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    Jackdaws

    Author Ken Follett
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    Paperback
    $18.00 US
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
    On sale Dec 05, 2006 | 432 Pages | 9780451219596
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    In his own bestselling tradition of Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca, Ken Follett delivers a breathtaking novel of suspense set in the most dangerous days of World War II.

    D-Day is approaching. They don’t know where or when, but the Germans know it’ll be soon, and for Felicity “Flick” Clariet, the stakes have never been higher. A senior agent in the ranks of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) responsible for sabotage, Flick has survived to become one of Britain’s most effective operatives in Northern France. She knows that the Germans’ ability to thwart the Allied attack depends upon their lines of communications, and in the days before the invasion no target is of greater strategic importance than the largest telephone exchange in Europe.

    But when Flick and her Resistance-leader husband try a direct, head-on assault that goes horribly wrong, her world turns upside down. Her group destroyed, her husband missing, her superiors unsure of her, her own confidence badly shaken, she has one last chance at the target, but the challenge, once daunting, is now near impossible. The new plan requires an all-woman team, none of them professionals, to be assembled and trained within days. Code-named the Jackdaws, they will attempt to infiltrate the exchange under the noses of the Germans—but the Germans are waiting for them now and have plans of their own. There are secrets Flick does not know—secrets within the German ranks, secrets among her hastily recruited team, secrets among those she trusts the most. And as the hours tick down to the point of no return, most daunting of all, there are secrets within herself. . . . 

    Filled with the powerful storytelling, unforgettable characters, and authentic detail that have become his hallmarks, Jackdaws is Ken Follett writing at the height of his powers.
    • WINNER | 2003
      Audie Awards
    © Olivier Favre
    Ken Follett is one of the world's best-loved authors, selling more than 188 million copies of his thirty-six books. Follett’s first bestseller was Eye of the Needle, a spy story set in the Second World War. In 1989, The Pillars of the Earth was published and has since become Follett's most popular novel. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an Oprah’s Book Club pick. Its sequels, World Without End and A Column of Fire, and prequel The Evening and the Morning, proved equally popular, and the Kingsbridge series has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide. Follett lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife, Barbara. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren, and three Labradors. View titles by Ken Follett

    Praise for Jackdaws

    "The book's celebration of uncommon courage and unlikely heroes couldn't be better timed . . . a distaff Dirty Dozen." —People

    "A very entertaining, very cinematic thriller about a ragtag, all-female band of British agents, code-named Jackdaws, sent to blow up a key telephone exchange in France on the eve of D day . . . adventure, romance, derring-do. . . . [Jackdaws] promises to be one of Follett's most popular novels ever." —Publishers Weekly

    "Compelling reading . . . great entertainment." —The Baltimore Sun

    "Deeply satisfying." —Entertainment Weekly

    "Suspenseful, gripping." —New York Post

    "With its vivid characters, suspense, patriotism, and examples of supreme bravery, Jackdaws is a fitting tribute to the women of World War II." —The Orlando Sentinel

    "Cleverly plotted. . . . The characters are sharply drawn and fully realized [and] the pace is rapid-fire." —Minneapolis Star Tribune

    "A sort of distaff dirty (half) dozen. They don't come any tougher, smarter, braver, or for that matter, deadlier than Major Felicity (call her 'Flick') Clairet. Quintessentially female and sexy as all get out, she kills without compunction if that's the way the mission goes." —Kirkus Reviews

    "Carried off with the kind of galvanic skill that was the hallmark of Follett's early books . . . a memorable, complex heroine." —Publishing News

    "For fans of the sixties movie The Dirty Dozen, this could be called The Perfumed Six. . . . It's certainly pleasant to have the main character be female." —The Buffalo News

    "[Follett] is dead on-target . . . updating that World War II workhorse in which a gang of misfits goes behind Nazi lines to do the impossible . . . thoroughly entertaining." —Booklist

    "Follett delivers one of his most entertaining thrillers." —The Denver Post

    About

    In his own bestselling tradition of Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca, Ken Follett delivers a breathtaking novel of suspense set in the most dangerous days of World War II.

    D-Day is approaching. They don’t know where or when, but the Germans know it’ll be soon, and for Felicity “Flick” Clariet, the stakes have never been higher. A senior agent in the ranks of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) responsible for sabotage, Flick has survived to become one of Britain’s most effective operatives in Northern France. She knows that the Germans’ ability to thwart the Allied attack depends upon their lines of communications, and in the days before the invasion no target is of greater strategic importance than the largest telephone exchange in Europe.

    But when Flick and her Resistance-leader husband try a direct, head-on assault that goes horribly wrong, her world turns upside down. Her group destroyed, her husband missing, her superiors unsure of her, her own confidence badly shaken, she has one last chance at the target, but the challenge, once daunting, is now near impossible. The new plan requires an all-woman team, none of them professionals, to be assembled and trained within days. Code-named the Jackdaws, they will attempt to infiltrate the exchange under the noses of the Germans—but the Germans are waiting for them now and have plans of their own. There are secrets Flick does not know—secrets within the German ranks, secrets among her hastily recruited team, secrets among those she trusts the most. And as the hours tick down to the point of no return, most daunting of all, there are secrets within herself. . . . 

    Filled with the powerful storytelling, unforgettable characters, and authentic detail that have become his hallmarks, Jackdaws is Ken Follett writing at the height of his powers.

    Awards

    • WINNER | 2003
      Audie Awards

    Author

    © Olivier Favre
    Ken Follett is one of the world's best-loved authors, selling more than 188 million copies of his thirty-six books. Follett’s first bestseller was Eye of the Needle, a spy story set in the Second World War. In 1989, The Pillars of the Earth was published and has since become Follett's most popular novel. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an Oprah’s Book Club pick. Its sequels, World Without End and A Column of Fire, and prequel The Evening and the Morning, proved equally popular, and the Kingsbridge series has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide. Follett lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife, Barbara. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren, and three Labradors. View titles by Ken Follett

    Praise

    Praise for Jackdaws

    "The book's celebration of uncommon courage and unlikely heroes couldn't be better timed . . . a distaff Dirty Dozen." —People

    "A very entertaining, very cinematic thriller about a ragtag, all-female band of British agents, code-named Jackdaws, sent to blow up a key telephone exchange in France on the eve of D day . . . adventure, romance, derring-do. . . . [Jackdaws] promises to be one of Follett's most popular novels ever." —Publishers Weekly

    "Compelling reading . . . great entertainment." —The Baltimore Sun

    "Deeply satisfying." —Entertainment Weekly

    "Suspenseful, gripping." —New York Post

    "With its vivid characters, suspense, patriotism, and examples of supreme bravery, Jackdaws is a fitting tribute to the women of World War II." —The Orlando Sentinel

    "Cleverly plotted. . . . The characters are sharply drawn and fully realized [and] the pace is rapid-fire." —Minneapolis Star Tribune

    "A sort of distaff dirty (half) dozen. They don't come any tougher, smarter, braver, or for that matter, deadlier than Major Felicity (call her 'Flick') Clairet. Quintessentially female and sexy as all get out, she kills without compunction if that's the way the mission goes." —Kirkus Reviews

    "Carried off with the kind of galvanic skill that was the hallmark of Follett's early books . . . a memorable, complex heroine." —Publishing News

    "For fans of the sixties movie The Dirty Dozen, this could be called The Perfumed Six. . . . It's certainly pleasant to have the main character be female." —The Buffalo News

    "[Follett] is dead on-target . . . updating that World War II workhorse in which a gang of misfits goes behind Nazi lines to do the impossible . . . thoroughly entertaining." —Booklist

    "Follett delivers one of his most entertaining thrillers." —The Denver Post

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