Book info

• Title Never
• Author Ken Follett
• Year 2021
• Genre Thriller

A stolen US army drone. A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert. A secret stash of deadly chemicals. Each is a threat to global stability. Each can be overcome with only the highest levels of diplomacy. But when those in charge disagree and refuse to back down, an international chain reaction kicks off with potentially catastrophic consequences: a world edging closer to war... Now three people must work with the utmost skill to stop that from happening: A spy working undercover with jihadis. A brilliant Chinese spymaster. A US president beleaguered by a populist rival for the next election. The only question is – in a game of brinksmanship, can the inevitable ever be stopped?

Thoughts

I probably shouldn’t have read this in the days leading up to the latest US election but oh well. It’s another really good Ken Follett sprawling novel, where you have a few disaparate threads that gradually come together to the big picture. In this case, it’s a stark view of how easy it would be for world war three, nuclear style, to come about. Terrifying, but eye-opening - how much comes down to the leaders not wanting to lose face in front of their own people and in front of other people. That the fate of the world could be in the hands of one or two people like that, it’s unnerving. A good, unsettling read.

Rating: 5 / 5