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JACKDAWS is the code name given to a band of brave and brash women whose task it is to destroy a Nazi telephone center in the last crucial days before D-Day. Said to be based on a true story, we are immediately thrown into an ill-fated attempt to disrupt the strategic communications hub as the Allies gather across the English Channel for the Normandy invasion. A crew of French Resistance fighters is thwarted in their attempt to carry out the assignment, and the leader of the group, Felicity Clairet, known as "Flick," and her husband Michel are among the handful of survivors of the ill-fated mission. Michel is wounded in the attack, so Felicity must return alone to the MI6 headquarters in London and devise a new plan.
With time running short and the Nazis on high alert to a possible second attempt, British Intelligence reluctantly decides to go with Flick's plan to infiltrate the communications center with a group of women disguised as cleaners. The challenge is to find, recruit and train a suitable cadre of women with the temperament and skills needed for such a task --- in three days. In the mid-1940s there were few women with explosives, weaponry, and telephone engineering skills available, so other personality characteristics were sought. Flick and her cohorts scour bars, jails, and country estates to enlist the aid of one of the most unlikely groups of misfits since "The Dirty Dozen."
Most of the book is spent describing the recruitment and training of this band of marauders, exciting stuff on its own. As D-Day draws near, the group encounters time and again the cruel and diabolical Dieter Werner, Nazi chief interrogator. The plot twists and turns at every event, leaving us on the edge of our seats.
Laced with graphic violence, torture and sex scenes, JACKDAWS may not be for the faint of heart. This extraordinarily cinematic book plays out in the mind's eye as if on the big screen. Hollywood mega-producer, Dino De Laurentiis, with smash thrillers Red Dragon, Hannibal, Ragtime, and Blue Velvet among others under his belt, has purchased the film rights.
Ken Follett has entertained millions of readers with smash bestsellers set in World War II, such as THE KEY TO REBECCA, CODE TO ZERO, EYE OF THE NEEDLE, and others. Already a best seller in Italy, JACKDAWS promises to take its place among those novels.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
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