Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, But...
Review: In many ways, this is vintage Ken Follett. It is fast-paced and keeps you wanting to see what is going to happen next. The writing is good and he does a good job of developing his characters and plot. He also seems to have a good feel for English society in the period immediately before WWI. Despite all this, however, I found myself less than satisfied with the overall result. He gives you Feliks, a Russian anachist and murderer who is on a misguided mission to stop an attempt to negotiate an alliance between Britain and Russia because he is convinced that millions of Russian peasants will die. It never seems to occur to him that the coming war will involve Russia anyway and that millions of peasants will die with or without an alliance. Then Follett tries to make Feliks a sympathetic character. He has been badly wronged in his life. Well, for me, it didn't work. Feliks was still a misguided terrorist bent on murder. Then you get the usual improbabilities: women whose misguided sympathies cause them to let Feliks get closer to his target than he ever would; Feliks miraculously escaping capture despite all odds; and Feliks resorting to a completely improbable tactic at the end. The climax finds Feliks resorting to a tactic that can best be described as using an elephant gun to kill a flea. He needs to flush out the Prince in order to get a shot at him, but Follett would have us accept that Feliks would endanger all that he seems to hold dear in the process. Churchill's action at the end to retrieve the situation was clever plotting, but seemed obvious to me as soon as it was clear what Feliks was going to do. I'm rather thought it would have occurred to Feliks, too. It would have been another good reason to not do what he did.In many ways, "The Man From St. Petersburg" is a good read. For me, though, it asked me to go farther in suspending disbelief than I was prepared to go. The clever ending was a little too clever, and left me somewhat less than satisfied.
Rating: 
Summary: Yet another display of magnificance
Review: Ken follet is a genius..it can't be said too many times!! Set early in the nineteenth century at the brink of the world war, a middle aged man sets out on a mission to England. His mission is to kill a visiting Russian Prince, his goal is to prevent Russia losing millions in the world war. His name is Feliks and he is the man from St. Petersburgh. He has killed many in his lifetime and he has suffered a great deal and he therefore knows himself never to be afraid. But he has also loved once, wildly and truthfully but she was forced to marry someone else. The assassination of the Russian Prince Orlov will help Russians because this would alienate the Czar from alliance with the British and French to fight against the Germans. The British on the other hand, including the young Winston Churchill and a powerful lord, the Earl of Walden once realising the danger do everything to protect Orlov because a Russian alienation would be fatal. Feliks fails to act the first opportunity he creates for himself because he is overpowered by a memory of 18 years before as he realises the Lady Walden is his Lydia. In England, it is the social season of coming out of debutantes and the Earl of Walden's daughter Charlotte is due to come out. At eighteen, she discovers the facts of life and aspects of the real world (like the poverty that exists around them, and the work of suffragettes fighting the injustice done to women) and she is angry that her parents kept it from her. Although she is eighteen, she feels her parents don't treat her in that way. She realises women were meant to be stupid and ignorant and she hates that. No wonder she takes warmly to Fe liks, the stranger who saves her from a suffrage demonstration turned ugly. She feels unusually comfortable with him and appreciates him for talking sensibly as an adult to her. By this time Feliks realises that Charlotte is in fact his daughter because she was born seven months after Lydia was married. He desperately loves the jewel he never knew he had and suddenly he is afraid to die. Ken Follet has a distinct ability to give his villains a true and full character that we feel sad when they die. We see the justification of their actions and we warm to them. His style is simple with the correct amount of descriptions and he is able to portray all characters (although they are different in their race, creed and class) as similar because of their needs and wants and the common feelings of love , hurt , anguish and anger. Ken Follet successfully tells a tale and he gives a full story and an ending that satisfies us. There is quite a lot of suspense in this book, and unlike Pillars of The Earth and The Third Twin where "happy endings" were inevitable towards the end, the fine line between good and bad in this book (one would have a personal opinion on whether Feliks or Walden is the bad guy ) blurs the ability to say whether the ending is happy or not. I feel the ending is suitable to the story as the characters themselves are able to be satisfied. Feliks got more than what he expected, Charlotte lived on and learned to believe and live by much the same ideals as her father and did not live as a debutante should, Lydia could live without the truth haunting her and Walden still had his wife and daughter. The only sad part is the war did happen (we know it) and not only Russians but many died. Perhaps this style that Follet adopts here (fully dissecting both good and bad) can teach us a lesson. All man has some good in him. We need only look for it. Then perhaps with a little understanding and giving there could be peace...
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book of romance, espionage and history
Review: Ken Follet once again fulfilled my expectations of a good book. This was an excellently written novel about real characters and figures in history with whom we can relate. Feliks, the man from St Petersburg, comes to London to see to some "business" that could change history but ends in an unpredictable way. While he is in London, he meets up with Lady Walden, a woman from his past and learns something which changes his life...The question is: Will this change the course of history?
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, but still an enjoyable read.
Review: Ken Follett captures very well the tone of English High Society in the pre-WWI years. The story is interesting, and this is a quick and easy read. This said, however, I was disappointed in the development of the main characters and much of the plot was implausible. Additionally, Follett has the tendency to romanticize Feliks, who is really an evil and manipulative individual. If you're looking for a book that you can finish on a summer vacation, or read on the beach, this would be a good one to pick up.
Rating:
Summary: another addictive follett read
Review: Ken Follett has a knack of weaving great fictional tales inside real historical events...the setting of this book is england, at the turn of the 20th century...right before WWI....but in usual follett style, that's just a back drop..WWI isn't the focus of the story..but it adds an element of realism to the characters and events... as usual, no spoilers...but I will say that it's got everything follett's known for..from great characters, to surprising twists...
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing read
Review: Ken Follett has done it again! The book is based in the early 1990's, the World War 1 as a backdrop. The protagonists are from Russia and England, two major players in the World War. Along with giving an interesting insight, into the politics carried out by leaders and influential people in a nation, which ultimately go on to determine the fate of the whole world, it delves deep into the psyches of the main players - common people with emotions and weaknesses not different from yours or mine. The best thing I liked about this book, is that the characters are so real.And there are no heroes or villains. You sympathise and empathise with each of the characters at various times as you read along. With the narration being of such a high quality, I wondered how Ken Follett would manage an ending which would do justice to the story so far. Ken Follett did not let me down.The ending could not have been better.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating
Review: ken follett writes another winner.feliks is a russian anarchist who is on a mission to assassinate someone to prevent war.If war breaks out,russian civilians would be the majority of the victims and nothing will stop him feliks.not even his past resurfacing.a great thriller that will keep turning pages all night.recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing but worth reading.
Review: Like all of Follet's novels, `The Man from St. Petersburg' is a page turner and worth picking up if you like a good historical adventure. That being said, however, this novel is not that great when compared to `Eye of The Needle', `The Key to Rebecca' and his masterpiece `The Pillars of The Earth.' Follet is a good and sometimes great writer. The problem I find with his writing is that sometimes he edits down to 300 pages what would be a great-classic epic of 1500 pages (i.e., like `Pillars of the Earth'). Sometimes the shorter form works (i.e., `Eye Of The Needle' and `Key to Rebecca' where the action is close to real time), but sometimes he shortchanges himself and the reader (i.e., `Man From St. Petersburg' and `Place called Freedom') by limiting his scope and range to be under a certain number of pages. I don't know if this is a publishing thing or what? If given more room for characters and historical detail, Follet gives us classic epic novels like `Pillars'. When he limits himself he sometimes succeeds and sometimes misses. More longer Follet novels are better.
Rating:
Summary: Very Gripping, Very Entertaining
Review: Now, first of all, I would like to say that, although I haven't read "a lot" of books by Ken Follett, I have now read three. And all three have been worth the time and worth the money. For sure. The Man from St. Petersburg is set mostly in England in the pre-WWII era. The plot of the story is that Feliks, "the man from st. petersburg", is planning to kill a Russian prince who is in the middle of treaty talks with England. Feliks beleives that the murder of the prince will bring about a break in a possible alliance to Russia. Throughout the story, many connections between Feliks and the English family housing the prince, are revieled, making the story very ironic, but I think the connections give a certain sense of suspense from wondering what might be revieled next.
Overall, it was a very gripping, suspensful, and entertaining book that had a very good bit of storytelling wrapped in.
Rating:
Summary: Very Gripping, Very Entertaining
Review: Now, first of all, I would like to say that, although I haven't read "a lot" of books by Ken Follett, I have now read three. And all three have been worth the time and worth the money. For sure. The Man from St. Petersburg is set mostly in England in the pre-WWII era. The plot of the story is that Feliks, "the man from st. petersburg", is planning to kill a Russian prince who is in the middle of treaty talks with England. Feliks beleives that the murder of the prince will bring about a break in a possible alliance to Russia. Throughout the story, many connections between Feliks and the English family housing the prince, are revieled, making the story very ironic, but I think the connections give a certain sense of suspense from wondering what might be revieled next.
Overall, it was a very gripping, suspensful, and entertaining book that had a very good bit of storytelling wrapped in.
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