Never

 

Never – by Ken Follett

For me, Ken Follett has sort of become the George Lucas of novel writing.  He’s written a few classics that stand above just about anything that has ever been written, but on close examination, a lot of his other works just ain’t that good.  Which sadly puts him in the category of “overrated”. This book is an example.  It did have potential.  Oh did it have potential. But Follett, as he’s been known to do, mucks up some great settings, ideas, and storytelling with elements of contriteness that makes one want to bang their head against the wall.

This is not a happy book. This is a downright depressing book. I don’t like to give spoilers in my reviews, but let’s just say that this modern-day World War III tale does not have a happy ending.  Why did Follett end this novel the way he did?  Is he trying to preach to the world? I didn’t feel that way, it just seemed like he was in a bad mood and decided to write about one of the gloomiest predicaments one can imagine.  Had the ending been different, I would have enjoyed this thing a tad better. A lot better actually.

The story: Like the first world war, an unfortunate chain of events that, sadly could happen, happens.  We find ourselves immersed in about four different subplots that will edge the world towards a global conflict. One in China, two in Africa, and one in the United States. The subplot that takes place in the United States is focused on the president (who else in a global war?) Eileen Green.  President Green’s character and situations are the second area of where Follett blows it.  She’s a very good commander in chief and my guess is most people would be happy with a person such as her in charge.  The problem is that in addition to focusing on Green’s presidential duties during a calamity, we read about her personal problems. I felt like I was reading about one of the Desperate Housewives of Orange County at times as opposed to the President of the United States.  Do we really need to read about her unpleasant relationship with her estranged teen-age daughter who is going through a rebellious stage? Or the fact that her husband blames his wife because she isn’t “spending enough time with her daughter”.  The leader of the free world??  We then have added to the mix a Vice President who’s having an affair with a 16-year-old, ridiculous partisan bickering, and President Green fantasizing about having sex with one of her cabinet members. Follett is known for being a feminist author, but I felt the portrayal of this woman president highly degrading, and I don’t think that if the character was a man, that the author would have treated this character the same way.

There are other elements of this behavior in some of our other subplots. In the country of Chad in Africa where other misgivings occur, we meet a capable 30-something CIA agent named Tamera who could probably carry an entire novel by herself. She’s damn good, but we really could do without having to endure reading about her romantic crush, who is one of her counterparts from another country. Sorry, but we don’t need to read two pages of Tamara picking out an outfit for a date.  This is supposed to be a serious novel about a world war for criminy sakes.  Follett could have taken a lesson or two from someone like a Tom Clancy.

I can handle all of the ridiculous romantic trivialities as these have almost become a given with Follett novels. What I can’t handle is books the end up being this futile and depressing. Maybe I’m getting too old, but life is too short (did you catch the irony?) to waste on reading such books.  I really wish I could have had a hand in editing this book. I could have made a few changes and made it much better.  In fact, just about anybody could have made this book better.  Sorry Mr. Follett, but you’re now in my “overrated” club.