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Brandenburg Gate First Trade Paper Edition
Author(s): Henry Porter (Author)
- Publisher: Grove Press
- Publication Date: May 10, 2007
- Edition: First Trade Paper
- Language: English
- Print length: 448 pages
- ISBN-10: 0802143148
- ISBN-13: 9780802143143
Book Description
As East Germany collapses, a former Stasi agent is caught in the crossfire of international espionage in this “tour de force on par with John le Carré” (Library Journal, starred review).
Winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award
September 1989. In the tense final days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany’s Communist government is on the brink of collapse. Even the Stasi, once a notoriously fearsome intelligence agency, can’t stop the rebellion. In a desperate play for advantage, they send former foreign agent Dr. Rudi Rosenharte to Trieste to rendezvous with his old lover and fellow agent, Annalise Schering. They believe Annalise has vital intelligence. The only problem: Rudi knows she’s dead. After seeing her lying in her own bloodied bathwater, he kept her suicide a secret.
As collateral for this mission, the Stasi have imprisoned Rudi’s family. But the Stasi is not the only agency using him as a pawn. Soon the British MI6 and American CIA encircle him, forcing him to make an impossible choice.
“An elegant spy thriller that, I believe, John le Carré himself would be pleased to have attributed to him.” —The Guardian
“Porter combines impeccable research with compelling characters caught up in the broad sweep of fascinating historical events . . . [a] riveting read.” —Publishers Weekly
“A top-notch Cold War thriller.” —Library Journal, starred review
Editorial Reviews
Review
An Economist Book of the Year
Winner of the 2005 Crime Writer’s Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award
“Beautifully researched and rich in incident and intriguing characters, this tour de force on a par with John le Carré has as many twists as a mountain road but is never confusing. Readers will root for the protagonist as he struggles to free his brother’s family.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“This is one of those bedside table books with a story so thrilling that you reach for it on waking, before the paper, before coffee, before even bidding good morning to your partner. Henry Porter has done his research so well that you learn much, of strange unvisitable worlds and sinister Cold War crafts, all hitherto closed to all. I was utterly captivated: this book was a total triumph.” —Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa
“Clever, gripping and as enjoyably atmospheric of Berlin as a luxury weekend at the Adlon Hotel.” —Philip Kerr, author of Hitler’s Peace
“A topnotch Cold War thriller . . . Beautifully researched and rich in incident and intriguing characters, this tour de force on a par with John le Carré has as many twists as a mountain road but is never confusing.” —Ronnie H. Lerpening, Library Journal (starred review)
“An accomplished retro-thriller . . . warmly recommended. Henry Porter has fast become one of the masters of the genre.” —David Robson, The Sunday Telegraph
“Set against the backdrop of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the autumn of 1989, the book takes the reader into the wilderness of mirrors that was Cold War international espionage. A complex, intelligent thriller by a skilful writer at the top of his game.” —from the citation for the 2005 Crime Writer’s Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for best adventure/thriller novel in the vein of James Bond
“[Porter] continues to breathe new life into spy fiction.” —Bill Greenwell, The Independent
“A first-rate thriller . . . Porter sustains an elaborate plot skillfully and portrays memorable, multifaceted characters. But his achievement lies in producing a remarkably comprehensive counterpart in fiction to Anna Funder’s nonfiction study Stasiland, re-creating the paranoid, Kafkaesque state. This gives Brandenburg Gate a richness of texture . . . and exhilaratingly testifies to the thriller genre’s ability to transcend its primary role as entertainment.” —John Dugdale, The Sunday Times (London)
“Porter is proving himself more than a match for Le Carré.” —Henry Sutton, Daily Mirror
About the Author
Henry Porter has written eight internationally bestselling thrillers, including Brandenburg Gate First Trade Paper Edition, which won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, and The Bell Ringers, which was also nominated for the award.
