![Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett](https://i0.wp.com/baneslibraries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Eye-of-the-Needle-by-Ken-Follett.png?fit=188%2C300&ssl=1)
Our Rating:
Library Formats:
Book, eBook, eAudiobook
Age Group:
Adults
Genre:
Historical, Thriller
This book is part of our Centenary Collection.
Eye of the Needle was one of the BBC’s 100 Books that Shaped Our World and no wonder, as it is one of the best thrillers of the last half-century and screams “just one more chapter”. This is quite something, given that the plot – a German spy is on the brink of scuppering the allies’ plans for D-Day in 1944 – has a well-known real-life ending. In fact, the allies’ plans went undiscovered and D-Day was a success.
So why, given the reader knows how things turn out, is the book such a page-turner? Firstly, as with another “what if?” – Frederick Forsyth’s Day of the Jackal (based on an attempted assassination of French Charles de Gaulle) – you are willing to suspend disbelief. So you are never quite sure what will happen next. Second, the quality of the writing – pacey and as clear as a pane of glass. This was Ken Follett’s breakthrough book and although he went on to write many others – including the Century trilogy and Kingsbridge series – nothing lives up to Eye of the Needle for characterisation and those twists and turns that make you want to read on.
The book was made into a film in 1981 starring Donald Sutherland but nothing matches the immersive-ness of the book itself. So, if you’re looking for a holiday read, or an absorbing alternative to a box-set, this may be for you – but be warned, there are some adult themes. Just make sure you put up the “do not disturb” sign while you’re reading it.