I am so disappointed in Never, and it's because of the way it ended. So don't read any further if you don't want spoilers.
Follett is a great writer. We get to know all the different people and become attached to them. There are budding romances and political drama. Spy stories. One woman and her child is trying to escape from Chad to build a better life, but must put her life in the hands of some very untrustable men. The president of the United States, a woman, is formidable and smart.
A few small things happen - a United States drone (that was stolen) bombs some Chinese interests in Chad. There is a small but growing uprising in North Korea that is threatening their control over nuclear bombs. South Korea is nervous. Japan gets involved. Little things keep escalating in the name of "appropriate response" by the different governments. We get to know a member of what is China's equivalent of the CIA. The influence of the Chinese "old guard" is significant. But as a reader, you feel that one of these leaders is going to see reason. See where all this is heading if they don't stop escalating.
I couldn't wait to see how all the pieces come together. How was this woman from Chad and her soon-to-be lover, a US spy, going to influence the outcome? There is another romance of a CIA agent and her equivalent from France. They are deciding to give up their careers just so they can be together. So what is the great surprise that ties all these stories together?
But no. There is no tie-up. The story just ends with all these people in limbo when, after China bombs Hawaii, the United States president orders all the nuclear weapons we have to bomb China.
Are you kidding me???? What a waste of over 800 pages. Yes, it's realistic. Yes, it's well written. But not what I expected. Ughhhh.
eARC obtained from NetGalley
816 pages
Rating: 3/5
A bad ending is so disappointing! I haven't read a Follett novel in decades so thank you for reminding me about him.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I'd be upset after investing all that time. I've read several Follett books but none in the last 6 years!
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