Espionage thriller!

-

The Berlin Exchange by Joseph Kanon   

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



Always a sucker for a Cold War spy novel, especially East vs West Berlin and of course the infamous Checkpoint Charlie, along with John Le Carre’s Smiley and crew, remembrances beckoned me just from Kanon’s title. How could I resist this addition to a long held tradition? And let me just say I Ioved it. A smart and intricate plot. Martin is that quiet, intelligent character that I adore. He has hidden idealist’s past and hidden depths.
It’s 1963. American communist and Physicist, Martin Keller, is exchanged back into East Germany from Britain after ten years in prison for treasonous espionage. Fortunately he’d been caught in Britain and imprisoned there. If he’d been caught in the US it would have been the death penalty. The exchange is organized by his ex-wife’s husband, some sort of free lance wheeler and dealer, with links to the KGB and it seems, the Black Market. During the exchange an ambulance races past them attempting to crash the barrier into West Berlin. Shots are fired, and a death occurs. Martin finds himself wondering just who was the target of those shots?
Reunited with his ex-wife and son, all very weird, it’s not long before Martin realises that he doesn’t want to return to make weapons. It seems his ideology has taken a blow. Martin wants his son safely away from the East. But who to trust? How to make this happen? The Stasi is real. Who’s a friend and who’s waiting to turn him in? Talk about misdirection, about false information mixed in with truth, and of course, betrayal.
(BTW, I did not know that these swaps became big business for the DDR. Kanon explains in his Notes, “the swaps grew into an important revenue stream for the DDR…for some DM 3.4 billion ($850 million). Whatever the actual figures, there is no doubt that the swaps made a contribution to the DDR’s economic viability.” Fascinating! I also loved the cover.)

A Scribner ARC via NetGalley 
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between...
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, the...
Read more

A wonderful cat and mouse game!

-
Image
Lady Eleanor's Seventh Suitor (The Sutherlands #1)   by Anna Bradley If ever a woman was caught in the cross hairs of a deadly game, even as the reason for its very being is a deep mystery,  that is  Eleanor Sutherland. If ever a man stalked his prey so efficiently then that hunter is  Camden West. From the very beginning I was caught up in the manoeuvre that Cam had instigated against  Eleanor using her sister Charlotte. The lengths he is prepared to go to punish her are puzzling. What he punishing her for is even more so. Is it just because she appears cold and unfeeling? Lady Frost is the name Eleanor has been given. Bets are placed on her at White's. She has her own page! As the story develops we and Cam discover that he has badly underestimated and misjudged Ellie. As she turns the tables on him things look hopeful but always Ellie is taken by surprise by yet another layer that is added to the equation. It isn't until the end that we start to s...
Read more