(review in English below)

Para mim foi uma desilusão (na verdade, é mais um 2,5 do que um 3).

Nunca me senti envolvida na história, não gostei particularmente dos personagens nem apreciei a escrita.
Lê-se bem, mas se calhar a espionagem não é para mim...

This was a big let down for me (it's more like a 2.5, actually).

I never felt involved in the story, I didn't particularly like the characters or the writing.

It reads OK, maybe I'm just not into spy novels...

A good WWII spy novel set in Cairo. British major must track down a german spy who is assisting Rommel. Lots of suspense, quite a bit of sex, and of course, a lot of nasty nazis. Recommended.

È stato il primo libro di Follett che io abbia mai letto e, al tempo, fu amore a prima vista. Per quanto crescendo (e soprattutto rileggendolo) abbia perso la sua capacità di stupirmi, resta un libro che porto nel cuore. Intrattiene bene, scorre perfettamente, tiene abbastanza alta la tensione inserendo nella narrazione capitoli prettamente militari di cui in realtà faremmo a meno. I personaggi fanno sognare di essere lì con loro, per le strade del Cairo o nel deserto, tra danzatrici del ventre, spie tedesche e ufficiali seriosi in cerca, forse, di qualcuno che faccia loro tornare il sorriso.
Adorato, di nuovo. Una bella e leggera lettura che ho volentieri inserito in un periodo di letture molto più pesanti.

Pathetic. I Quit reading it even before completing 100 pages. It had a good start but then lengthy, unnecessary lengthy descriptions of situations and scenes, that too which occasionally fit to the context and story, ruined this book in further pages.

One good thing that happened to me from this book is that it made me realise that if such a creation can become a best seller then may be even I can hit a jackpot by writing one of such kinds.

Altogether, total disappointment and waste of time.

Las primeras cien páginas de este libro me fascinaron. Por la similitud en la trama, me volvió a llevar a las sensaciones de cuando leí La isla de las tormentas y además desarollado en un contexto tan vibrante y novedoso para mi como El Cairo, cuyo ambiente está muy bien descrito al inicio. Probablemente por esas altas expectativas, la magia inicial se me fue diluyendo a medida que transcurría la historia. Aun así, a mí es que me gustan este tipo de historias, así que, aunque esté lejos de ser mi libro favorito, me sigue pareciendo de lo más interesante.

Rebecca Comes to War


We all know how WWII invaded literature. The theme has been used and abused inspiring all sorts of stories.

Since what goes around is expected to come around, it's definitely not shocking to find an event where the opposite works, e.g. running into a WWII episode where literature plays some sort of role:

While doing research for the "Eye of the needle", Ken Follet found a parallel story that involved a german spy, a sexy belly dancer and the famous "Rebecca" from Daphne du Maurier. This peculiar and not so Holly Trinity, gave birth to a completely different Rebecca...

The Key to Rebecca is not Ken Follet at his best, but it's Ken Follet at his almost best!
Nothing left to say except that it's highly recommendable! Ken Follet always provides knowledge and entertainment. What else could we demand!?...

This book was very easy to put down until the last 80 pages when the action finally took place. I can handle some racy stuff in books, but there are a couple sentences I really wish I hadn't read that are in this book. The sex that is talked about is way too perverted for me. There wasn't a lot of it and I did my best to skim over it while not missing out on the plot, but I really couldn't see the point of most of it. I read another goodreads' member's review of this book before I started it that said it seemed like the author just threw salacious stuff in as an afterthought with no relevance to the story - I have to agree for the most part.

Another excellent book, making the reader spin through all the action and strategy that evolves side by side with passion, sensuousness and a lot of historical background!

Maria Carmo,

Lisbon 23 August 2016.

The Key to Rebecca is an early Ken Follett novel, providing a heavily fictionalized account of German espionage in WWII Egypt. Alex Wolff, a German raised by Egyptian stepparents, arrives in Cairo to procure British military secrets for Rommel's Afrika Korps. He recruits a bazaar thief, an opinionated belly dancer and a coterie of Egyptian nationalists (including a young Anwar Sadat) to steal battle plans and funnel them to Rommel (using passages from Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca as a code), resulting in several Axis victories. Meanwhile, a determined British Major seeks to unravel his own schemes, enlisting a tough Jewish woman to seduce Wolff and confirm his guilt. Follett's book hits all the expected potboiler plot points: intrigue and assassinations, femme fatales and shifty double agents. What elevates it above your standard thriller is Follett's skill for historical and cultural dramatization: he ably dramatizes wartime Cairo, riven by anti-British resentment, political strictures and a populace uncertain whose victory would be in their country's best interest. Wolff (loosely based on real Abwehr spy Johannes Eppler) makes a compelling anti-hero, a German devoted to the Fatherland (if distrustful towards the Nazis) while also praying to Mecca, befriending Bedouin sheiks and charming unwary Brits. Major Vandamm, his antagonist, is a more typically stuffy British officer; the female characters at least have strong personalities to augment their familiar seductress roles. Follett's historical portraits (Rommel and Sadat in particular) are rather thin, while the ending lacks the fireworks you'd expect from a spy caper. But then, that's part of the appeal. A literate, engaging historical thriller.

Una de las mejores novelas de espionaje de la historia, claro que eso no es nada nuevo. Ken Follet es el amo y señor del género, aunque sea más recordado por Los Pilares de la Tierra y otras novelas similares.
El libro es rápido, y engancha desde el principio. Crea dos personajes principales, el espía nazi y el comandante británico. El futuro de Egipto dependerá de su juego de estrategia, unido a la gestión de los colaboradores de cada uno. Empatizas con los dos desde el principio y te hace sentir indeciso sobre quién debe vencer... Una maravilla, sin duda, ya que muestra una guerra como lo que es: hombres luchando contra hombres, cada uno siendo fiel a su causa y obedeciendo órdenes desde arriba.
Muy recomendable.

Valutazione: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

Wow!
Un romanzo del genere si può solo commentare così: wow!
“Il codice Rebecca” mi incuriosita con l’incipit, ha avuto tutta la mia attenzione con le prime pagine, e poi mi ha tenuta col fiato sospeso fino all’ultima pagina, perché volevo vedere come andasse a finire.

Questo è il secondo libro che leggo su Ken Follett, è il mio primo romanzo di spionaggio.
Se “La cruna del lago” non mi aveva fatta chissà quanto impazzire, “Il codice Rebecca” mi ha letteralmente catturata.
Ho amato davvero tutto.
Poi, ho apprezzato tantissimo la scrittura dell’autore, semplice ma molto curata e dettagliata. La sua penna è riuscita a evocare nella mia testa ogni singola immagine perfettamente, con nitidezza.
Ho amato la cura meticolosa per ogni dettaglio di una trama che si snoda con così tanta complessità.
Ho adorato ogni punto di vista, da quello di Wolff a quello di Vandam.
Mi sembrava davvero di guardare un film d’azione.

Un libro davvero bellissimo.
A dir poco pazzesco!
Consigliatissimo!

4/30/2020 - Currently reading Noel Barber's book set in Cairo, finding it more informative about WWII Egypt.
A Woman of Cairo
***
Original review: "Enjoyed this just as much in a subsequent reading as first escape with Follett to WWII North Africa."

4/16/18 -

Have likely read, or at least started maybe two dozen by Follett. Several featured topics that interested me. Hornets Flight and Jackdaws, along with Rebecca. Cathedral building's first volume. Three Ken's remain in my GRCat. Suggest Pargeter if you like the cathedral era. Brother Cadfael time.

In Key ... Ken mixed his ingredients most compatible to my wavelength ... enjoyed the main characters enough to take another ride through the book, which I haven't done with Follett's other productions.

The Rommel book by Pressfield fits besides Rebecca on my mental WW@shelf
Killing Rommel
The Heaven Tree Trilogy