Eye of the Needle

During World War II the Allies went to extraordinary lengths to make the Nazis believe the coming invasion would be at Calais, not Normandy. They used plywood artillery and inflatable dummy tanks and other faux constructions to fool the Nazis from the air. But from the ground these were obvious fakes. Had one German agent been able to get near these dummy forces on the ground, the deception--crucial to the success of D-Day--wouldn't have worked. The premise of this espionage thriller asks, what if an operative had learned the truth?

The book weaves in three narrative strands that eventually converge. There's the German spy Heinrich, known as "the Needle" who is cunning and a ruthless killer who had been established in England even before show more the war. There's Professor Percival Godliman, medieval historian turned spycatcher and his subordinate Frederick Bloggs. And then there's the hero of the story--Lucy Rose. A lonely and unloved wife on Storm Island off the Scottish coast.

That alone makes this stand out among the list of a couple of dozen suspense novels I've been reading off a recommendation list. A friend of mine calls them "dick-lit" for good reason. All too often they're drenched in testosterone and the women either femme fatales or damsels-in-distress. A courageous and resourceful female character like Lucy is a rarity in the genre. I also liked how vividly Follet conjured up wartime Britain. This isn't the kind of book that impresses with a striking prose style or complex characters or a surprising twist. But this is a fast-paced, suspenseful and engrossing thriller I gobbled up pretty much in one sitting. show less

Carl Sandburg said (in another context) "it pays to have a good forgettery." In this case, a good forgettery allowed me to reread Ken Follett's EYE OF THE NEEDLE (British title, STORM ISLAND) with every bit as much enjoyment as when I first read it 30 years ago. Also, having recently reread THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, it was fun to compare these two similar, but different, thrillers.

Both books feature multiple points of view -- quite a few of them in Follett's case -- and on both sides of the good guy/bad guy divide. Both involve historical events that we know turned out OK, and ask us to imagine a scenario where things could have gone quite differently. The difference in Follett's book is that nearly all the characters are more fully show more developed. I still found it difficult to work up much sympathy for The Needle, though, and when I found critics (both film and book) talking about his "falling in love" with Lucy, I thought only that they must have a very different idea of love than I have.

The stronger character development in Follett's book makes a lot of artistic sense, since, unlike JACKAL, EYE OF THE NEEDLE must build suspense over a period of four years, from the period just after the Phoney War in 1940, to just before D-Day in 1944. Without the character interest, this might have made for a less engaging story; and the behavior of The Needle, David, and Lucy in the final chapters would not have been as believable.

Reading this now, when Follett has again been on the bestseller lists with WORLD WITHOUT END, his sequel to THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, (both set in the Middle Ages), one notices how he brings his interest in medieval culture and history even into a World War II thriller. For example, he parallels Godliman the medievalist's search for Henry II's travels with Godliman the intelligence agent's search for The Needle.

I haven't seen the movie of this book, but probably will before long. I am reserving judgment on the casting of Donald Sutherland as The Needle -- somehow it just doesn't seem right to me.

In any case, THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE was quite deserving of the Edgar, even though it had some stiff competition, particularly Tony Hillerman's LISTENING WOMAN. show less

Book on CD narrated by Eric Lincoln and performed by a full cast.
4.5****

From the book jacket: One enemy spy knows the secret to the Allies' greatest deception, a brilliant aristocrat and ruthless assassin -- code name: "The Needle" -- who holds the key to ultimate Nazi victory. Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is beginning to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life.

My reactions:
Wow. Just, WOW.

Fast-paced and engaging, this was Follett’s first successful endeavor as a novelist; he wrote it when he was only 27 years old!

Follet uses three story arcs which converge in a heart-stopping scenario. He begins with Henry Faber, the pseudonym used by the German spy known as The show more Needle, and quickly shows the reader just how determined, ruthless and dangerous this man is. Then he starts the story of Percival Godliman, an aging professor of history, with a background the British want to employ to help them catch spies, and Detective Inspector Bloggs, who will act as Godliman’s man on the ground during the big chase. And finally the third side of the triangle: Lucy, a young woman about to be married and embark on the life of a war bride. Follet continues to craft the story moving from one story line to the other, keeping the reader off balance and eager to find out more. Virtually every chapter ends in a cliffhanger.

The audiobook is much like a radio drama. Erik Lincoln narrates the story, but each time there is dialogue, internal or external, the character is played by a different, talented voice artist. I found it a little off at first, but quickly grew used to it, and I found it really entertaining in the end. show less

Eye of the Needle was Follet’s first book published in the U.S., and it’s no surprise that it’s sold somewhere around 10 million copies worldwide. I consider Follett’s WWII books to be his best. He is able to put us smack dab in the middle of the war, usually in a situation we wouldn’t expect. Here, he takes a single question — What if the Germans knew the Allies were attacking Normandy? — and turns it into a thrilling cross-country chase that culminates in an unexpected showdown on a tiny island. He gives us characters that are three-dimensional and complex, even if they aren’t major characters in the story. Perhaps most interesting was Follett’s fictional Third Reich.

I was fortunate enough to see Ken Follett speak at show more the National Book Festival this year, and now I’m a bigger fan than ever. How can you not like a man who tops off every writing day with a glass of champagne? show less

A great plot marred by an incredible heroine. It is hard to suspend disbelief at a heroine who knows how to make a petrol bomb, comes up with all sorts of incredible brainwaves usually headlined by "she had an idea", and uses her fingers to disrupt the electricity to the radio. A good read nonetheless.

I read this book till 1 am while I was on holiday without the kids, which should tell you how unputdownable it was - I could have been sound asleep! And my heart was racing by the end. It's the first Ken Follett I've read.

Far-fetched plot? Yes. Believable? Somehow. (I realise the two things should be contradictory.) The main character, Die Nagel, is a German agent living in England during WW2. Without wanting to give too much away, he tries hard to get information home to Germany about plans for D-Day. He's nasty, but likable. The usual kind of spy things happen. There are plenty of big picture military and political bits, which I really enjoyed. The romantic stuff was harder to believe, but still good enough that I couldn't stop show more reading by that stage in the book. I read Agent Zig-Zag earlier this year, and this fitted in well with that book. I gave it 4 1/2 stars (for its genre, blah blah - any book that keeps me awake that late gets lots of stars...) show less

The novel was published in 1978 and way back in 1981 this book was turned into a movie with Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan. Although I have not seen the film in quite a long time I thought it excellent when I first saw it and re-watched it on cable more than once. After first seeing the film I picked up the novel and liked it every bit as much as the film and probably more. Film and novel are both excellent. The story is told about about several characters with three focal points so to speak, but the story is about a German agent embedded in England who has been told to discover if there is a false show being put on by the allies to confuse Germany about where the D-Day invasion will be. It was an elaborate scheme of deception. show more Equally important is a young (and tragic) married couple living on an island in the North Sea. British MI hunts down the needle before he can discover and relay the truth. The story is tightly woven and the novel is truly a suspense filled thriller with several heart racing scenes. Each character is well written and I was very glad to read it again. A real page turner at times after a very good buildup.

Terrific book. Highly recommended. This certainly holds up 40 years after first publication. show less