Jackdaws

Name: Jackdaws
ISBN: 9787559410788

Ken FollettJiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House2017

4.1

Word count: 246K words
Chapters: 13
Series: Ken Follett Suspense Classics
ISBN: 9787559410788

Report an error Find this book

Summary

In May 1944, on the eve of D-Day, the Allies need a decisive act of sabotage: the destruction of the German telephone communications hub in France, to sever the German command network. British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent Flick Clairet barely survives a mission in Paris that wipes out almost her entire team, leaving her the sole survivor to escape back to London. With only days remaining, she must assemble a new squad. The list her superiors give her consists of "unrespectable" women: an impoverished aristocrat, a starry-eyed young girl, a hot-tempered Gypsy woman with a murder on her conscience, a safecracker, and a cross-dressing radio enthusiast. Hastily trained under the code name "Jackdaws," they parachute into the French countryside with orders to infiltrate a heavily guarded communications station and blow it up. Meanwhile, German intelligence officer Dieter Franck is ruthlessly interrogating his way toward the British female agents, and a net quietly closes. The story unfolds day by day, from May 28 to June 6, alternating between the agent squad and the German counterintelligence men.

Editor's review

肯·福莱特的书向来以“一不小心读到通宵”著称，这本《寒鸦行动》是他二战题材中最紧凑的一部。全书用“倒计时”结构写就：从5月28日到6月6日，每一天都标着日期推进，登陆日的钟声越近，读者就越难放下。它的好看不在于悬念有多复杂，而在于人物——一群被主流社会嫌弃的女人，被临时凑成一支敢死队，各有缺点，也各有绝活，在极端处境里慢慢长成英雄。福莱特习惯把真实历史框架与虚构人物缝合在一起，书稿出版前还专门请历史学者审读，所以细节上几乎没有硬伤。对读过《巨人的陨落》《针眼》的读者来说，这本可以作为进入他“悬疑经典”系列的轻快入口。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢二战题材、谍战与破坏行动的读者
偏爱多视角叙事和紧张节奏的悬疑小说爱好者
想读女性群像、被低估者逆袭故事的读者
读过《巨人的陨落》《针眼》，想补充肯·福莱特早期作品的读者

Not a good fit for

对战争暴力、审讯描写较敏感的读者
期待纯文学笔法和深度心理探究的读者
只想读真实历史纪实、不接受虚构情节的读者

Reading tips

留意章节前的日期，把它当作行动倒计时来读，节奏感更强
可先读一读书前题词与致谢，了解作者向二战女特工致敬的写作动机
对历史背景感兴趣的话，可顺手了解英国特别行动处（SOE）的战时档案

About the publisher

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on literary publishing while also covering the humanities, social sciences, and books on art and daily life. Its approximately 1,535 titles in the database span social novels, world history, design, science fiction, classic works, and film and television: they include modern Chinese literary classics by Lu Xun such as A Madman's Diary: The Complete Short Stories of Lu Xun, Call to Arms, Four Generations Under One Roof, and Teahouse, as well as foreign literary memoirs like Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. In science fiction it offers Asimov's Galactic Empire series, while in architecture and art it publishes Liu Dunzhen's Classical Gardens of Suzhou and design titles from Phoenix Space. Its authors are concentrated among classic writers such as Lu Xun, Zweig, and Asimov, with translators including Liang Xijiang, Zhong Haonan, and Ye Lihua. Its overall character is built on classic works while embracing genre fiction and visual culture. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based on the titles in the database.

Copyright Information
Day One: Sunday, May 28, 1944
Day Two: Monday, May 29, 1944
Day Three: Tuesday, May 30, 1944
Day Four: Wednesday, May 31, 1944
Day Five: Thursday, June 1, 1944
Day Six: Friday, June 2, 1944
Day Seven: Saturday, June 3, 1944
Day Eight: Sunday, June 4, 1944
Day Nine: Monday, June 5, 1944
The Last Day: Tuesday, June 6, 1944
One Year Later: Wednesday, June 6, 1945
Acknowledgments

FAQ

这本书是真实的二战历史还是虚构小说？

是一部以真实历史为背景的虚构小说。英国特别行动处、诺曼底登陆前的破坏行动等框架有史实依据，弗立克、“寒鸦”小队成员和德军情报官迪特尔·弗兰克等人物与具体情节则是作者虚构的。

没读过肯·福莱特其他书，能直接读这本吗？

完全可以直接读。这本书是独立故事，不依赖其他作品的前情，属于他“悬疑经典”系列中的一部，单独阅读没有障碍。

这本书大概多少字，读完要多久？

中文版约24.6万字，全书474页左右。按普通阅读速度大约8至12小时，多数读者会分两三个晚上读完。

和《针眼》《大黄蜂奇航》比有什么不同？

几本都属二战背景的悬疑小说，但《寒鸦行动》的核心是女性特工群像和一次限期破坏行动，采用逐日推进的多视角叙事，团队感和倒计时压力比《针眼》更突出。

有2013年的版本，该买哪一版？

2013年江苏文艺出版社版（ISBN 9787539961002）和2017年江苏凤凰文艺出版社版（ISBN 9787559410788）为同一译者于大卫的译本，内容一致，可按价格和装帧选择。

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Ken Follett Author · British (Welsh) · 1949

Ken Follett was born in 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, and graduated in philosophy from University College London. He worked early on as a journalist and a publishing editor. He rose to fame with Eye of the Needle in 1978 and later turned to historical fiction; the 1989 publication of The Pillars of the Earth established him as a master of the genre. His works are often set against major historical periods, whether medieval or modern, weaving real historical threads with the fates of fictional characters. His plots are tight and his storytelling fluent, combining readability with historical weight. His major works include the Pillars of the Earth trilogy, the Century trilogy and The Times of Change, and his books are commonly classified as foreign literature, world history and social fiction.