Triple

Overall a good listen, not great.

Compared to Follett favorites, Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, Hornet Flight, Code to Zero, Whiteout, and Jackdaws, this one falls short.

Both of the recent Audible additions I have tried, Eye of the Needle, and this one, are good - just not riveting stories.

Previous reviewers were too rough on the reader. He was decent to good. Yes, he butchers a few of the accents, but most readers do. His shortcomings where not annoying to me - as some can be unbearable.

Like Eye of the Needle this one teeters between average and good; 3-4 stars.

This book has everything a good espionage book needs. All the characters are believable and not over the top like most books these days. The book is narratted the plot is thick with intriguie esponionage and twists. All the action is gripping action. This is the type of listen you won't easily be able to stop when your commute is over

This is a follett classic and a must listen for anyone who enjoys books of this Gendre

One of the reasons I love historical fiction is how much it teaches me. Not only did I learn more about the KGB, the Mossad and the production of nuclear weapons, but I was never bored and up let several nights not wanting to turn it off. As always Ken Follet delivers interesting characters in extraordinary situations.

Weak plot and awful narration. The narrator speaks with an Australian sounding accent when it is meant to be Cockney. Save your credits

I think the book may be pretty good. The plot is good, flows well and is easy to follow.

The reading: Not so much!

The poor quality of the performance severely detracted from the enjoyment of the novel itself. The dialects and voices were over the top, amateurish.

I will consider additional audio books by this author, but will not purchase any audio book, by any author, read by this reader.

Having listened to hundreds of audiobooks I have concluded that generally, American readers do not do accents well. The "Cockney" of this book's hero is so bad as to make it unlistenable and only the story-line kept me from the trash bin. Why this reader was chosen to mangle Cockney, Russian, Jewish, and British accents is unacountable. It would have been far better to hear it all in "American".

I am a huge fan of Ken Follett but I am not really impressed with this book. It was just ok. I found it rather boring - slow moving.

I am a huge Ken Follet fan and find it not just disappointing but an enormous dis-service to Follet that J. Charles narrated this book.I could barely listen to it. The pace, the lack of vocal transparency and missed characterization were glaring. I'll never buy another book read by J.Charles. Brilliance can do better than that.

Another great Follett novel. Enjoyable from the beginning to end. Highly recommended.

Ken Follett has written another successful novel with a good story line that hold you attention and builds until all of the piece converge at the end and you finally understand how the lives of all the characters affected one another. While not as good as many of his other novels this is certainly one you want to listen to and enjoy.