I didn't read this when it was first published in 1980. If I had, I'm sure I would have loved it. I've liked many of the author's books over the years. However, I've learned and experienced a lot over the last 40 years, and now I see this book as a classic tale of misogyny. The WWII spy versus the British tale was very exciting. If the book had merely kept to the male characters, I would have rated it as 4 stars. However, his depictions of women as whores or saints (dead wife) infuriated me. When he tried to give their behavior an explanation, it only got worse.

Este é o segundo livro que leio de Ken Follett e, à semelhança do primeiro, gostei muito. Talvez até mais um bocadinho! Um enredo muito bem desenvolvido com personagens fantásticas, em que até dos "mauzões" gostei.

Another really good spy thriller by Ken Follett (although IMHO not quite as good as Eye of the Needle). This time it's about a Nazi spy in Cairo in WWII. Mr. Follett does a great job creating believable characters in unexpected and intense positions. A very enjoyable read.

Codul Rebecca se înscrie cu succes în lista titlurilor care combină ficțiunea istorică și genul thriller care l-a făcut pe Ken Follett unul dintre cei mai de succes autori contemporani, vândut în peste 160 milioane de exemplare în toată lumea.

Un om și o cămilă în deșertul fără sfârșit, proviziile lor fiind pe sfârșite este imaginea cu care intrăm în carte. Scenele de debut din Codul Rebecca mi-au adus aminte de Tuareg de Alberto Vazquez Figueroa, regăsind ca și acolo imaginea triburilor nomade de beduini, cu stilul lor de viață și orânduirea socială specifică.
https://goodbooks.ro/codul-rebecca-ke...

'The Key to Rebecca' is another unyielding, page-turner thriller set in the backdrop of WW2, involving the Axis-Allied struggle to control Egypt. Much like 'Eye of the Needle', Follet brilliantly creates a narrative surrounding 'real life' historical events and characters that are absolutely brilliant! The story revolves around a 'love triangle' between 'Wolff', a German spy and his lover, a famous 'Egyptian belly dancer'. Wolff has no boundaries in trying to capture 'British' secrets to aid the Germans in capturing Egypt. Opposing Wolff is captain 'Vadam', a British secretive agent who uses his entire unit to apprehend the German spy.

Follet uses an intricate machination to form a story that is densely filled with suspense, crazy 'chase' scenes and a a love triangle! There's tons of sex scenes, including a 'threesome' that believe it or not complements to the development of the story! Again, his 'sex scenes' are not done in ill taste nor are they gratuitous...he simply tells stories that are realistic involving human emotions, including sex.

Follet strikes a big thumbs up with 'Key to Rebecca', and those familiar with his writing will see shear brilliance in the setting of an intense WW2 spy thriller!

4 1/2 Stars

8/10 en 2009.

Tenía cuatro estrellas pero le subo a 5 porque el recuerdo de este libro en mi cabeza es maravilloso, así que reniego de esa puntuación que veis arriba de "8".

Si os gustan las novelas de espías y más concretamente de la II Guerra Mundial, este libro es obligado. O-B-L-I-G-A-D-O. Por lo bueno que es y porque es un clásico de la mano de un autor clásico.

La historia en este caso se desarrolla en África, en Egipto. No en la Europa en Guerra, sino en el desierto en guerra. Buah!, que no sigo. Que lo leáis, coño.

If they liked it once, they'll love it twice. That's the wise rationale behind Follett's new WW II thriller, which recycles the same basic scenario--now in 1942 Cairo instead of 1944 England--that made Eye of the Needle such a winner. Again the central figure is a Nazi spy with secrets that could change history.

Like many of Follett’s books, The Key to Rebecca is rich with captivating historical detail that only adds to the flavor of the book and leaves readers with a better understanding about what World War II was like in the heat of North Africa. The book is also populated with a colorful cast of characters that are simultaneously authentic, arresting, and majorly flawed. Readers are sure to find themselves both fascinated and repelled by enigmatic characters like Sonja, a famous belly dancer with unusual appetites; and Abdullah, a gleefully irreverent and unreliable thief.

The book is filled with so many thrills, it is oddly reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies and those dime store adventure novels from the 1950s, at least in the way that it is fun to read and swarming with twists and turns aplenty. If you like to learn something while you are entertained, then you won’t want to miss Follett’s classic spy thriller tour de force, The Key to Rebecca. It will have you burning the midnight oil as you stay up late turning pages into the wee hours of the morning until you find out just who wins this epic showdown.

Ken Follet delivers another page turner. Excellent thriller, highly recommended. The story is set is in WWII Egypt with a cast of intriguing characters true to their time. The villain is particularly well drawn in that he embodies the arrogance of the nazi, the feeling that morality is passe and the strong will take what they will. Follet makes a case for true strength belonging to those with compassion and who are fighting for freedom rather than glory and debauchery. This is the essence of WWII to me. In this novel the theme motivates the characters without having to be stated.

An interesting story, makes me want to go look and see if I can find out the true story of why Rommel didn't take Cairo.

Wederom een spannend verhaal. Leuk om eens iets meer te horen over de 2e wereldoorlog in Afrika wat meteen ook een heel andere omgeving oplevert. Erg mooi beschrijvend en spannend tot het eind. Grappig te merken dat je in het begin meeleeft met de vijand maar waarbij je op het eind ineens een plottwist krijgt waardoor je weer gevoel krijgt voor "The Good Guys".

This was my first Ken Follett book and I had high expectations from him. It was a good book. Not too captivating as to stay with me nor too boring to make me stop reading it halfway.

The book really caught on fire in the last 100 pages or so. Before that, it was touch and go for me. It was very difficult to read at times because Follett went pretty heavy-handed (not to mention graphic ) on the sex scenes. Definitely, do not recommend to children.

The end of the book had me racing alongside to catch the villain. The ending was extremely satisfying and the writing captured the richness and history behind WWII in Egypt.

There were some aspects of the book I didn’t like, like the way the two major female characters were portrayed. They were treated as objects to be manipulated and used throughout the book. Poor Sonja. Felt really bad for her at the end That almost made me put the book down, but the plot and writing managed to salvage the book, a little.

All in all, this book is a moderately entertaining thriller meant for a one time read, or even less.

From the dust jacket blurb I would not have read this book. It was only because I was reading a post from Janet Reid, aka the rambunctious Query Shark, that I was exposed to his writing and dived in. The opening passage is gripping. It's as simple as a man needing to survive his last few miles in the desert, having walked all the way from Libya into Egypt. How was he going to survive those last few miles? Was he going to knife his last camel and drink the animal's blood, or slide into delirium and die?

Follet's prose is crisp and clear-sighted and never gets in the way of his huge skill as a story teller. I loved this adventurous romp, and better still, it was set in Egypt, where I used to live, tapping into a wellspring of fond memories from a time in my twenties when I was teaching English as a foreign language. The Egyptian intersection with Hitler's campaign is fascinating.

Highly recommended.