Helpful Score: 3
A truly thrilling story by a master...builds with such intensity that your heart races with pounding anticipation and sticks in your throat as the climatic monents near.
thriller
thriller
Helpful Score: 2
I love Ken Follett and I loved this book. It's actually the second time I've read it, but the first time was when it first came out in 1982, so of course, I remembered nothing of it. It helps with his books if you know your history. I certainly know a lot more history now than I did when I was a kid, so really had a new appreciation for the book. His books are just the perfect blend of suspense, some mystery and lots of characterization and relational situations. I have a better time keeping up with this style of writing than I do with say, a Robert Ludlum, where it gets really complicated and intricate and there is hardly anything "human" about things. Anyway, I highly recommend this book as one of his better.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a good mix of historical fiction and thriller set in the months leading up to World War I. Though the characters at times seemed two-dimensional, the relationships and events made them come alive now and again.
Helpful Score: 1
Definitely not one of my favorites. Follett can usually keep me up late at night turning pages to see what happens next. The Man from St. Petersburg just didn't have that suspense factor for me. It was very heavy on social commentary and lacking on action. It would be a good book for a look into pre-WW I England for someone interested though.