Hornet Flight - Ken Follertt

 A story loosely based on fact, Hornet Flight is mainly set in Denmark.   Young Harald Olufsen is coming of age in a country bloodlessly annexed by the Nazis.   Most citizens accept the situation; some, of course, welcome it.   Teenagers like Harald get by with harmless jokes and pranks.

There is a fledgling resistance, run by MI6 through Hermia Mount, who lived in Denmark before the war and who is engaged to Harald's older brother, a flight instructor.  On the island where Harald lives the Nazis have built a secret base - indeed, Harald worked on it during his previous summer holiday.  Local workers were cleared away before the final installation took place, but Harald sometimes sneaks by on the shortcut home.

In Britain, Bomber Command is taking a hammering.   If they keep getting shot down at the present rate, they won't be able to help their new Russian allies by bombing Nazi targets in western Europe.   The British are about to deploy radar.  They wonder if the Nazis have developed something similar.  Is that, in fact, what the base on the island is doing?

With the a massive raid planned and only days away, Hermia is smuggled back to Denmark to contact her agents.   She reunites with Arne Olufsen and asks him to visit his home and look into the base there.  In doing so, he confides in Harald.   Another islander, Peter Flemming, is a police detective in Copenhagen, with an invalid wife, ambition, and a significant dislike of his former friend Arne.   If it furthers his ambition, Peter is perfectly happy to work with the Nazis.   The potential involvement of his rival is a bonus.

Harald, meanwhile, is expelled from school (thanks to Peter Flemming) and working oddjobs on a farm on the estate of his rich Jewish schoolfriend.   Harald finds an aged plane hidden in a barn - the Hornet of the title - and sets about repairing it.   Harald can fly a little, but his schoolfriend's sister, ballerina Karen Duchwitz, is fully trained.   Together, they plan to fly photos of the radio installation across to Britain.

Follett is as good as anyone at racking up the tension.   The flight itself is spellbinding.  Some of the secondary action, however, is poor.   There are a couple of unexpected deaths - I won't spoil the book for others by saying who dies - but the last one is poorly done, almost as if Follett has lost interest.  There is far too much coincidence at play and the book is far too long.   Length is always a problem and pointing to dispensible passages with an author as skilled as Follett is almost impossible.   I was never bored, yet I felt things were just moving too slowly.

The characters were fine,.   Follett, as he often does, has young adults as his leads.   This too is fine but these two, Harald and Karen, are too pre-skilled to be absolutely credible.   Arne is an excellent secondary protagonist.   Peter starts off convincingly conflicted but we - and, I fear, Follett - lose interest as his emnity to the Olufsen brothers mounts.   Hermia (sorry) is dull as dishwater.

Not classic Follett then, but still well worth reading.   I'm keen on trying his Century Trilogy.