''Triple'' is a spy thriller novel written by British author
Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.
Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...
. It was originally published in 1979. The background of the plot is
Operation Plumbat
Operation Plumbat is believed to have been an Israeli covert operation in 1968 to obtain yellowcake (processed uranium ore) to support the Israeli nuclear weapons effort.
France stopped supplying Israel with uranium fuel for the Dimona nuclear ...
, a 1968 covert operation carried out by
Mossad that did not become publicly known about until 1977.
Plot summary
The book's prologue describes a chance meeting of several people in
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1947. The main character is Nathaniel "Nat" Dickstein, a victim of experimentation in the
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
who later becomes an Israeli agent; also the American Alan "Al" Cortone, of Italian origin, whose life Dickstein saved in Sicily; and the Russian chessmaster David Rostov, who subsequently joins the
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
. The three go together to a sherry party given by Professor Ashford, who teaches Hebrew Literature at Oxford. Dickstein, who is studying under Ashford, is in love with his
Lebanese wife Eila, but there are rival suitors. Another guest, Yasif Hassan, of
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
origin, has an affair with Eila, as later seen in Professor Ashford's garden. Ashford's daughter, Suza, also makes an appearance.
In the first chapters Pierre Bourg, the head of the
Mossad, finds out in 1968 that
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
is building a nuclear reactor in the
Western Desert, in order to produce a nuclear bomb. He assigns his best agent, Nat Dickstein, to steal about two hundred tons of uranium ore for Israel, to pre-empt the potential Egyptian threat and to enable them to build a
nuclear bomb themselves. Dickstein has to ensure that nobody suspects Israeli participation in the theft.
Dickstein travels to
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
to obtain documentation on all uranium shipments from the
EURATOM
The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nucl ...
agency located there. He eventually achieves this by blackmailing a EURATOM employee. In his hotel he has a chance encounter with Yasif Hassan, who is now an Egyptian
Mukhabarat
( ar, مخابرات, also transliterated '' / ''), is the Arabic term for intelligence, as used by an intelligence agency. In most of the Middle East, the term is colloquially used in reference to secret police agents who spy on civilians. Organi ...
agent. As a result of this the KGB gets onto Dickstein's tail. For practical reasons, and also because in 1948 he successfully hijacked an arms shipment at sea, Dickstein decides to make the uranium theft from a maritime transport of
yellowcake
Yellowcake (also called urania) is a type of uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. It is a step in the processing of uranium after it has been mined but before f ...
ore, from a freighter called the ''Coparelli''.
Dickstein is persistently followed by Rostov's KGB group, to which Hassan now also belongs. This culminates in the tailing of all Israeli diplomats in London by the KGB. Despite this, Dickstein succeeds in repeatedly shaking off his pursuers. He travels to Oxford to see Professor Ashford again. Instead of his former teacher, the now grown-up daughter Suza Ashford answers the door. They have a candid conversation and fall in love. A short time later, Hassan visits the Professor (whose sympathies were already pro-Arab), and tells him of Dickstein's true activities and plans.
The two persuade Suza to help eliminate Dickstein. She pretends to go along with this in order to be in a better position to warn her lover of this danger. Hassan also intends to deliver the uranium to the Palestinian
Fedayeen, betraying both Rostov and the Egyptians.
To facilitate the robbery at sea, Dickstein acquires the ''Stromberg'', a sister ship of the ''Coparelli'', and founds a
bogus maritime company. He also arranges for the ''Coparelli'' to suffer a mechanical breakdown at sea, and for the crew to be almost completely disembarked. Through further complicated measures, Dickstein hopes to erase traces of the uranium theft.
Israeli naval commandos aboard the ''Stromberg'' are to attack the ''Coparelli'', but Hassan and his Fedayeen arrive first. However Dickstein and the Israelis recapture the ''Coparelli'', and Hassan is killed. Dickstein then goes alone to board the Soviet ship ''Karla'', that is also in the area, as Suza Ashford is a prisoner there. Rostov and a KGB force are aboard. Suza is able to create a diversion, enabling Dickstein to rescue her and destroy the ''Karla'' by means of a
magnetic mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
.
The story ends with the statement that Dickstein has left Mossad to settle with Suza in Israel. The book concludes with an newspaper article appearing in the ''
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'' in 1977, revealing that Israel is suspected of involvement in the disappearance at sea of the uranium shipment nine years earlier.
[''Israel Suspected of Hikacking Ship With Uranium'', Henry Miller, London ''Daily Telegraph'', May 7, 1977.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Triple
1979 British novels
British spy novels
British thriller novels
Novels by Ken Follett
Secret histories
Books about the Mossad
Fiction set in 1947
Fiction set in 1968
Novels about nuclear technology
Novels set in Israel
Novels set in Oxford
Novels set in the Mediterranean Sea