Hornet Flight - Ken Follett

"Hornet Flight” could be said to be Follett’s more complex narrative about a Second World War espionage due to the fact that here in more than trained agents and spies, the common characters and civilian protagonists play the torch bearers.  This one is among the recent ones, 2002 published, which fall into the bracket of his forte, i.e. Second World War espionage.

There is no denying the fact that time and again, Follett has rediscovered and innovated new stories having a same basic theme. But what makes them compelling each time are the new plot angles, technical research and the characters. The same could be also be concluded for this entertaining narrative.

What also interests is the fact that the book starts with a caption, “Some of what follows really happened”. The basic plot line deals with two Brothers, “Herald and Arne”, one of whom gets himself accidently introduced to the British intelligence through a common contact, at the same time Denmark is under German occupation and one of the two Brothers has an information which needs to be passed on to the British which would eventually change the course of the war for Britain in Denmark. Their only resource is an old Hornet Moth biplane.

This narrative of Follett is surely more fresh and energetic than many of his others on the same theme. The freshly written characters and the thrilling concept of the biplane travel to reach Britain proves thoroughly exciting. Though Follett had to do quite a research to get out many in- depth details about the entire actual event to which he has added his fictional extravaganza. The book is divided into four parts basically concerning the introduction of the main characters and plot theme, the twist that occurs, the plan and the execution and of course, the Epilogue, which has some surprises.

Some of the descriptions of the then Denmark and some of the chase sequences have been very well detailed out. It gives us a glimpse of life in those years. Also both the romantic relations of Arne and Hermia and Herald and Karen have very opposing situations in which the relationship blossoms and continues. The negative character portrayal of “Peter Fleming” could be said to be shrewd and cruel and it would take you back to some of the antagonist characters written by Jeffrey Archer.

The Climax and the events leading to the climax could be said to be an enhancement of a Hollywood film, but it surely couldn’t be said to be impossible. But yes, creative liberties are allowed to certain extent in fiction. The finale in the flight when they crossover makes for a good read but it could have been more technical and detailed rather than being heroic.

“Hornet Flight” as a book gives you good insight into a time in Denmark when it was occupied by German forces, the various social implications on the daily life, the impact underground  freedom movements had on the political scenario and how War impacts life.