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Code to Zero by Ken Follett
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Ken Follett is the award-winning author of bestselling espionage thrillers, as well as many other popular books.
Code to Zero by Ken Follett is available. Click for more info or to buy it now.
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Code to Zero by Ken Follett
Features
Mass Market Paperback:
480 pages
; Dimensions (in inches): 1.34 x 6.78 x 4.21
Publisher: Signet; Reissue edition (October 31, 2001)
ISBN:
0451204530
Amazon.com
Veteran thriller writer Ken Follett (Eye of the Needle, The Third Twin, The Key to Rebecca) turns in another nifty story of espionage, deceit, and betrayal, a fast-paced read with "bestseller" written all over it. A man wakes up in a Washington, D.C., train station in 1958, shortly before the launch of Explorer I, America's first space satellite, with no idea who he is or how he got there. And in less than a few hours, it's clear that someone doesn't want him to find out. He's dressed like a bum, and he looks like he's been on a bender. But he's remarkably skillful at evading pursuit, obscuring his tracks, stealing a car, and breaking into a house. He's not sure how he came by those talents, and it worries him: "I wonder if I'm honest?" Maybe it was foolish, he thought, to pour out his heart to a whore on the street, but he had no one else. "Am I a loyal husband and a loving father and a reliable workmate? Or am I some kind of gangster? I hate not knowing." "Honey, if that's what's bothering you, I know what kind of guy you are already. A gangster would be thinking, am I rich, do I slay the broads, are people scared of me?" That was a point. Luke nodded. But he was not satisfied. "It's one thing to want to be a good person--but maybe I don't live up to what I believe in." But he does, and it's that firm interior moral compass that keeps him on track through the novel's most fascinating pages as he solves the puzzle of who he really is: Claude "Luke" Lucas, a renowned rocket scientist who was en route from Cape Canaveral to Washington to warn someone in the Pentagon about something he also can't remember, even with the help of some of his oldest friends. Like Anthony Carroll, a CIA agent who apparently has proof that Luke's been sabotaging the fledgling American space program and working for the Russians. And Billie Josephson, the woman Luke once loved, who happens to be an expert in brainwashing and memory loss. And Elspeth, Luke's mathematician wife, who'll do almost anything to save his life. This is one of Follett's strongest books in years. The flashbacks bring the story of the idealistic young collegians from World War II into 1958, nicely setting up the action in an exciting, solidly plotted, and suspenseful read that grabs the reader by the throat in the first paragraph and doesn't let up until the last. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
January, 1958: America's best hope in the space race-the Explorer I satellite-sits on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. And when a man wakes that morning only to discover his memory erased and his life in danger, the only way he can reclaim his own identity-and find those responsible-is to remember the terrible secret that they forced him to forget. A secret that could destroy the Explorer I-and America's future.
"This spy thriller is Follett at his best..." (People)
"Gripping." (The New York Times)
"Starts off fast and never slows down...A rousing story that never flags." (Chicago Tribune)
Reader Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Exciting historical novel, September 26, 2003
Reviewer:
B Garrison
from Oklahoma City, OK USA
Follet's Code to Zero shows me that the horrible "Third Twin" is just an abberration on his otherwise great collection of novels. Code to Zero, written in 2000, covers the 2 days preceding the launch of the United States' first successful satellite rocket launch. The story revolves around 4 friends who met at Harvard before WWII. Follet throws in some background about Luke, Anthony, Elspeth, and Billie's days at Harvard and then time spent as spies during the war. The lives of the four are intertwined till the very end and there is love and betrayal at every corner. Follett's strength is his charactarization and his research of the time period and the subject matter. This is a solid novel that is fun to read, but the end isn't a jolting climax, just a logical ending to all that preceded it.
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