The Key to Rebecca

Very engaging. Interesting characters and lots of plot twists kept me entertained.

I've read almost all of Ken Follett's books and would rate this as his second best, behind Pillars of the Earth, and right up there with Eye of the Needle. It has the usual stock elements found in any thriller: an admirable hero, a despicable villain, a vulnerable but brave young girl, but infuses them with real humanity and builds to a crackling and suspenseful climax. As in other Follett books, he makes the conflict many-layered: The hero (Major Van Damme) wants to apprehend the villain (Alex Wolf) not only because it can have an effect on the progress of the second World War in Egypt, but because they have a past together, and because the girl he is falling in love with has been used as "bait" for Wolf. Shades of Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious.What I like about Follett's best work is that it really delivers the suspense and resolves the story in an incredibly satisfying way. Like many spy novels, there are contrived situations, but he "gets you to turn over the next page" (Ian Fleming's goal as author of the James Bond books) so eagerly that you just want to see how it ends. His female characters are far from cardboard as well: both of them are fully realized. And, best of all, he makes everyone vulnerable; he knows that we can identify with characters that have strengths and weaknesses, instead of the usual cast of robots exchanging gunfire from speeding cars.

I have become an avid fan of anything Ken Follet writes because I never know where his words will take me in time and space. I am not a military enthusiast by any means, but this novel set during WWII captured all my attention. Follett's Character development is second to none; it is very easy to visualize each person in the novel, especially Alex.

The book is really good....The book's event are all in Egypt and i must tell u that as an i Egyptian I was astonished at how the author had a very good background of egypt... all it's streets and how the egyptians felt about the war..... never read such a good book which is well studied, not even by egypian authors.....WELL DONE FOLLETT!!!!

There are not many fiction books that discribe this particular set of battle in the second World War, so besides the fun of reading a Follett book, you also learn something about the war in Africa. Follett has done a good job in picturing the struggle between a british army captain and a ruthless Nazi-spy, called "the Sphinx" in the streets of Cairo and through the desertic egyptian country. Also, the sensuality is a constant and present part of the plot, involving a beautiful young jewish girl working to defeat her tough past and to guarantee a safe future for her and her people. Second best of Follett, only behind "Pillars of the earth".