Brandenburg

Robert Harland #3

by Henry Porter

'A fascinating switchback roller-coaster of a plot' Guardian

November 1989. The fall of the Berlin Wall. One man is caught between East and West...

The Stasi was among the most sophisticated intelligence organisations in the world, but by the end of the 1980s the Orwellian state of East Germany was collapsing around it.

In the last few paranoid weeks of the Communist world one man will carry out one last desperate mission under the very noses of the Stasi. Dr Rudolf Rosenharte is an academic from Dresden and agent for MI6; his controller is Robert Harland, from A Spy's Life and Empire State.

When Rosenharte's security is compromised he is faced with a stark choice: to defect to the West, leaving his beloved family to the mercies of the Stasi, or return to East Germany to carry out the most dangerous assignment of his career. November 1989 will mean the end of communism. But will it mean the end of Rosenharte?

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Espionage, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Germany

546 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2005

About the author

Henry Porter has written for most national broadsheet newspapers. He contributes commentary and reportage to the Guardian, Observer, Evening Standard and Sunday Telegraph. He is the British editor of Vanity Fair, and lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[TBV (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot of spy activity by agents from various countries, as well as numerous subplots in this novel. However, what makes it exceptional as far as I’m concerned is the historical aspect. Author Henry Porter expresses the suspense and hope of the last days of the GDR as thousands protested, and he captures the amazement, exhilaration and exuberance felt at the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was built in 1961 and destroyed in 1989. There are many readers who, like myself, remember the media reports of that period. From afar we listened and watched, cheering as events unfolded.

Fictional characters and subplots are skilfully combined with real people and historical fact. It took me a few days to decide whether it merited a four- or a five-star rating. This novel isn’t perfect, but I finally decided on a five-star rating as I particularly enjoyed the last few chapters.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stasi were some nasty folks!

[WarpDrive · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of them best examples of this particular genre.

Atmospheric, gripping and generally accurate from an historical standpoint, this spy thriller is based on the chain of events leading to the sudden fall of the Wall in East Germany.
The Wall has represented the most visible and sobering symbol of the fracture of Europe into two hostile worlds, a wound in Central Europe that needed half a century to heal:




I am not a fan of this particular genre, but I must say that this book has been a pleasure to read; it immersed me, with a credible plot and an interesting set of characters, back into the exhilarating atmosphere of the last convulsions of the Eastern German regime in November 1989. I still vividly remember the feeling of relief, happiness and liberation that was felt in much of Western Europe, and in Germany especially, at the news that the last real chapter of WWII was going to finally close, and that the so-called Iron Curtain was eventually going to be not much more than a bad memory of a tragic period of European history, and a reminder of the terrible consequences of global war and military aggression. These images from November 9th, 1989 represents something epochal and pretty unforgettable:



The book is not perfect (there a a couples of subplots that do not really add much to the overall narrative, and that unnecessarily complicate and distract from the main plot, and the beginning of the book is a bit weak, especially in the initial charicatural depiction of some Stasi agents and of their behaviour), but it is really a good book overall, nicely written and a riveting work of historical fiction.

Fortunately, very little is left of this wound; only a small section of the original Wall is still standing, covered with artworks (and with some honest feedbacks on Donald Trump :-)

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I visited East Berlin in 1989 a few months before the fall of the wall and the descriptions of the atmosphere (including smells!)and the run-down buildings echoed my memories.

To use a cliche - I found this hard to put down. Henry Porter has done a great job of combining the book's characters with the real events of 1989, from the street protests of October 1989 to the hopelessness of the dark dank cells of the Stasi prisons.

If you are looking for a good spy story combined with the epic events in East Germany of 1989 then this is your book.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent spy novel, with enough action to satisfy everyone as well as an impressing character depth and world building.

The novel concentrated on Dr. Rudi Rosenharte, a former Stasi foreign agent who has in the mean time become somewhat of a figure in the art historian society, giving many lectures around the world. His trouble begins when his brother and his family is abducted by the Stasi communist force, and Dr. Rosenharte is forced to cooperate with the Stasi force, a cooperation he believes will help free his brother.

A very interesting page-turner, although I wasn't as transfixed with the plot as I would have liked. All those plot turns and 50 types of secret agents made me a tad confused if not plain irritated at points, which calls for the 3 star rating. Perhaps for people with more patience than I, this is a great thriller sprinkled with action and at times a hint of romance. I definitely recommend it.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly enjoyable book set during the waning days of divided Germany. Not only a good plot, rife with human frailties and betrayals, but also an entirely credible societal context for cold-war East Germany. An excellent read, even if you aren't a fan of the spy genre.

[Jak60 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Henry Porter is like those sportsmen permanently on the brink of greatness: they are good, at times even very good, but they struggle to make the last jump into the top league.

The Brandenburg Gate is a very atmospheric book: it’s 1989, the backdrop is the crumbling of the old Soviet Empire, and namely of one of its fortresses, the GDR. The lights of the old order are switching off but the new world is upside down.

The novel unfolds along a very complex and multi-layered plot, a true wilderness of mirrors where nobody is what he/she looks like; but such complexity is at times stretched to the point of creating some loopholes in plausibility. The story loses some steam in the last part where the finale is dragged around way too much, so you get to the end with a certain fatigue. I’d say there’s at least one layer too much in this highly multilayered story...

Although this is nominally part of the Robert Harlan series, the central hero of the story is Rudolf Rosenharte, an obscure East German art professor with a past as a Stasi agent; its character, complex and multifaceted, is very well developed and dominates the whole scene.

All in all, this is a very solid book (and so much better than the previous), as close as it gets for Porter to make the leap from good to great; yet he does not entirely succeed due to the few but not negligible flaws. A strong 4+

[Davidg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting thriller by Henry Porter. We follow a complex series of plots in the weeks leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of East Germany. Time is running out for some of the plotters as history catches up with them.

A cracking read.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The great thing about this book is that is set in the weeks before the fall of the wall. This is a ticking clock that only the reader can hear and it adds a dimension and a tension to the events being told.

It has been quite a while since I read a cold war spy story and this is from the east German side of the fence rather than the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy side (which was brilliant). I think that the book captures the feeling of paranoia and also the craziness of the situation pretty well. The storyline is pretty good on the suspense and although a little overly exciting about 2/3s of the way through it holds together fine.

It lost the fourth star because of a number of points, I lost a little interest 2/3s way through when major story point was covered, but it picked up again the closer you got to the downfall. I also don't think that Porter captured the germanness of the characters. I don't mean they should have been more stereotypical, I mean that they felt like Englishmen just in a strange situation.

However, still a good read and worth picking up just to remember the unbelief of the days when all the checkpoints suddenly opened up. I read those pages remembering seeing the newscasts of the West Germans climbing up on the wall and the Bradenburg gate and the crazy/happy smile on the East German telling the TV journalist that this was the third time he had gone through the check point Just because he could! Complete amazement.

[Ricky Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a slow boil, and if you're looking for a thriller with three-page chapters and a cliffhanger at the end of every one of them, you won't enjoy it much. If you can enjoy just steeping in the cauldron of late-eighties East Germany, and soaking up the paranoid, chaotic atmosphere as the plot winds along and tensions gradually tighten, then it's a very pleasant and immersive read. The sense of time and place is very strongly marked, with occasional glances into the past; the historical details are well-researched, and everything feels realistic — not so flashy as Hollywood spystuff, but more engaging, for me, at least.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

An old-fashioned Cold War spy novel written in a pedestrian and tedious style. So disappointing. The characters were two-dimensional, the author kept telling us how they were feeling and explaining a lot of unnecessary background detail, and the attempt to describe the atmosphere of East Germany in the autumn of 1989 really fell flat. Only skimmed the second half.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

very quick and easy read; enjoyable thriller.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHEN COMMUNISM LOST ITS GRIP ON EAST GERMANY

On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, setting off a fast march to German reunification. But it was not a singular event, arising out of the blue. Because the reform movement launched by Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow four years earlier had triggered a series of increasingly assertive protest movements throughout Communist-run Eastern Europe. And for many months in 1989, East Germans, tens of thousands at a time, had taken to the streets. With fury and self-confidence rising, they denounced the ruling Socialist Unity Party and its enforcement arm, the Ministerium für Staatsicherheit, or Ministry of State Security, known as the Stasi. And Henry Porter’s epic novel of espionage, Brandenburg Gate, plays out in the shadow of these momentous events before the Wall fell.

A CONVOLUTED OPERATION ENGAGING SIX SPY SERVICES

It’s September 1989. Dr. Rudi Rosenharte is a world-class art historian and a former foreign agent for the Stasi. The last thing he wants in his academically circumscribed life is to risk everything across the border—but that’s precisely what the Stasi now insists he do. They are forcing him to travel to Trieste to rendezvous with his former lover, Annalise Schering, then a secretary at NATO headquarters in Brussels. And to ensure that he follows through, they’ve imprisoned his twin brother and his wife and placed their children under the care of the state.

Rudi has no choice. His brother is ill and urgently needs care. He must do as they say. But there’s a catch. Annalise Schering is dead. He knows it because he saw her lying in a bathtub in bloody water on his last assignment. For some reason, though, he kept her death secret from the Stasi.

Clueless how he’ll win his brother’s release, he arrives in Trieste involved in a complex espionage operation mounted jointly by MI6 and the CIA. And when two months later the action reaches its climax, three other intelligence agencies will be have been involved as well in addition to the Stasi. West Germany’s BND. Poland’s SB. And the KGB. Somehow, frequently risking his life, Rudi must maneuver through this thicket of clashing agendas. And in the process he will learn long-hidden truths about his life.

EVEN TOTALITARIAN POWER HAS ITS LIMIT

Porter does a stellar job portraying the mounting turmoil within the Stasi during its final two months in power. He takes us behind the scenes of what at the time was known as one of the world’s most effective intelligence agencies. With 80,000 employees and one in every seven East Germans as informants, the Stasi was the tail that wagged the government’s dog. But even this seemingly absolute power wasn’t enough to resist the fast-growing anger of the East German people as they saw the reins loosening elsewhere in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. And in the end, when half a million people gathered to protest in Berlin on November 9, 1989, the government fell with the Wall. Will Rudi Rosenharte live to see that day? Read the book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Henry Porter is an English journalist, author, and political activist. For long periods, he was the editor of the British version of Vanity Fair and a columnist for The Observer newspaper. But he has also won awards for his thrillers, of which he has published eight to date. Porter was born in 1953 and was educated at the University of Manchester.

[Peter Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Brandenburg Gate,” by Henry Porter (Atlantic Monthly, 2005). Compared with this, John LeCarré wrote for elementary school. In the months leading up to the (completely unexpected) fall of the Berlin Wall, a not-quite-hapless German tries desperately to get his twin brother out of the Stasi prison in which he is being held. Richard (Rudi) Rosenharte once was an agent of the Stasi; now he is an art historian who gives lectures at academic conferences. Around him swirl the intelligence services—Stasi, KGB, MI 5, CIA---all trying to get him to do things for them in exchange, perhaps, for freeing his brother, Konrad. It is utterly confusing---at least, I don’t get all the signals being passed during apparently innocuous dialogue. Rosenharte manages to get computer discs containing NATO software to the GDR (except that it’s fake, which he doesn’t know). He manages to take part in the capture of an Arab terrorist who is planning a series of bombings in the United States. He begins a very hesitant, ambiguous affair with a young woman, Ulrike, who turns out to be a mole for the Stasi although she is betraying them for love, eventually, of Rosenharte. All this is going on while East Germans begin a series of mass demonstrations against the regime. I won’t try to detail or explain all the ins and outs. There is very little violence until close to the end. For whatever reason, the story did not feel like a thriller, although it had all the ingredients. Maybe because its account of all the conversations, the arguments about communism, drew one’s attention away from the impending excitement. Maybe because the reader already knows what is going to happen in the big world. And then there is a completely unexpected twist at the conclusion. I’ll bet no one who reads this book will come close to figuring that one out. It all was too dense for me, or rather, I was too dense for it.

https://groveatlantic.com/author/henr...

[Ludig Meyer]

Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, Deutschland

Das Brandenburger Tor, das zwischen 1788 und 1791 vom preußischen König Friedrich Wilhelm II. als wichtiger Zugang zur Stadt Berlin erbaut wurde, wurde mit einer als "Quadriga" bekannten Statue gekrönt, die eine Statue der Siegesgöttin darstellte, die einen von vier Pferden gezogenen Wagen fährt. Die Statue blieb etwas mehr als ein Jahrzehnt an ihrem Platz, bevor sie in die Fänge Napoleon Bonapartes und seiner Großen Armee fiel. Nach der Besetzung des gefallenen Berlin und dem triumphalen Marsch unter den Torbögen befahl Napoleon, die Quadriga abzubauen und nach Paris zurückzuschicken. Das Pferd und die Göttin wurden eilig in eine Reihe von Kisten verpackt und über den Kontinent transportiert. Napoleon, der vielleicht mit dem Zerfall seines kürzlich errichteten Reiches beschäftigt war, scheint die Statue vergessen zu haben, und sie schmachtete bis 1814 im Lager, als Paris selbst nach Napoleons Niederlage von preußischen Soldaten eingenommen wurde. Die Quadriga wurde nach Berlin zurückgebracht und erneut auf dem Brandenburger Tor aufgestellt, diesmal mit einer Änderung: Als Symbol für den militärischen Sieg Preußens über Frankreich wurde der Statue ein Eisenkreuz hinzugefügt. Das Kreuz wurde später während der kommunistischen Ära entfernt und erst 1990 im Zuge der deutschen Wiedervereinigung dauerhaft restauriert. Zu dieser Zeit gab es auch viele Unregelmäßigkeiten bei den noch verbotenen Wetten. Aber das ist ein anderes Thema. Durchsuchen Sie gutebet.com, um mehr zu erfahren.

Januar 1933: Hitler kommt an die Macht
Nach einem kometenhaften Aufstieg an der Spitze seiner Nazi-Partei und einem Machtkampf mit Bundespräsident Paul von Hindenburg wurde Adolf Hitler am 30. Januar 1933 zum Bundeskanzler ernannt. Am Abend wurde der neue Kanzler zu einem Fackelzug durch Berlin eingeladen, als Tausende von braun gekleideten Sturmtruppen und SS-Angehörigen unter dem Brandenburger Tor hindurch zum Präsidentenpalast zogen, wo Hitler und hochrangige Mitglieder der NSDAP bejubelt wurden. Es war die erste von vielen groß angelegten Propagandaveranstaltungen der Nazis, die in den Jahren vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg ihre Kontrolle über Deutschland verschärften. Das Ende des Krieges zerstörte große Teile Berlins, aber das Brandenburger Tor überlebte, wenn auch mit schweren Schäden. In einer der letzten kooperativen Maßnahmen vor dem Bau der Berliner Mauer im Jahr 1961 arbeiteten die Ost- und Westberliner Behörden gemeinsam an ihrer Restaurierung. Nach dem Mauerbau wurde jedoch der Zugang zum Tor im heutigen Ostberlin abgeschnitten.

Im Juni 1963 wurde das Tor geschlossen: "Ich bin ein Berliner"
Fast zwei Jahre nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer hielt John F. Kennedy vor mehr als 120.000 Menschen vor dem Westberliner Rathaus, nur wenige Schritte vom Brandenburger Tor entfernt, eine der berühmtesten Ansprachen seiner Präsidentschaft. Wie Ronald Reagan nach ihm ist Kennedys Rede vor allem wegen eines bestimmten Satzes in Erinnerung geblieben. Im Falle Kennedys war sie in deutsch-armem Deutsch, glaubten einige. Kennedy hatte in einer früheren Rede eine Variation der Zeile "Ich bin ein Berliner" ausprobiert und die deutschen Passagen mit seinen Redenschreibern und Übersetzern des Außenministeriums bearbeitet, um die korrekte Aussprache zu gewährleisten, wobei er sogar so weit ging, die möglicherweise kniffligen Sätze phonetisch zu buchstabieren. In den 50 Jahren seit Kennedys Rede haben deutsche Sprachwissenschaftler in die Debatte eingegriffen und darauf bestanden, dass die Grammatik des Präsidenten im Wesentlichen korrekt war und dass er entgegen der landläufigen Meinung nicht versucht hat, einen Moment des Kalten Krieges in einen kulinarischen Moment zu verwandeln, indem er fälschlicherweise der Menge verkündete: "Ich bin ein Gelee-Donut".

Juni 1987: Die Zeile, die fast nicht passiert wäre
Ronald Reagan hatte Berlin bereits einmal während seiner Präsidentschaft besucht, im Juni 1982, als er vor westdeutschen Würdenträgern und einer Menschenmenge vor dem Schloss Charlottenburg die Unterstützung Amerikas für die Stadt Berlin und ihre Menschen bekräftigte. Fünf Jahre (und drei sowjetische Führungspersönlichkeiten später) bereitete sich Reagan darauf vor, nach West-Berlin zurückzukehren, um die 750-Jahr-Feier der Stadt zu feiern. In den Jahren zuvor hatte es auf beiden Seiten eine Eskalation der Rhetorik gegeben (Reagan bezeichnete die UdSSR bekanntlich als "Reich des Bösen"), aber auch das erste spürbare "Tauwetter" im Kalten Krieg seit fast einem Jahrzehnt, einschließlich des Gipfels von Reykjavik in Island im Jahr zuvor und der laufenden Verhandlungen, die Ende 1987 zu einem Waffenvertrag führen sollten. Obwohl die Urheberschaft der berühmtesten Zeile der Berliner Rede von 1987 nach wie vor umstritten ist, besteht kaum ein Zweifel daran, dass Reagans Berater fast ebenso tief gespalten darüber waren, ob er die potenziell aufrührerischen Worte verwenden sollte, wie die Stadt Berlin selbst. Einige fürchteten, den sowjetischen Führer Michail Gorbatschow, mit dem Reagan eine erfolgreiche Arbeitsbeziehung aufgebaut hatte, gegen sich aufzubringen. Andere in Reagans Team, die sich vor dem Vorwurf fürchteten, die Verwaltung sei "weich geworden", argumentierten, dass die Zeit für eine vollmundige Herausforderung an die Kommunisten gekommen sei. Das Hin und Her über den Text dauerte fast ein Jahr lang an, aber am Ende traf Reagan die endgültige Entscheidung, die Linie beizubehalten, und am 12. Juni 1987 wandte er sich nicht nur an die mehr als 20.000 Menschen, die sich am Brandenburger Tor selbst versammelt hatten, sondern auch an Millionen von Zuhörern in den Vereinigten Staaten, der Sowjetunion und auf der ganzen Welt und forderte Gorbatschow donnernd auf, "diese Mauer niederzureißen".

[Dianeparente62gmail.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative

An unusually well executed spy novel with perceptive human and historical insights., set primarilyly in East Germany in the months before the Berlin Wall came down. The main character's multi-national spying activities form the narrative theme on which are displayed a variety of sub themes such as the oppressive nature of life in communist East Germany, the pervasiveness and cruelties of the state police, the Stasi, the loyalty and travails of twin brothers entrapped by both the Nazis and the Communists who followed them. The result of this complex narrative is an amazingly engrossing novel that is relatively easy to follow despite the many paths down which the author takes the reader. The end result of this read is a more informed historical perspective as well as a highly enjoyable reading experience.

[SEE-J · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Could have been one of the best in this genre but fell short of brilliance. The plot was elaborate and intriguing, very dense but clever. Many deceptions and double crosses were used but served the story well. So why did it not live up to its full potential?

1. Too much of author's own political views read like long winded parallel commentary. I don't care for writers bringing their own politics into the story as long as they are well integrated into characters and propel the story along but here, Porter's own passion got in the way of good story telling.

2. Why does Porter like his female protagonists prima donnas? All I can say is neurotic women don't make compelling or sympathetic spies. here the caricature didn't do enough damage to derail the story but Porter was really pushing it to the edge at several points.

[Bob Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever went to Berlin this is a must read

All be it fiction for those of us fortunate enough to have been to West Berlin and been allowed into East Berlin this book is fascinating. The events that precluded the dismantling of the Berlin Wall are a fascinating backdrop to this spy story. Involvement of Secret Service from the UK, Stasi from East Germany and the KGB in the Soviet Union create a tale of espionage which twists and turns. Rudi & Ulrika form the body of the story and their interaction with the various spy services takes you on a journey through an East Germany riven by fear, persecution and denial of privelegies that no western citizen would believe. Well worth a read

[Scott Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the weeks leading up to the fall of the wall, an ex-Stasi agent is pulled back into service for one last job. He has no interest in the mission, but goes along with it in the hopes of getting his twin brother out of jail. An interesting story told really well. The author (who my brain insists on calling Harry Potter) excels at bringing every day life in East Germany to life, and his characters are well delineated. My only complaint is a slight reliance on expository dialog, but that happens less often as the novel goes on. The book has aged well, except for maybe one surprise reveal near the end of the book that has a different resonance now than it did when the book came out 15 years ago.

[Donna Herrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is historical fiction at its best! This spy thriller is set in East Germany as the Berlin Wall comes down. It is especially effective at painting a picture of what life was like when run by the Stasi. The terror, everyone being turned into an asset of the State Security apparatus, the cruelty and the paranoia. I was especially enchanted by the insights into who actually sponsored the Arab terrorists. The author effectively used real people as peripheral characters and real events as the backdrop that made this thriller so tense.

[Doug Cranmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging, quick-paced espionage thriller set in the run up to the literal fall of the Berlin Wall separating East Germany from West Germany. Henry Porter is a master of European set novels with the world's intelligence services. This book weaves a tale of intrigue, history, personal struggles and love masterfully. Another 5-star Henry Porter novel.

[Jeff Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s amazing how real he makes the experience of being in East Germany in the reign of terror… he puts you right there. Now, to pull that off, he puts you through some challenging stretches of narrative, but just when it’s starting to get claustrophobic he pulls you up for a glimpse of beauty, a twinge of camaraderie, a taste of honor. Being marooned in this autocracy is so effective that you can’t help but adopt the East Germans’ ingrained suspicion by the end, even as joy bursts through the finale.

[KD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve really enjoyed some of Henry Porter’s other books. And, as other reviewers have noted, Brandenburg is very atmospheric and evokes the scary nature of life with the Stasi in East Germany before the fall of the wall and reunification. However, after a promising beginning, I abandoned the effort about half way through. I didn’t find either the characters or the plot engaging enough to carry on.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very complicated and intriguing story of the Stasi at the end. The reader gets to glimpse this terrible organization at the very end, just before East and west are reunited. The terrrible toll that authoritarian governments require of their own citizens. We also get a glimpse of the stories of children stolen by the Nazis and relocated. If the reader does t know much about history, this may be a very complicated book. Great characters, including Robert Harlan, again.

[Helen Ennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers a topic which has always fascinated me: the Stasi and its place in East Germany. There are other intelligence agencies represented and the action is set at a critical time in the unpicking of the Communist world. Although long the story carries you along and the tension is well sustained. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Ipshita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good as a political espionage thriller is meant to be. I did not know many thing about East Germany, the Stasi and the interconnections between different nations. The characters are properly fleshed and the events are tight. Initially, the pace is slow but about 25% through it becomes an exciting page turner.

[Bill Hoyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The horror of life in the GDR

This novel is a gripping tale of good people living under the heel of Communism and the Stasi (who rivaled the Gestapo for hatred, brutality and paranoia) while trying to figure a way of getting to the West. Espionage, double dealing, backstabbing informers, sadistic Stasi officials....Mr. Porter's novel has it all and is really hard to put down

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thriller set in the dying days of East Germany. Starts off strongly with a good plot, and a chilling depiction of life in a police state. I was disappointed with the second half of the book which got bogged down in an overwrought love story.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I jumped into the middle of a series. The author does a good job bringing me up to speed with the characters and the situations, but I'd like to go back and read book one next.

I don't read much fiction, but I did like the character development and the author painted vivid scenes.

[cliff a russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Outstanding Book

I am a lover of faction. This excellent book combines the facts with the fiction effortlessly. It's a novel, a very good novel and it tells its story exceedingly well. Highly recommended.