Ken Follett's New Spy Thriller Features Huntsville

A little over a year ago, Ken Follett came to Huntsville to do research for a new book that would be based on the space program.  He had decided he wanted to write a book about scientists in a crucial period in history.  The launching of the first American satellite in 1958 appeared to be an ideal storyline. The United States' cold war with Russia which was filled with spies and double agents made an ideal setting for Follett's story.

Follett is an internationally known author.  He lives in London and Stevenage with his wife Barbara, who is a member of Parliament.  He is perhaps best known for Eye of the Needle, which was made into a movie,  and a non-fiction book, On Wings of Eagles.  He has written 10 other books.

Code to Zero is Ken's latest addition to the literary field.  The main character is Luke, a rocket scientist who has been given a drug to make him forget everything.  He wakes up in a train station, lying on the ground, dressed as a bum.  He has no recollection of his name, what he does for a living--he actually thinks he's a bum for awhile--or who his family is or where he lives.  He is in a race against time to remember everything especially the secret he had just discovered before his injection.  That information could save the launching of the Explorer I satellite and the future of the US space program.

In fact, we find out that Luke is not a bum but a mathematician working on the space program in Huntsville, Alabama.  The book races from Washington DC to Cape Canaveral to Huntsville, as Luke uncovers the truth about himself and the Soviet spies that have infiltrated the US space program in 1958.

In the acknowledgements, Follett thanks several local residents for their help with his research:  Tom and Cathey Carney of Old Huntsville magazine; Roger Schwerman of Redstone Arsenal; Michael Baker, Command Historian of the US Army Aviation & Missile Command; David Albert, Curator of the US Space & Rocket Center; and Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger.

When I interviewed Tom Carney, he said that he was contacted by Ken's New York literary agent about a year before Ken's visit to Huntsville.  Tom says, "I was very impressed with the meticulous research that Ken did for the book.  He wanted to see everything that would help him know the Huntsville of the 1950's and the local culture of the time."  Follett stayed in Huntsville 4 or 5 days and Carney and his wife showed Ken around town to many places including Harrison Brothers, the old airport, Fred Simpson's law office, the Church of the Nativity, and Redstone Arsenal.  Ken also talked to several of the German scientists that had worked with Werhner von Braun.

Next page >Code to Zone--The House > 

 Huntsville Events Calendar