Never

This latest dramatic spy-political thriller from the master storyteller delivers a captivating, action-packed, and deeply human modern-day story in which peace-minded representatives of secret services and the leaders of world superpowers strive to prevent a catastrophe. At the outset, they face minor local conflicts—in the Sahara Desert or on the Korean Peninsula—but due to the escalation of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' retaliations, these can very quickly spiral into a world war, just as has happened in the past. And Ken Follett warns: let us try to ensure it never happens again. Never. Because with the current arsenal of weapons, we would likely have no future to look forward to. “With this chilling political thriller, a what-if story of how petty squabbles could escalate into an aggressive war between superpowers, I found myself reading until dawn several times. Today, it’s not rifle against rifle; it’s about nuclear, atomic, chemical, and biological weapons. Bombs, mines, drones, missiles, and warheads, launched from the ground, planes, submarines, and ships. It's a depressing read, and you just hope you NEVER live to see such an apocalypse.” – from reader reviews on Databazeknih.cz “Never is a magnificent thriller that draws you into a gripping story set across three continents. As the storylines from the Sahara, China, and the United States inevitably begin to converge, a terrifyingly realistic vision of a world on the brink of a third world war unfolds. Ken Follett masterfully combines suspense, political intrigue, and current geopolitical themes in a novel that feels alarmingly plausible.” – Goodreads.com Ken Follett: Never | Translated by Libuše and Luboš Trávníčkovi | Read by Vasil Fridrich | Directed, sound, edited, mastered, and music by Vratislav Hubička | Recorded at NAPA Records s. r. o. studio | Graphics adapted from the book cover by Jana Lhotáková | Produced by Kateřina Višinská | Published by Euromedia Group, a. s. – Témbr in June 2026. This recording is based on the book: NEVER, Ken Follett, Copyright © 2021 by Ken Follett, Translation © Libuše and Luboš Trávníčkovi, 2021, Published by Euromedia Group, a. s. in the Kalibr edition, 2022. “Tamara had joined the CIA for people like Kiah. She believed with all her heart in freedom, democracy, and justice, but these values were under attack all over the world, and Kiah was one of the victims. Tamara knew that the things she valued had to be fought for. She often thought of the words of a traditional song: ‘If I should die and my soul be lost, it's nobody's fault but mine.’ Everyone bears responsibility. It was a gospel song, and Tamara was Jewish, but the message applied to everyone. Here in North Africa, American soldiers were fighting against terrorists whose values were violence, fanaticism, and fear. Armed gangs linked to the Islamic State were murdering, kidnapping, and raping Africans whose religion or ethnicity the fundamentalist military leaders did not recognise. Their violence, plus the gradual southward spread of the Sahara Desert, drove people like Kiah to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea in inflatable boats. The American army, in conjunction with the French and the armies of local states, attacked and destroyed terrorist camps wherever they found them. The problem was finding these camps. The Sahara Desert is as vast as the United States. And this was where Tamara had come. The CIA worked with other countries to provide intelligence to the attacking armies. Tab was assigned to work on this task, but he was actually an agent of the DGSE – Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure – which was the French CIA. Abdul was working on the same task. The project had so far had little impact. The jihadists continued to ravage a large part of North Africa more or less unchecked. Tamara hoped that Abdul would change that.” – excerpt from the book