Ken Follett "Never" - Welsh Heavyweight
Created: 05/17/2022Updated: 05/17/2022 13:14
By: Sven Trautwein
With "Never - The Final Decision" Ken Follett presents a new thriller.
He could hardly be more up-to-date.
Is it worth it?
Ken Follett is back.
He was never really gone either.
It feels like a novel appears every year.
And when I say novel, then not so clear 200-page books.
No, they are tomes.
Too heavy for on the go, limited use for reading in bed.
But always to be found on the bestseller lists.
Now his latest novel, “Never – The Last Decision”, has been published.
Cover of "Never - The Final Decision" by Ken Follett © Lübbe
Ken Follett Never: The Book
At Lübbe alone, where “Never – The Last Decision” appears, there are still 24 other novels by the author on the list.
I first encountered his books with The Pillars of the Earth.
I was captivated and didn't want to put the book down.
Might also have something to do with the fact that I was studying English at the time I got my hands on it, although it was a few years old by then.
Western secret service agents follow the trail of powerful drug smugglers in the Sahara.
The American Tamara and her French colleague Tab are among them.
They risk their careers for their love - and their lives for their country.
Not far away, the young widow Kiah makes her way to Europe with the help of smugglers.
When she has to defend herself against attacks, a fellow passenger helps her.
But he doesn't seem to be what he says he is.
In China, high government official Chang Kai is fighting the communist hardliners.
He has ambitious plans, and he fears that his opponents' warmongering will lead the country and its ally North Korea down a path from which there is no turning back.
In the USA, Pauline Green, the country's first female president, conducts her official business with poise and discretion.
It will do everything in its power to prevent the US from having to enter an unnecessary war.
But when one aggressive act leads to the next, when all diplomatic means have been exhausted and the final decision has been made - who can then prevent the inevitable?
Heroines and villains, false prophets and brave warriors, love and hate meet in Ken Follett's latest novel.
He asks: If the world is just one step from the abyss - what else can each individual do?
NEVER is stunning - and a wake up call.
the final decision has been made - who can then prevent the inevitable?
Heroines and villains, false prophets and brave warriors, love and hate meet in Ken Follett's latest novel.
He asks: If the world is just one step from the abyss - what else can each individual do?
NEVER is stunning - and a wake up call.
the final decision has been made - who can then prevent the inevitable?
Heroines and villains, false prophets and brave warriors, love and hate meet in Ken Follett's latest novel.
He asks: If the world is just one step from the abyss - what else can each individual do?
NEVER is stunning - and a wake up call.
Ken Follett "Never", Lubbe
The novel is multi-layered, as we have known from Follett for some time.
Individual episodes interweave more and more from chapter to chapter.
In the end, an interesting overall picture emerges.
Whether Sahara, America or China.
Ken Follett has his eyes on the world in this thriller.
He had already revealed his concern about a nuclear war in an interview.
At the beginning of the thriller, Follett jumps between the protagonists.
The American President, Pauline Green, gets a little more space here.
She is confronted with developments in North Korea and Chad, where another episode with more main characters takes place.
Private problems surrounding her daughter Pippa also have their place.
As with his earlier novels, Follett succeeds in trying to give all the characters the same amount of space to develop.
He knows the pattern.
But that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Ken Follett - One of the most successful authors, presents a new thriller with "Never".
© Photo booth/Suhr/Imago
One can ask oneself whether it has to be such an opulent work?
This can be answered relatively quickly: Yes.
Follett has a lot in mind.
It is not only the developments in America, but also Africa and China that play a central, if not one of the most important, roles.
The intricacies of the main characters and the storyline need their place.
Follett understands this.
More excellent thriller authors can be found here.
Ken Follett "Never": My conclusion
A must for die-hard Follett fans.
It shouldn't be the last decision for them to reach for other titles afterwards.
Even if the book is easy to read and the chapter lengths are good, it takes time.
The book is not easy to read on the way to work.
It's also too heavy for that, in the truest sense of the word.
But in a comfortable armchair, on the sofa or wherever you read, with enough time, a thriller that makes you immerse yourself.
A story that couldn't be more relevant.
Ken Follett "Never"
2021 Lübbe, ISBN 978-3-785-72777-5
Price: Hardcover €32, Ebokk €19.99, 876 pages (different format) Order here!
Ken Follett: About the author
Born in Wales in 1949, he quickly excelled with historical novels.
His parents were very religious and forbade cinema, television or radio.
Ken Follett only absorbed his mother's stories.
After leaving school, Follett studied philosophy.
In 1970 he began a three-month journalism course that would pave the way for him to become a writer.
The first books did not do well.
But in 1978 he made his breakthrough with "Die Nadel" ("Eye of the Needle").
