Posted: August 5, 2021
Eye of the Needle
A great choice if you want a fast-paced spy thriller set in World War II.
"Eye of the Needle" is Ken Follett's first bestseller. Originally titled "Storm Island", it is a fast-paced page-turner with the last few chapters building up to a momentum justifying this novel's classification as a thriller.
Events in this book are set in the U.K and covers the war years 1940 to 1944 up to right before D-Day. It is the story of a German spy, Henry Faber, who has been successfully effective at what he does since the early years of the war. Faber happens upon what could be his greatest coup - the opportunity to inform the Germans of the exact place the Allies will be using as their entrypoint during their invasion of the continent.
This is a thrill ride that takes us through the British countryside and to a lonely isle called Storm Island. Along the way we meet spy hunters Professor Godliman and Fred Bloggs as well as the hapless couple David and Lucy Rose. Most of all we get to know the mind of ruthless spy and assassin Henry Faber whose weapon of choice is the stiletto, thus his nickame "Die Nadel" or the Needle. We also get a glimpse of historical figures such as Winston Churchill, Abwehr head Wilhelm Canaris, and Field Marshalls Gerd von Runstedt and Erwin Rommel, as well as the Fuhrer himself.
I appreciate that not only do I get a riveting storyline I also get to learn details about World War II from this novel. Details about what the allies have been doing to mask the Normandy landing and what the Germans are doing on order to prepare for it. We also get a glimpse of war torn London during the blitz and what the countryside was like during this time in history.
Storm Island itself is quite a place. Remote and bleak though it may be but it also presents itself as a tempting retreat from an overwhelming world.
I've always appreciated the times when Follett goes deeply into his characters. In this book he does it with David Rose and his reasons for acting the way he does. Although clearly not a main character, David is the single most tragic character in this book.
We also get to know about the spy Henry Faber. Henry is revealed as being quite a monster - although we are shown that he doesn't think of himself that way. The book revolves around the exploits of this efficiently ruthless, eccentric, and amoral character.