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A novel
by Dan Fesperman
Book Reviewed by:An exhilarating spy thriller inspired by a true story about the precious secrets up for grabs just after the fall of the Berlin Wall - from the acclaimed author of The Cover Wife
On a chilly early morning walk on the wooded outskirts of Berlin, Emil Grimm finds the body of his neighbor, a fellow Stasi officer named Lothar, with a gunshot wound to the temple and a pistol in his right hand. Despite appearances, Emil suspects murder. A few months earlier he would have known just what to do, but now, as East Germany disintegrates, being a Stasi colonel is more of a liability than an asset. More troubling still is that Emil and Lothar were involved in a final clandestine mission, one that has clearly turned deadly. Now Emil must finish the job alone, on uncertain ground where old alliances seem to be shifting by the day.
Meanwhile, CIA agent Claire Saylor, sent to Berlin to assist an Agency mop-up action against their collapsing East German adversaries, has just received an upgrade to her assignment. She'll be the designated contact for a high-ranking foreign intelligence officer of the Stasi, although details are suspiciously sketchy. When her first rendezvous goes dangerously awry, she realizes the mission is far more delicate than she was led to believe.
With the rules of the game changing fast, and as their missions intersect, Emil and Claire find themselves on unlikely common ground, fighting for their lives against a powerful enemy hiding in the shadows.
The author creates complex, multi-layered characters. Emil in particular is drawn with nuance, establishing a fine balance between the man who's lost a friend and the man who's a ruthless, calculating spymaster. Although the book isn't exactly a page-turner, the narrative pace is excellent and I found the story engaging from start to finish. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed Winter Work. Its focus on a pivotal moment in world history makes this a great selection for anyone interested in the time period, and its complex plot will appeal to readers who enjoy espionage thrillers...continued
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(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
The main character in Dan Fesperman's spy thriller Winter Work is a colonel in East Germany's HVA, a unit of the infamous East German security service commonly referred to as the Stasi.
After World War II, the United States and the USSR vied for influence over Europe, with most countries in the western half of the continent joining NATO, while eastern countries aligned with the USSR. Germany was split into two countries, with the western half becoming the democratic Federal Republic of Germany (FDR or West Germany) and the eastern section the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany).
In early 1950, East Germany formed the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit ("Ministry for State Security"), also known as the Stasi....
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Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Istanbul Passage and The Good German
Winter Work vividly captures those chaotic first months after the Berlin Wall came down, with East Germany in free fall and once feared Stasi officers running for cover—into the hands of their former enemies. An entertaining thriller about a society turned upside down.
