Triple: A Novel

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars | 16,797 ratings

Price: 17.72

Last update: 02-24-2025


About this item

A New York Times best-selling novel of international suspense and terror from the author of The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, A Column of Fire, and The Evening and the Morning

As Egypt comes closer and closer to developing a nuclear bomb, the Mossad’s number one Israeli agent is given an impossible mission: to beat the Arabs in the nuclear arms race by finding and stealing two hundred tons of uranium. The world’s balance of power will shift. And the Mossad, the KGB, the Egyptians, and Fedayeen terrorists will play out the final, violent moves in this devastating game where the price of failure is a nuclear holocaust....


Top reviews from the United States

  • Ppinnington@Doncaster Ppinnington@comcast
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read. A spy story sbout the fight for the Atom bomb
    Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2024
    Another great story by Ken Folet. The plot is fast moving and relevant. The characters are well defined and story has a subplot of a beautiful romance. Read this book in 2 days.
  • Daune Robinson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing story - but a bit of a contrived ending
    Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2013
    I enjoyed this book in many ways, although it tended to be a bit wordy. But, with a bit of fastforwarding it was exciting and had more than a few twists and turns. Mr. Follett manages to bring the complexity of the Middle East, and the dangers of trying to maneuver through its political and theological landscape, to the written pages of this novel. Interestingly he is able to make a ruthless assassin somewhat likable, and illuminates a world where people matter far less than politics, revenge and hate.

    The main focus of the book is a race to nuclear weapons between Israel and islamists in Egypt. With a creative Mossad agent, some luck, assistance from friends, and old debts called in, the Israeli's are well on their way to hijacking a shipment of nuclear fuel. A chance encounter blows the cover of the Mossad agent, and the story becomes a race of time and trial of wits. A twist is thrown in here which I won't disclose, but it adds intrigue and intensity to the story. It also explains the title, which puzzled me until that point.

    The story is told from the perspective of the Israelis, but it is not without balance, and it clearly shows the politics and background of many of the issues we faced then, and now, in that volatile part of the world. The only real weakness of the book was the final showdown which was somewhat improbable, but the rest of the book was full of intrigue, suspense, cleverness and plain good storytelling and it easily overcame the one small weakness of the end.
  • Anne Brown, speck in the universe
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book
    Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2024
    What a wonderful book!!! I could hardly put it down! The writing is so great, and the characters so powerful! I love Follett!
  • Allen Duhe
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not One Of Follett’s Best
    Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2023
    As a major Ken Follett fan, for me to say this one was disappointing is an understatement. First, it was at least 1/3 longer than necessary.

    Not the least of the disappointments was that it couldn’t decide whether or not it was a spy thriller or a Hallmark movie - with a plot almost as predictable as a Hallmark movie. In the novel, the Arabs are trying to build a nuclear bomb. Israel hears of it and plots to steal enough plutonium to build one of their own as a bargaining child.

    Throw in an Arab-ancestry girl whose university professor father’s idealism causes him to treat his daughter as a household possession and servant, and stir in the fact that the daughter falls almost instantly in love with an Israeli intelligence officer plotting to steal the plutonium, mix in one too many coincidences of former students at the university together who all wind up being agents for their own countries, and you have a rather predictable, rather dull spy “thriller.”. He’s written far better, far more enjoyable books. It was a moderately good read, but certainly not the thriller I was expecting.
  • Richard Benedict
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Difficult
    Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2023
    This book was an absolute nail biter. I loved that there was a love story, And that the love story had a happy ending. There were many agents , agency,, countries, and parties within countries, It was difficult to keep track of all the characters unless one took notes which I recommend. who are engaged in this spy versus spy versus spy thriller. It was difficult to keep track of all the characters unless 1 took notes which I recommend.
  • Ralph White
    5.0 out of 5 stars Racing Alongside the Action
    Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2009
    Ken Follett is a remarkably good storyteller. What sets his books apart is the plot layering with its multiple sources of tension, all converging to a crescendo in the last pages. The characters are fairly credible and the scenes are portrayed well. But where Follett is in a class of his own is in the craft of the thriller. Every page is dedicated to creating or maintaining excitement. The author clearly did his homework on the technical aspects of the tracking of radioactive materials, and he put a great deal of time into learning every nook and cranny of freighters, in order to depict the action concluding the book.

    Here we have Russian agents, Egyptian double agents, Palestinian agents, and a dashing Israeli agent, sometimes working together and at other times slitting one another's throats. And is the Oxford don's beautiful daughter really in love with the Israeli agent, or is she the most duplicitous one of the lot? These may be the fastest four hundred pages of your life, as you race alongside the protagonists, now morphing into antagonists, then back again.

    This book is a lesson plan in plot layering and recommended for fans of complexity and for those who would like to learn the craft from a master.
  • Bonnie J. Clark
    5.0 out of 5 stars And it all was based on true events....
    Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2020
    I continue to thoroughly enjoy reading Ken Follett’s stories. He add realism and fiction to the mix, and come up with the perfect “Extra Martini”....I believe I previously read this one way back in the early 1980’s but it still relevant to read today (2020).
    Nat Dickstein and his later to be wife Suza (who is the spitting image of her Mother), fall in love shortly after meeting in Oxford. But are soon separated as Dickstein is given an assignment to commander a shipment of Uranium to later by used to build booms for the Israeli army. If he succeeds, will he want to walk away from the army, or continue to remain a soldier.
    His life has changed dramatically with his meeting and falling in love with Suza, but he sees himself as duty bound and must complete his mission.
    This one plays Israel against Russia, and is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your chair (or wherever you find a comfortable place to sit.
  • kingjenks
    4.0 out of 5 stars interesting read
    Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2023
    I enjoyed the history behind the drama. Gillett books are always fast paced and exciting. Good read but not quite as good as other Follett books.

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