In the Afghan mountains lies the Valley of Five Lions, a place of ancient legend. To it come two young aid workers and an American who has a message for the legendary guerrilla leader, Masud, who is wanted dead or alive by the Russians. Below, in the valley, a woman stumbles upon a terrifying treachery, leading to a chase across impassable mountains and a confrontation that echoes all our nightmares.
Ken Follett’s view
I get a lot of letters about the love scene in this book. I suppose it is rather steamy. I worked for a year on a story, called Country Risk, that I never finished. It was about a group of Russians who take over a Western bank and attempt to manipulate a financial crisis. I did a lot of research and came up with a plot which my agent and my publishers liked.
As I began Chapter One, I started thinking about how people talk about Eye of the Needle and how they are on the edge of their seat, desperate to know what happens next. I realised nobody was ever going to feel that way about a what happens in a bank and I abandoned it. Instead, I came up with Lie Down with Lions, a story about two people escaping from Afghanistan over the Himalayas during the Afghan War. And as in Eye of the Needle, I put a woman at the centre of the story.
Editorial Reviews.
From Publishers Weekly
Follett's new thriller (after Eye of the Needle, The Key to Rebecca) involves cut-throat treachery and mixed-up romances. Jane and Ellis, Americans in Paris, are lovers, but she breaks with him when she learns he's a CIA agent, informing on terrorists. Ellis goes back to the U.S.; Jane marries Jean-Pierre Debout, a French physician, and goes with him to Afghanistan to care for rebel families holding out against the Russian army. Here is where the novel's real action, and its knife-edge tension, begin. After the birth of her baby, Jane discovers that Jean-Pierre is himself spying for the Russians and has caused a massacre of guerrilla fighters who were trapped at the foot of the mountains. Then Ellis reappears, bearing offers of American aid for Afghan leader Masud if the latter can unite his country's quarreling tribes. While Jean-Pierre is conspiring with the S oviet intruders to kill Masud, Ellis, Jane and even the infant girl, the story races to an explosive climax. 200,000 first printing; $200,000 ad/promo; BOMC main selection; author tour. Foreign rights: Writers House. January 31
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In his newest thriller, Follett updates the elements of his popular Eye of the Needle a spy fleeing desperately across a hostile landscape; a woman who must decide between her husband and her lover, opponents in a deadly struggleto contemporary Afghanistan. Jane Lambert discovers that her French doctor husband is really a KGB agent plotting to entrap a rebel leader. Ellis Thaler, spurned by Jane when she learned he was a CIA operative, arrives to conclude a treaty with that same leader. Soon Ellis, Jane, and her infant daughter are fleeing for their lives through treacherous mountain terrain, closely pursued by Russian patrols. As with Eye of the Needle , the implausibilities, the factual errors, and the sometimes trite writing do not slow the forward propulsion of the story. A page-turning escapist adventure that is sure to be a success.BOMC main selection. Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
A BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB SELECTION
“A deadly romantic triangle, a clandestine mission with global stakes, an exotic location, a plot as gripping and ingenious as Eye of the Needle…engineered to perfection with breathless acceleration…I couldn’t put it down.”—Los Angeles Times
“Vintage Follett…This is his most ambitious novel and it succeeds admirably…tense, vivid, exciting…balances physical action with internal drama…satisfies on deep levels.”—USA Today
“May be Ken Follett’s finest yet…The suspense mounts as swiftly as Afghan villagers running to escape Russian guns—and the pages will turn just as fast.”—Cosmopolitan
“An exciting and complex tale.”—Philadelphia Inquirer
“Masterful…plot and counterplot, treachery, cunning and killing…keep you on edge every moment.”—Associated Press
“Combines modern warfare, international espionage, and a love story while also, in typical Follett fashion, playing out the fate of his characters amid thrilling escapes and shattering revelations.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“A gripping thriller and love story…Follett builds the tension until it is as taut as a cable across the Khyber Pass…There is an incredible sex scene and desperate trek across ice-covered mountains…an exotic setting, a strong, courageous heroine, a strong, courageous hero, good guys, bad guys and a supporting cast of thousands…A roaring good read.”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Solid suspense fiction…romance, adventure, exotic settings with a healthy dash of intrigue…when it comes to reliable entertainment, few authors deliver as consistently as Follett.”—Pittsburgh Press
“Follett’s great strength is his female characters—they are smart, strong, independent, and when they love a man, by golly, he knows the game is up.”—People
“Harrowing escapes…larger-than-life characters performing larger-than-life deeds…it shouldn’t work but it does.”—Booklist
“Beautiful in conception and execution…full of adventure and love blended as only a master such as Follett can do…a most provocative tale.”—Ocala Star Banner
“Ken Follett scores again…an enthralling web of suspense…a well-crafted love story…unrelieved page-to-page tension…a wonderfully clean and simple writing style…holds constant interest.”—The Anniston Star
“Exciting…romance, adventure, intrigue…Ken Follett can hold his own with the best.”—Indianapolis News
“Lions roars…highly entertaining, quickly paced…skillfully crafted…and a nicely detailed quartet of characters that make the novel click.”—Los Angeles Herald Examiner
“Deftly-built tension…the thrills of a chase…well-developed characters and atmosphere…keep the action going and have the credibility of a true tale.”—The Orlando Sentinel
From the Inside Flap
The Bookcassette® format is a special recording technique developed as a means of condensing the full, unabridged audio text of a book to record it on fewer tapes. In order to listen to these tapes, you will need a cassette player with balance control to adjust left/right speaker output. Special adaptors to allow these tapes to be played on any cassette player are available through the publisher or some US retail electronics stores.
About the Author
Ken Follett is the author of numerous international bestsellers, including Jackdaws, Hornet Flight, Code to Zero, Triple, Eye of the Needle, Pillars of the Earth, and A Dangerous Fortune. He lives in England.
From AudioFile
Multiple performers enhance the action and suspense in this political thriller set amid the Soviet-Afghanistan conflict of the 1980s. American, French, Afghan, and Soviet characters are vividly portrayed, and the transitions between characters contribute to the buildup of tension as the plot moves from the streets of Paris to the mountains of Afghanistan. In addition to the adventure, there is a romantic subplot that is sensually performed. Each of the actors makes important contributions to the story, but the interactions between the characters of Ellis and Jane deserve the highest marks for portraying the brutality of the war and the powerless role of women in Afghan society. K.M.D. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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