Sands of Sakkara
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| Sands of Sakkara | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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To save the Western Allies, he must kill the woman he loves...
November 1943: Adolf Hitler sanctioned his most audacious mission ever--to kill US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill as they visit Cairo for a secret conference to plan the Allied invasion of Europe, an invasion which threatens imminent defeat for Germany. This really happened and is the basis for Glenn Meade's spectacular new novel. Only one man is capable of leading the defiant Nazi mission--Major Johann Halder, one of the Abwehr's most brilliant, daring agents, a man with a tortured soul and a talent for the impossible. Accompanied by an expert undercover team, and a young and beautiful Egyptologist, Rachael Stern, Halder must race against time across a hostile desert, to reach Cairo and successfully carry out the assignment, or forfeit his own life and that of his young son. When US military intelligence learns of the plan, they assign one of their best officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Weaver, to hunt down and eliminate Halder and his team. But for Weaver, as for Johann Halder and Rachael Stern, there's more than just the balance of war and the lives of the Allied leaders at stake--a pact of love and friendship is about to be tested in a frantic, high-stakes chase to the death. Glenn Meade's long-awaited new novel Sands of Sakkara is a breathless, suspenseful thriller with one of the most remarkable chases in recent memory. It is a heart-wrenching tale of friendship, love and treachery set against the exotic and intriguing backdrop of wartime Egypt. |
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Glenn Meade's latest historical thriller begins in 1939, at the archaeological site of Sakkara near Cairo. Best friends Jack Halder (a wealthy German American playboy), and Harry Weaver (who grew up in the servants quarters of Jack's house), get together for high jinks, digging, and discovery. Both men fall in love with the same woman--Rachel Stern, a beautiful archaeologist. They shovel, talk, argue about who loves whom more, while Hitler invades Poland.
Four years later, World War II is at its height. Jack has become a German spy and Rachel is in a concentration camp. Both are pulled from their respective situations, and are sent by the Nazis to Cairo. Their mission is to help set the stage for a commando raid that will kill Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt. And guess who the Allies choose to destroy these dastardly plans? Army Intelligence's own Lieutenant Colonel Harry Weaver, of course. As in the author's previous World War II blockbusters, Brandenburg and Snow Wolf, former journalist Meade knows how to blend his copious historical research into an intriguing fictional frame. Even though we know that Churchill and FDR survived Cairo, Meade makes it easy for us to suspend our doubts and go along for the enjoyable (if slightly derivative) ride. --Dick Adler |
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| 07-17-08 | 4 | 1\1 |
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Sands of Sakkara is set in 1943. The war is starting to go bad for the Nazis, so they decide to launch an audacious plot to murder U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, as he meets British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a conference, in Cairo. They hope this assasination will turn the tide of war back in their favour.
Enter the books main characters, Harry Weaver, Jack Halder, and Rachel Stern. Three people from different backgrounds, who became close friends, during an archelogical dig, in Egypt, back in 1939. However, the fortunes of war sees them on opposing sides, and their friendships tested to the limit. I found this book an enjoyable read, with a relentless pace, particularly towards the end. Character development is good, and I really felt for two of the protaganists, in particular, and the desperate situation that they had been forced into, by the Nazis. The only drawback to the book, I felt, was that there was an element of 'Keystone Cops' at times, when the authorities were trying to chase down the spies. Overall, though a good read. (Review Data Last Updated: 2008-11-24 10:53:17 EST)
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| 05-18-06 | 3 | (NA) |
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In the same line of "The Day of the Jackal" Meade offers an entertaining WWII thriller. The story is a little farfetched, another conspiracy to assassinate one world leader and change the course of the war. Nobody has done that better than the original Frederick Forsight. But the recreation of Africa on the verge of War is still first rate.
If you are not very demanding and forgive some plot holes this will make a very nice reading and you will enjoy the adventure, heroism and romance (Review Data Last Updated: 2007-09-07 11:25:22 EST)
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| 05-18-06 | 3 | (NA) |
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In the same line of "The Day of the Jackal" Meade offers an entertaining WWII thriller. The story is a little farfetched, another conspiracy to assassinate one world leader and change the course of the war. Nobody has done that better than the original Frederick Forsight. But the recreation of Africa on the verge of War is still first rate.
If you are not very demanding and forgive some plot holes this will make a very nice reading and you will enjoy the adventure, heroism and romance (Review Data Last Updated: 2008-07-18 22:37:02 EST)
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| 05-17-06 | 3 | (NA) |
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In the same line of "The Day of the Jackal" Meade offers an entertaining WWII thriller. The story is a little farfetched, another conspiracy to assassinate one world leader and change the course of the war. Nobody has done that better than the original Frederick Forsight. But the recreation of Africa on the verge of War is still first rate.
If you are not very demanding and forgive some plot holes this will make a very nice reading and you will enjoy the adventure, heroism and romance (Review Data Last Updated: 2007-04-06 12:58:45 EST)
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| 09-30-05 | 4 | 2\3 |
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This is a wonderful World War II story. It is unique in that it details the attempted assassination of Roosevelt and Churchill by the Germans, during their Cairo Conference in Egypt. There are three key characters in the book, Jack, Rachael and Harry, who were friends, and at times lovers, before the outbreak of the war. Each is extremely well developed, as are the convoluted and at times desperate relationships between the three of them. The story essentially deals with a contest between Jack, who has been dispatched to Cairo by the SS with the task of carrying out the assassinations, and Jack, who has been assigned (by US military intelligence) the task of preventing the assassinations from happening. This novel is a wonderful combination of suspense and adventure, set in wartime Berlin and Cairo, and I believe that Meade has done an excellent job of describing the atmosphere of those two locations during World War II. The novel is classical Glenn Meade and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-05 11:06:46 EST)
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| 07-12-05 | 1 | 2\3 |
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I'm a fan of this genre and was looking forward to my first book by this author. Very disappointed. The idea of a plot against FDR and WC is fine (though we know outcome ahead of time) but the writing sinks the book. The coincidences relied upon to keep the plot moving are rediculous (coincidences usually play a role in spy thrillers but here seem to be used simply out of laziness or lack of imagination). The dialogue is wooden beyond belief as if taken from Hollywood B movies of the 1940s. If the book was "extensively researched" (see Amazon review) it doesn't show. The period touches amount to the simple mentioning of makes of old cars, military planes and weapons. For far superior WWII espionage fiction read Alan Furst.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-05 11:06:46 EST)
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| 03-02-05 | 5 | 0\1 |
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Glenn Meade is one of the best writer's out there and one the most under-rated. The plot in this another one of his winners is the planned assassination of Roosevelt and Churchill during their secret meeting in Egypt in WWII. The story about friendship, betrayal and spies is expertly written by Meade, who carries it from the beginning to the end.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-05 11:06:46 EST)
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| 01-26-05 | 3 | (NA) |
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If your looking for something lite to read, something without hidden meaning, to take you to the exotic local of Cairo, Egypt, then this is the book for that. The action was minimal, but enough to keep me interested, conflict between love, duty, and friendship plays a role in the 3 main charactors. Nothing stellar about the book, it was just OK. Lacked the drama and conspiritorial shine and polish of Christopher Hyde's WWII thrillers.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-05 11:06:46 EST)
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