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“Fesperman accurately depicts the corrosive effect of life under a surveillance society, debasing both the watchers and the watched.... Most Cold War spy novels focus on the Manichaean ideological struggle between East and West; this one successfully explores a grayer era.” —Ben Macintyre, The New York Times
On a chilly early morning walk on the wooded outskirts of Berlin, Emil Grimm finds the body of his neighbor, a fellow Stasi officer named Lothar, with a gunshot wound to the temple and a pistol in his right hand. Despite appearances, Emil suspects murder. A few months earlier he would have known just what to do, but now, as East Germany disintegrates, being a Stasi colonel is more of a liability than an asset. More troubling still is that Emil and Lothar were involved in a final clandestine mission, one that has clearly turned deadly. Now Emil must finish the job alone, on uncertain ground where old alliances seem to be shifting by the day.
Meanwhile, CIA agent Claire Saylor, sent to Berlin to assist an Agency mop-up action against their collapsing East German adversaries, has just received an upgrade to her assignment. She'll be the designated contact for a high-ranking foreign intelligence officer of the Stasi, although details are suspiciously sketchy. When her first rendezvous goes dangerously awry, she realizes the mission is far more delicate than she was led to believe.
With the rules of the game changing fast, and as their missions intersect, Emil and Claire find themselves on unlikely common ground, fighting for their lives against a powerful enemy hiding in the shadows.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 12, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593591963
- File size: 341701 KB
- Duration: 11:51:52
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from May 23, 2022
At the start of this superb spy thriller set in 1990 from Fesperman (The Cover Wife), Emil Grimm, who’s soon to be discharged from the foreign intelligence service of East Germany’s Ministry of State Security, is walking in the woods near his “dacha” north of Berlin when he comes across a crime scene. Investigators are prowling near a body, which Grimm helps identify as his fellow Stasi officer, Lothar Fischer, with whom he was working on a final operation after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The gun in Fischer’s hand suggests he died by suicide, but Grimm suspects otherwise. Meanwhile, CIA agent Claire Saylor (last seen in The Cover Wife) is in Berlin on a mission that leads her to cross paths with Grimm. Fesperman nicely works historical figures such as Markus Wolf, “the Stasi’s most renowned spymaster,” into the complex plot while painting an evocative portrait of East Berlin, “spying’s most storied theme park.” A surprisingly moving bond develops between Saylor and Grimm, who fears prosecution or worse after reunification, as the action builds to a deeply satisfying denouement. Cold War–era spy fiction doesn’t get much better than this. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary. -
The dramatic upheaval felt by East German spies when the Berlin Wall fell serves as the backdrop for this audiobook, narrated with precision by author Dan Fesperman. The story begins with the suspicious death of one such spy, named Lothar, while also focusing on the efforts of CIA agent Claire Saylor as she is pursuing a high-ranking official. Fesperman transitions adroitly from the keyboard to the mic, delivering the audiobook with the skill of a seasoned narrator. He is particularly adept at dialogue and uses a variety of tones and accents to bring every character in this captivating thriller to life. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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