Despite supposing to be about political maneuvering heading toward war, many parts read like a romance novel full of those types of cliches. Smart women in important and powerful positions pining away for sweet romance with a manly man. Not what I expected from this novel and not recommended. ( )

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: ©11/09/2021; 978- 0593300015; Viking; 816 pp.)
(Digital: Yes).
*Audio: ©11/09/2021; Penguin Audio; Duration 23:58:00; unabridged
(Film: No.)
Series: No.

Major CHARACTERS:
Tamara Levit, (CIA Agent)
Abdul John Haddad (undercover CIA Agent)
Kiah (Chadian widow)
Naji (Kiah’s son)
Tabdar (Tab) Sadoul (European Union attache’)
Pauline Green (United States President)
Al Farabi (Afghan terrorist)
Chang Kai (Chinese Vice Minister for International Intelligence)
Chang Ting (Kai’s wife)
Kang U-jung (North Korea’s Supreme Leader)

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I wouldn’t have chosen this for the subject matter—nuclear weapons and was aren’t my go-to subjects, but the author and the narrator are trustworthy, so we listened to it, and sure enough—it was excellent. There might be one part where I would have preferred something different, but never-the-less, its highly recommendable!

AUTHOR:
Ken Follett (June 5, 1949). The first paragraph in Wikipedia on Ken says, “[Ken] “is a Welsh-born author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.[3] Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the US, many reached the number 1 position on the New York Times Best Seller list, including Edge of Eternity, Fall of Giants, A Dangerous Fortune, The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, Winter of the World, and World Without End.[4]”
NARRATOR: January LaVoy. According to Wikipedia, “January LaVoy (born Trumbull, Connecticut) is an American actress, most recognized as Noelle Ortiz on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. LaVoy made her Broadway debut in the Broadway premiere of the play Enron at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 27, 2010.[1]”

GENRE:
War & Military Fiction; Military Thriller; Political Thriller

LOCATIONS:
African Sahara Desert, N’Djamena, Chad; Beijing, China, North Korea, United States

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary

SUBJECTS:
Politics, War, Nuclear-weapons

DEDICATION:
Not that I see in the Amazon excerpt, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. (Remember I listened to the book, I didn’t read the print.)

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From chapter 1
Tab got out of the car, putting a wide-brimmed straw hat on his head, and stood beside her. The hat did not suit him—in fact it looked a bit comical—but he did not seem to care. He was well-dressed but not vain. She liked that.
They both studied the village. Among the houses were cultivated plots striped with irrigation channels. The water had to be brought a long way, Tamara realized, and she felt depressingly sure that it was the women who carried it. A man in a galabiya seemed to be selling cigarettes, chatting amiably with the men, flirting a little with the women. Tamara recognized the white packet with the gold-colored sphinx head: it identified an Egyptian brand called Cleopatra, the most popular in Africa. The cigarettes were probably smuggled or stolen. Several morotcycles and motor scooters were parked outside the houses, and one very old Volkswagon Beetle. In this country the motorcycle was the most popular form of personal transport. Tamara took more pictures.
Perspiration trickled down her sides under her clothes. She wiped her forehead with the end of her cotton headscarf. Tab took out a red handkerchief with white spots and mopped under the collar of his button-down.
‘Half these houses are unoccupied,’ Tab said.
Tamara looked more closely and saw that some of the buildings were decaying. There were holes in the palm-leaf roofs and some of the mud bricks were crumbling away.
‘Huge numbers of people have left the area,’ Tab said. ‘I guess everyone who has somewhere to go has gone. But there are millions left behind. This whole place is a disaster area.’

RATING:
4 stars.

STARTED-FINISHED
11/24/2021-12/16/2021 ( )

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: ©11/09/2021; 978- 0593300015; Viking; 816 pp.)
(Digital: Yes).
*Audio: ©11/09/2021; Penguin Audio; Duration 23:58:00; unabridged
(Film: No.)
Series: No.

Major CHARACTERS:
Tamara Levit, (CIA Agent)
Abdul John Haddad (undercover CIA Agent)
Kiah (Chadian widow)
Naji (Kiah’s son)
Tabdar (Tab) Sadoul (European Union attache’)
Pauline Green (United States President)
Al Farabi (Afghan terrorist)
Chang Kai (Chinese Vice Minister for International Intelligence)
Chang Ting (Kai’s wife)
Kang U-jung (North Korea’s Supreme Leader)

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I wouldn’t have chosen this for the subject matter—nuclear weapons and was aren’t my go-to subjects, but the author and the narrator are trustworthy, so we listened to it, and sure enough—it was excellent. There might be one part where I would have preferred something different, but never-the-less, its highly recommendable!

AUTHOR:
Ken Follett (June 5, 1949). The first paragraph in Wikipedia on Ken says, “[Ken] “is a Welsh-born author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.[3] Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the US, many reached the number 1 position on the New York Times Best Seller list, including Edge of Eternity, Fall of Giants, A Dangerous Fortune, The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, Winter of the World, and World Without End.[4]”
NARRATOR: January LaVoy. According to Wikipedia, “January LaVoy (born Trumbull, Connecticut) is an American actress, most recognized as Noelle Ortiz on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. LaVoy made her Broadway debut in the Broadway premiere of the play Enron at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 27, 2010.[1]”

GENRE:
War & Military Fiction; Military Thriller; Political Thriller

LOCATIONS:
African Sahara Desert, N’Djamena, Chad; Beijing, China, North Korea, United States

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary

SUBJECTS:
Politics, War, Nuclear-weapons

DEDICATION:
Not that I see in the Amazon excerpt, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. (Remember I listened to the book, I didn’t read the print.)

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From chapter 1
Tab got out of the car, putting a wide-brimmed straw hat on his head, and stood beside her. The hat did not suit him—in fact it looked a bit comical—but he did not seem to care. He was well-dressed but not vain. She liked that.
They both studied the village. Among the houses were cultivated plots striped with irrigation channels. The water had to be brought a long way, Tamara realized, and she felt depressingly sure that it was the women who carried it. A man in a galabiya seemed to be selling cigarettes, chatting amiably with the men, flirting a little with the women. Tamara recognized the white packet with the gold-colored sphinx head: it identified an Egyptian brand called Cleopatra, the most popular in Africa. The cigarettes were probably smuggled or stolen. Several morotcycles and motor scooters were parked outside the houses, and one very old Volkswagon Beetle. In this country the motorcycle was the most popular form of personal transport. Tamara took more pictures.
Perspiration trickled down her sides under her clothes. She wiped her forehead with the end of her cotton headscarf. Tab took out a red handkerchief with white spots and mopped under the collar of his button-down.
‘Half these houses are unoccupied,’ Tab said.
Tamara looked more closely and saw that some of the buildings were decaying. There were holes in the palm-leaf roofs and some of the mud bricks were crumbling away.
‘Huge numbers of people have left the area,’ Tab said. ‘I guess everyone who has somewhere to go has gone. But there are millions left behind. This whole place is a disaster area.’

RATING:
4 stars.

STARTED-FINISHED
11/24/2021-12/16/2021
( )

En el desierto del Sáhara, dos agentes de inteligencia siguen la pista a un poderoso grupo terrorista arriesgando sus vidas -y, cuando se enamoran perdidamente, sus carreras- a cada paso.

En China, un alto cargo del gobierno con grandes ambiciones batalla contra los viejos halcones del ala dura del Partido que amenazan con empujar al país a un punto de no retorno.

Y en Estados Unidos, la presidenta se enfrenta a una crisis global y al asedio de sus implacables oponentes políticos. Está dispuesta a todo para evitar una guerra innecesaria.

Pero cuando un acto de agresión conduce a otro y las potencias más poderosas del mundo se ven atrapadas en una compleja red de alianzas de la que no pueden escapar, comienza una frenética carrera contrarreloj. ¿Podrá alguien, incluso con las mejores intenciones y las más excepcionales habilidades, detener lo inevitable? ( )

I guess my tastes have changed since I read Eye of the Needle. I was disappointed with this story ... frightening to contemplate given the times we are living in and, as others have pointed out, the dialogue between all the romantic characters was embarrassingly cheesy. ( )