. This is very much a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling WW2 adventure, 23 Feb 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Jackdaws (Hardcover)
An exciting and very interesting story about an all-female SOE team with a daring mission to disable a key German communication centre in France on the eve of D-day. The team leader is the determined Flick Clairet who has to battle good old-fashioned sexism as well as the Gestapo to achieve her goal. The book has come out at just the right time with so much publicity about the role of female agents in WW2 with the release of the film 'Charlotte Gray'. Ken Follett has really done his homework and 'Jackdaws' takes you into the lives of agents, the Resistance, and the German soldiers and Gestapo. Highly recommended.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Follett has returned at the top of his form., 18 Dec 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Jackdaws (Hardcover)
Follett has always been one of my favorite authors. I began reading his books with The Eye of the Needle and looked forward to everything after that. There was a time where I detected personal political convictions taking over his writing, and his books lost the page-turning edge that they had always had for me. Code to Zero began the return to the top of his form. He has returned with the exciting Jackdaws. The strong female character, Flick, makes this a book for women in the 21st century. And for the men, there is lots of action. A very good read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good read
If you hated Pillars of the Earth, you'll love this. Straightforward thriller, and a very good read. Stretches the truth a bit sometimes, but, hey, it's fiction. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jamie MacGarry

3.0 out of 5 stars Good WWII Story
Jackdaws is set during World War II, in the days, just prior to the D-Day landings. An all woman team is trained to attack a telephone exchange, vital for the German war effort,... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2007 by J.Flood

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a speed reader but....
...I whizzed through this book and enjoyed the ride! This book is set in WW2 and in Kens usual style has 2 threads running throughout the story which makes for a compelling read... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2007 by J. C. Meredith

5.0 out of 5 stars simply great gripping read
I have not read ken follett before and to my opinion i thought it was great
easy to get into very gripping, also did not want to end this smooth flowing
suspense of a... Read more
Published on 10 July 2007 by Ms. S. De La Haye

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and quite horrific in parts
A brilliant, gripping story of women SOE members. I was really involved and desperately hoping they would all survive. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2006 by John Hopper

3.0 out of 5 stars OK but not more
This is only "just another thriller". It is interesting and would make a good movie but it most definitely does not rate among Ken's best works (Pillars of course, also Night over... Read more
Published on 9 July 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars super read!
An easy read, which explores the role that females had within the war. A interesting storyline that looks at S.O. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2003 by niknak2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Massive disappointment
I picked this up following the outstanding "Pillars of the Earth", but left disappointed and confused as to how the difference in quality between the two can be so marked. Read more
Published on 14 April 2003 by tonygriff

5.0 out of 5 stars Making The Most Of A Second Chance
After participating in one failed operation, Major Felicite Clairet of the Special Operations Executive returns to France to blow up a heavily-guarded telephone exchange just... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2003 by Peter Kenney

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping tale of WW2 action in Nazi occupied northern France
This is the first book I have read by the author Ken Follet. I have always had an interest in WW2 history, which was one of the reasons why I was attracted to this book. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2002 by leejgold

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