The Sands of Sakkara [Paperback]

Glenn Meade (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 1999

A heart-stopping thriller set in the darkest days of WWII. Johann Halder, an Abwehr agent with immense talent and a tortured soul, races across the desert to assassinate Roosevelt and Churchill on the orders of Hitler. If he fails, he will forfeit not only his life, but that of his son. If he succeeds, Europe is finished ...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Glenn Meade's latest historical thriller begins in 1939, at the archaeological site of Sakkara near Cairo. Best friends Jack Halder (a wealthy German American playboy), and Harry Weaver (who grew up in the servants quarters of Jack's house), get together for high jinks, digging, and discovery. Both men fall in love with the same woman--Rachel Stern, a beautiful archaeologist. They shovel, talk, argue about who loves whom more, while Hitler invades Poland.

Four years later, World War II is at its height. Jack has become a German spy and Rachel is in a concentration camp. Both are pulled from their respective situations, and are sent by the Nazis to Cairo. Their mission is to help set the stage for a commando raid that will kill Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt. And guess who the Allies choose to destroy these dastardly plans? Army Intelligence's own Lieutenant Colonel Harry Weaver, of course.

As in the author's previous World War II blockbusters, Brandenburg and Snow Wolf, former journalist Meade knows how to blend his copious historical research into an intriguing fictional frame. Even though we know that Churchill and FDR survived Cairo, Meade makes it easy for us to suspend our doubts and go along for the enjoyable (if slightly derivative) ride. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

"Fate's a funny thing, Colonel," muses newshound Frank Carney to an aging war heroAa motto that could serve as an epigraph to this leisurely, Casablancan thriller about a Nazi plot to assassinate FDR and Winston Churchill in Cairo. In the summer of 1939, Jack Halder (son of "a beautiful New York socialite mother and a wealthy Prussian father with a renowned passion for ancient Egypt") and his best friend, Harry Weaver (who grew up as the child of caretakers on Mrs. Halder's estate), meet at Sakkara, an exciting archeological dig just south of Cairo. Among Sakkara's charms is the half-Jewish German archeologist Rachel Stern. The love triangle's potential divisiveness is sidetracked by the announcement that Germany has invaded Poland. The threesome reunites in the fall of 1943, when a Nazi general sends Halder, who, though American-born, is a German citizen and secret agent, two SS officers and Rachel (as insurance) to pave the way for a commando raid that will kill the Allied leaders. Headstrong, na?ve American intelligence officer Lt.-Col. Harry Weaver is dispatched to thwart their plans. Despite an overwhelmingly detailed narrative rife with spies, kidnappings, black marketers and aerial dogfights, there's little suspense in either the love story or the assassination attempt. Weaver and Halder always choose friendship over duty, and while their shared passion for Rachel may blind them, it never drives a wedge between them. The neatly turned final twistAspecialty of the bestselling Meade (Brandenburg)Aresolves the romantic competition over Rachel for good, though the flash-forward of the last pages reopens the question of the epic friendship between Jack and Harry. The conclusion of the political risk the thriller imagines is, of course, foregone with Roosevelt's death in 1945. For all this, the Nazi-heavy plot and its Hollywood-exotic Egyptian backdrop capture the softest part of the imagination, rendering the story absorbing if not challenging.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 646 pages
• Publisher: Coronet (September 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340657464
• ISBN-13: 978-0340657461
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #867,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining fiction., February 20, 2002

By 

Lee F. Bonaldi (Warwick, RI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sands of Sakkara (Mass Market Paperback)

Overall I enjoyed this book. Yes, much of the book was unbelievable, and how Jack Halder and Rachel Stern continued to elude capture throughout the book was a bit overdone. I overlooked these factors, however, and just tried to enjoy the storyline and the thrilling conclusion. The characters, both heroes and villians, were very interesting and the setting was exotic. If you are looking for history, forget it. However if you enjoy espionage thrillers, particularly those set in WWII, this may be for you. A bit of advice, don't overanalyze. Just relax, the story will take you along and give you an enjoyable and thrilling ride.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A SUPERB WORLD WAR II THRILLER!!!, March 12, 2001

By 

Wayne C. Rogers (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sands of Sakkara (Mass Market Paperback)

It's the fall of 1943. Allied bombing is slowly destroying the city of Berlin, and the Third Reich is drawing to an end. In desperation, SS General Walter Schellenberg comes up with a brilliant plan to assassinate the United States president when both Roosevelt and Churchill attend the conference in Cairo to discuss the invasion plans for Europe. With the approval of Hitler, the plan is to have Jack Halder (a man of German/American descent and the Abwehr's best field agent) infiltrate Cairo and prepare the way for a crack team of German SS paratroops to fly in and carry out the assassination. Jack has to find out exactly where Roosevelt is staying and then figure out how to get around the security measures to kill him. He'll have the help of Rachel Stern, a woman he once loved and who has been in a concentration camp for the past four years. Both Jack and Rachel lived in Cairo during the late Thirties and know the city like the back of their hand. They have also been told that if they don't succeed in this vital mission, members of their families will be killed as punishment. There's no turning back for the two of them. In Cairo, Harry Weaver, an officer in U.S. military intelligence, gets wind of the plot to assassinate the American president and is determined to stop it at all cost. What Harry doesn't realize is that he may have to kill the man who was once his best friend and the woman who stole his heart in order to prevent the assassination. Harry, Jack and Rachel have no way of knowing the strange path that destiny has chosen for them to follow, nor how they will react when the moment of truth arrives. THE SANDS OF SAKKARA by Glenn Meade is a crisp, cat-and-mouth thriller that brings back fond memories of the early novels of Alistair MacLean and Jack Higgins. Though the final outcome of the novel might be predictable to some readers, the actual fun is the journey of getting there. Both Jack and Harry are honorable and brave men who must overcome insurmountable odds to accomplish their missions, not to mention having to eventually choose between duty and friendship. The two men are also still in love with Rachel Stern and will do whatever it takes to keep her from harm's way. I found myself really liking the characters of Harry Weaver and Jack Halder, and was surprisingly moved by the ending of the book. I also enjoyed the play of historical facts with fiction and how Mr. Meade was able to weave them together into a suspenseful novel, while at the same time perfectly capturing the atmosphere of both wartime Cairo and Berlin. All in all, THE SANDS OF SAKKARA is an excellent weekend read that's filled with adventure, heroism, treachery, and romance.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Nazi Plot to Kill Roosevelt in Cairo!, January 1, 2001

By 

Cody Carlson (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sands of Sakkara (Mass Market Paperback)

Glenn Meade's novel 'The Sands of Sakkara' is a well thought out page turner that fans of World War Two spy fiction will love. The story revolves around two friends, Harry Weaver and Jack Halder, who find themselves on opposite sides of a plot to kill the President of the United States. Set during the Cairo conference of 1943, Halder is sent to scope out the security surrounding Roosevelt so that Otto Skorzeny's crack SS commandos can move in. But British intelligence soon learns of the plan and tries to stop him with the help of American Lt. Col. Harry Weaver. In the center of the action, and these two men's lives, is Rachel Stern, the woman they both love. Though the plot does bog down at times, it nevertheless captures the spirit of some of the best World War Two spy thrillers. A lot of fun.