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Doppelgänger An American Spy in World War II France
"If you do battle with evil, sooner or later you pick up evil’s weapons yourself. Then you risk becoming what you seek to destroy."
When the German army overwhelms France in June, 1940, Walter Hirsch’s safe, carefully-ordered intellectual life as a writer in Paris is shattered. A choking cloud of fear—Nacht und Nebel—settles over his beloved City of Light. “I’m an American, a neutral,” he thinks. “This isn’t my war.”
It becomes his war when he attracts the suspicion—and hatred—of SS Standartenführer Hans Sommer.Returning to America after being badly injured when the Germans crush a student riot at the Sorbonne, he is recruited by Bill Donovan’s fledgling American intelligence service, the OSS, to re-enter France as a spy.
Walter’s flawless German and French—and his newly-discovered ability to change cover stories like a chameleon—make him an ideal espionage agent. But his dedication to his country comes at a high price. With each brazenly successful mission and escape, the strangling noose of Sommer’s relentless pursuit draws tighter. With each new lie, a little more of his identity fades, like a face in an aging sepia photograph. With each new cold-blooded execution, a little more of his soul shrivels. “Donovan was right,” he realizes. “When you become a spy, the first person you have to kill is your former self.”
In April 1944, now with a Gestapo bounty of three million francs on his head, a burned-out Walter is ordered to scout German beach defenses and troop movement prior to the invasion of France. But the American High Command sends him to Calais, not Normandy.
Walter is plunged deeper into a web of treachery in which not only his own government can be trusted. His survival now depends on England’s most lethal SOE assassin, the “Black Widow,” a woman with her own mysterious connection to Walter Hirsch.
But even if the daring mission succeeds, what will remain of the man they have come to save? Can the cost of preserving freedom have become too unbearably high?
When the German army overwhelms France in June, 1940, Walter Hirsch’s safe, carefully-ordered intellectual life as a writer in Paris is shattered. A choking cloud of fear—Nacht und Nebel—settles over his beloved City of Light. “I’m an American, a neutral,” he thinks. “This isn’t my war.”
It becomes his war when he attracts the suspicion—and hatred—of SS Standartenführer Hans Sommer.Returning to America after being badly injured when the Germans crush a student riot at the Sorbonne, he is recruited by Bill Donovan’s fledgling American intelligence service, the OSS, to re-enter France as a spy.
Walter’s flawless German and French—and his newly-discovered ability to change cover stories like a chameleon—make him an ideal espionage agent. But his dedication to his country comes at a high price. With each brazenly successful mission and escape, the strangling noose of Sommer’s relentless pursuit draws tighter. With each new lie, a little more of his identity fades, like a face in an aging sepia photograph. With each new cold-blooded execution, a little more of his soul shrivels. “Donovan was right,” he realizes. “When you become a spy, the first person you have to kill is your former self.”
In April 1944, now with a Gestapo bounty of three million francs on his head, a burned-out Walter is ordered to scout German beach defenses and troop movement prior to the invasion of France. But the American High Command sends him to Calais, not Normandy.
Walter is plunged deeper into a web of treachery in which not only his own government can be trusted. His survival now depends on England’s most lethal SOE assassin, the “Black Widow,” a woman with her own mysterious connection to Walter Hirsch.
But even if the daring mission succeeds, what will remain of the man they have come to save? Can the cost of preserving freedom have become too unbearably high?
392 pages, Paperback
Published December 2, 2018
1 person want to read
About the author
Tom Behr (E. Thomas Behr)
2 books6 followersSince retiring in 2010 from a career as a consultant to global corporations, I've published two historical novels that have won rave reviews from Kirkus, Clarion, Publishers' Weekly, and Pirates and Privateers Magazine.
Current project: Doppelganger: An American Spy in World War II France is now finished and nearing its publication date. Stay tunes!
I've been a passionately, joyfully addicted reader all my life, thanks to the encouragement of my parents, the riches in their well-stocked library, and a mom who read to all of us continuously as infants/little kid.
I taught English for 20 years, picking up a MA in American Literature and a Ph.D. in English Renaissance Literature along the way; besides helping kids learn the critical skills of writing and thinking, I wanted to awaken the same love of books in them that so inspired me.
Then I worked as a consultant in organizational leadership for Fortune 500 multinational corporations for 30 years before retiring in 2010 to concentrate on writing.
I gave up filling in "Books I have read" on Goodreads - by now it would add up to thousands :-).
I try to be a valuable contributor to Goodreads even though I spend most of my time reading books and articles directly connected to my current writing projects. Not much time for pure pleasure reading, sadly.
Current project: Doppelganger: An American Spy in World War II France is now finished and nearing its publication date. Stay tunes!
I've been a passionately, joyfully addicted reader all my life, thanks to the encouragement of my parents, the riches in their well-stocked library, and a mom who read to all of us continuously as infants/little kid.
I taught English for 20 years, picking up a MA in American Literature and a Ph.D. in English Renaissance Literature along the way; besides helping kids learn the critical skills of writing and thinking, I wanted to awaken the same love of books in them that so inspired me.
Then I worked as a consultant in organizational leadership for Fortune 500 multinational corporations for 30 years before retiring in 2010 to concentrate on writing.
I gave up filling in "Books I have read" on Goodreads - by now it would add up to thousands :-).
I try to be a valuable contributor to Goodreads even though I spend most of my time reading books and articles directly connected to my current writing projects. Not much time for pure pleasure reading, sadly.
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March 8, 2019MWSA Review
E. Thomas Behr has written a fun to read, suspenseful story in Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France. Our protagonist, Walter, is an American citizen living in Paris during the German invasion in early 1940. As a non-combatant, he is allowed to remain in Paris and while there witnesses the Nazi atrocities. He develops a desire to join the U.S. military with the belief that the U.S. will soon enter the war against Germany.
Walter's goal is interrupted when he approached and recruited into the OSS and after training, is sent back into France to collect intelligence and support the French resistance. His achievements are significant enough that the Nazis soon put a price on his head. Bouncing around France, living in different locations, and using a number of false identities, Walter manages to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.
What he can't expect, however, is that in early 1944, his spy masters will initiate steps that include betraying him to the Nazis, all in an effort to further the Allies deception plan regarding the exact location for the D-Day invasion. The cat and mouse game Walter has been playing becomes much more dangerous.
Despite some formatting issues with the eBook I reviewed, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good suspense-filled read.
Review by Bob Doerr (March 2019)
E. Thomas Behr has written a fun to read, suspenseful story in Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France. Our protagonist, Walter, is an American citizen living in Paris during the German invasion in early 1940. As a non-combatant, he is allowed to remain in Paris and while there witnesses the Nazi atrocities. He develops a desire to join the U.S. military with the belief that the U.S. will soon enter the war against Germany.
Walter's goal is interrupted when he approached and recruited into the OSS and after training, is sent back into France to collect intelligence and support the French resistance. His achievements are significant enough that the Nazis soon put a price on his head. Bouncing around France, living in different locations, and using a number of false identities, Walter manages to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.
What he can't expect, however, is that in early 1944, his spy masters will initiate steps that include betraying him to the Nazis, all in an effort to further the Allies deception plan regarding the exact location for the D-Day invasion. The cat and mouse game Walter has been playing becomes much more dangerous.
Despite some formatting issues with the eBook I reviewed, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good suspense-filled read.
Review by Bob Doerr (March 2019)
Displaying 1 of 1 review