A NKVD recruiter tours the Balkans looking for likely candidates. He finds a willing recruit in Khristo Stoianev whose brother was kicked to death for laughing at the local fascist march. Stalinist purges are in full swing and while Khristo is working in Catalonia he is warned that the next targets are to be the 'foreign' espionage agents whom Stalin believes are unreliable. The novel follows both his training and the friendships formed in Moscow, his mission in Catalonia and then his life for the remainder of WWII hiding from the NKVD.

The full story of Brasserie Heininger in this one.

Good atmosphere but there were episodes I thought unconvincing and some sections a little boring.