A Game of Spies

by John Altman

In England in 1940, a young sleeper agent named Eva Bernhardt, who has a crucial piece of information and is on the run from the Germans and other enemies, finds herself plunged into a deadly game of ruse and counterruse.

Genres: Espionage, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Fiction, World War II, Wwii Fiction, Historical

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 18, 2002

About the author

John Altman's thrillers have sold over a quarter-million copies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Poland, and the Netherlands. He graduated from Harvard University in 1992. He lives with his wife and children in Princeton, New Jersey, where he is at work on his next book.
"If there are thriller writers betters than this," Jack Higgins said, "I'd like to know who they are."

Reviews

[Jill]

Poorly written.

[Ruud Westra]

However hard I tried, I couldn't finish this book. Incoherent storyline, too many minor characters (who even got their own POV) and generally boring main characters. A thriller that doesn't invite you to turn the next page can't be very exciting. And what's with the awkward vocabulary? It's like the author dislikes using the same word twice. Words that you rarely see are thrown in like fish food. For me that makes the story lose its flow.

[Mike Worley]

4 solid stars, a pleasant surprise.

[⚔️Kelanth⚔️]

Gioco di spie, in originale "A Game of Spies" è un romanzo dello scrittore americano John Altman, uscito nel 2002. Si tratta del suo secondo libro, ma questo è l'unico attualmente pubblicato in Italia, l'autore al momento ha all'attivo altri cinque libri.

La trama di questa storia: siamo nel febbraio del 1940 e i servizi segreti britannici, avendo sottovalutato il potenziale della Germania nazista, per salvaguardare la sicurezza nazionale sono costretti a cercare di scoprire in anticipo i piani del Führer riguardanti un suo imminente attacco alla Francia. Per portare a termine questa delicata missione, dopo il fallimento di molte altre spie, viene incaricata la giovane Eva Bernhardt, una cittadina tedesca che per amore di un agente inglese si è trovata invischiata nelle operazioni della rete spionistica britannica. La ragazza ha il compito di sedurre un'importante funzionario tedesco per riuscire a carpire informazioni di notevole importanza. Ma il controspionaggio tedesco ha una efficiente rete di informatori e ben presto comincia a sospettare della giovane donna. Perciò in Inghilterra cercano di escogitare un modo per impedire alla Gestapo di arrivare ad Eva e compromettere così la riuscita della missione. Ma si affideranno ad Hobbs, l'agente britannico che aveva sedotto Eva, attualmente infiltrato in Germania e sospettato di fare il doppio gioco? Oppure faranno in modo che se la cavi da sola, lasciandole la responsabilità della propria sorte oltre che di quella dell'intero conflitto?

L'autore può essere accostato ad un copia un po' venuto male del Ken Follett degli esordi, infatti anch'esso scriveva romanzi di spionaggio ambientati durante la seconda guerra mondiale; brutta copia perchè anche se costruisce una spy-story ben costruita, difetta un po' troppo nella definizione psicologica dei personaggi. Ci troviamo dinnanzi ad una spy-storia carina da leggere, semplice, veloce, abbastanza interessante nella trama ma poco approfondito, buono per la spiaggia.

Ma in fondo se si può leggere un buon Ken Follett prima maniera (se piacciono le ambientazioni spionistiche durante il secondo conflitto mondiale) che senso ha leggerne la brutta copia?

[Susan]

Here is a masterful tale of WW II espionage, intrigue and deception. In the bleak winter of 1940, England fears that Germany will invade France. An MI6 agent stationed in Germany convinces a beautiful young German woman to gather information for him. Smitten with Agent Hobbs and disillusioned by Hitler, Eva agrees to seek information from Herr Klinger, who may possess knowledge of Hitler's intentions.

But espionage is a dangerous game. German agents capture Hobbs. Using her feminine wiles and considerable manipulative skills, Eva obtains crucial information. But where is Hobbs? Feeling abandoned, Eva tries to leave Germany. Equally smitten with Eva, Hobbs tries to escape his captors.

Altman delivers a colorful cast of characters, first and foremost Eva and Hobbs, but also an equally entertaining assortment of British and German spies with their own foibles and failings. If you enjoy WW II espionage novels, you can't go wrong with

[Robert LoCicero]

This is another is the series of books by author Altman. It is a good yarn of espionage and intrigue within Germany in the early months of the war in Europe prior to the German invasion of Belgium and Holland. In German, the Sitzkrieg. No fighting going on other than an intelligence war between the British and the Germans to gain advantage for the coming monster struggle about to envelop Europe and the whole world. The author weaves a good tale with real life characters from history and presents a plausible plot which leads to an interesting conclusion. Psychological insights effect the characters and the pacing his brisk and never boring. It is a fitting followup to his first novel, A Gathering of Spies. I recommend one read this and his other works.

[Chuck]

This is a WWII spy story full of twists, turns, mis-information and double crosses. All of this leads to a couple of British spies attempting a daring escape from Germany back to Britain. I don't think the author does a very good job in framing the plot nor drawing his characters. It just didn't seem real to me.

[Jeff Crosby]

The first two thirds of this novel works. We follow two British agents in Germany in 1940 attempting to uncover where Hitler intends to invade the west. They are being pursued by Nazi agents. Motives are unclear, and most of the Germans are despicable.

However, in the last third of the book the reader spends too much time in the heads of everyone involved. There are dreams, hallucinations, and debilitating pain. This leads to some odd leaps of reasoning. In the end, much of what happens turns into an exercise in futility.

[Robert Bagnall]

An acceptable beach read, but a shadow of, say Forsyth’s Odessa File, marred by clunky English, a plot that feels like an extended act 2 without the additional twists that make for a truly satisfying and complete yarn, plot points that don’t wholly ring true (why doesn’t Hobbs arm himself with Frick’s weapon after the latter’s demise?) and errors that pull you out of the narrative (in my case, the reference to the Lysander’s ‘engines’ - I’m sure there were others).

[Bea]

Believable WW II spy thriller. It has characters you care about as well as characters you strongly dislike. It is also the right length - under 300 pages - making it a comfortable reading experience. Because all WW II spy novels have a lot in common, details don’t seem necessary in this review except to say the plot involves the English and Germans. If you like this genre, you’ll probably enjoy this well written story of intrigue.

[Betsy]

I had been putting off reading this even though I already owned had it as a e-book. I didn't care for the other book (A Gathering of Spies) by this author at all so I didn't have much hope for this. Actually it wasn't bad. It had the flavor, if not the depth, of Le Carre's Little Drummer Girl. The characters were pretty well developed and the story moved right along. I guess I will forgive this author for the first book and give him another try at some point

[dennis barron]

A Game of Spies. John Altman

Hitler's army marches on. Eva Bernhardt a young woman is convinced or rather seduced to work for the British secret service by a spymaster
of questionable alligence. The British as well as the Germans both question his loyalty. She surpasses everyone's expectations in the extremely fast paced espionage thriller. Enjoyed immensely!

[Patrick]

Compelling enough to finish in 3 days, but not as satisfying as some other spy yarns, e.g., Fleming et al

[Don]

Didn’t finish

[Eleanor]

if you take a spy movie, give it 5 pov and remove the thrilling nitty gritty parts, you get this - did read this while listening to 1940s jazz music so bonus points there

[Delaney Ross]

just never really hooked me and I had a minimal understanding of what was going on but that also might have just been me not paying enough attention

[Susan]

A pretty good spy novel. Focuses on World War II and British secret service agents against the Gestapo and military intelligence. The story was good and built to a satisfactory end, but the context was sketchy I thought, or at least I like to learn more historical stuff when I read these things, not just enjoy a thrilling story. Writing is competent but not Le Carre.
The book begins with a quote from Ernest May from his book on the defeat of France to the effect that the Allies were better prepared than the Germans for war in 1939 and should have done better initially. That surprises me. The book is, in part, an answer to why they didn't do better, but without the larger historical context I'd like. Also I think MI-6 was called SIS during the war—a small detail.

[Lesley]

It is February 1940, and England is desperate to find out when and how Hitler will make his move toward France. Sleeper agent Eva Bernhardt comes into possession of vital information-and makes a run for it. Uncertain whom to trust, whether she is racing to safety or death, Eva is about to take her future into her own hands-and with it, perhaps the future of the entire war. This is a fast paced book, excellant!













I

[Al]

An interesting novel about the espionage and counter-espionage efforts of the British and Germans during WWII.....in this tale, the communication of false information in an attempt to deceive the enemy.

[Jim Hogan]

Twists & turns. A good story.

Interesting characters that create many possible paths & outcomes. Weaving a few historical facts into the story makes you think that it could be true.

[james]

This is a story of World War II in Germany. It deals with spies who are trying to learn about the coming German attack against France. Considering the subject, it's a bit disappointing.

[Colleen]

Getting ready to start this one, too

[Josephine]

Almost done, really enjoying this. Nothing like a good spy story. Loved this book

[Jocelyn]

Pretty good!

[Richard Mulholland]

a very good book

[Tim Jones]

Awful, truly awful.

[Steven Raszewski]

A good, fast, entertaining and well written WWII spy thriller.

[Crestial Wintersmith]

Not much to be excited about. Not a typical spy novel that you wish it was. It's okay. Read it if you must, you can totally ignore this book if you want to.

[Kenneth Brachfeld]

Solid. Good WW2 spy-thriller. Will read other books by this author.

[Pranav Mehta]

a must read