Ken Follett

"It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined: A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided...

This novel continues the stories of five interrelated families who struggle with social, political, and economic turmoil in the mid-twentieth century, during which they witness the rise of Nazi Germany, the Spanish Civil War, and the horrors of World War II. It picks up right where the first book left off, and continues up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs. Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life...

Five families become entangled in events from the beginning of the twentieth century, following as thirteen-year-old Billy begins working in the Welsh mining pits, an American law student gets a job with Woodrow Wilson's administration, two orphaned brothers try to leave their native Russia for the U.S., and Billy's sister's employer begins an affair with a spy at the German embassy in London.

"The Spinning Jenny was invented in 1770, and with that, a new era of manufacturing and industry changed lives everywhere within a generation. A world filled with unrest wrestles for control over this new world order: A mother's husband is killed in a work accident due to negligence; a young woman fights to fund her school for impoverished children; a well-intentioned young man unexpectedly inherits a failing business; one man ruthlessly protects...

In the Sahara Desert, two elite intelligence agents are on the trail of a powerful group of drug-smuggling terrorists, risking their lives – and, when they fall desperately in love, their careers – at every turn. Nearby, a beautiful young widow fights against human traffickers while travelling illegally to Europe with the help of a mysterious man who may not be who he says he is. In China, a senior government official with vast ambitions...

In January 1958, the midst of the Cold War, Luke Lucas wakes alone on the ground in a railway station with no idea how he got there--and finds that he must recover lost memories that others are glad he has forgotten if he is to save the launch of Explorer I, America's attempt to top the Soviet Union's Sputnik.

"Ellis, the American. Jean-Pierre, the Frenchman. They were two men on opposite sides of the cold war, with a woman torn between them. Together, they formed a triangle of passion and deception, racing from terrorist bombs in Paris to the violence and intrigue of Afghanistan - to the moment of truth and deadly decision for all of them…" -- Amazon.

When a research scientist begins studying the genetic components of aggression she discovers a chilling conspiracy involving the government, a biotech company, and her own university, all devoted to reshaping society through genetic manipulation.

East German teacher Rebecca Hoffmann discovers she's been spied on by the Stasi for years and commits an impulsive act that will affect her family for the rest of their lives. George Jakes, the child of a mixed-race couple, bypasses a corporate law career to join Robert F. Kennedy's Justice Department, and finds himself in the middle not only of the seminal events of the civil rights battle, but a much more personal battle of his own. Cameron Dewar,...