The Spandau Complication
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Casemate has a long history of publishing high quality military history non-fiction. Lately, they have expanded their range of work to include well written novels using wartime settings." – WWII History MagazineIn Cold War Berlin US Army Major Harry Holbrook is caught in the midst of assassination attempts and has to put his trust in an unknown contact and the reliability of information that may allow him to foil another assassination.
Hot on the heels of a dressing-down by the U.S. Commander Berlin, U.S. Army Major Harry Holbrook receives an unexpected luncheon invitation from the Soviet commandant of Spandau Prison, where the last three remaining Nazi war criminals are incarcerated. A contact in East Berlin alerts Holbrook that the Red Army faction will attempt to assassinate West Berlin Mayor Willi Brandt and the U.S. Commander at the opening of the Fifth Annual German-American Volksfest. Holbrook helps foil the plot. Coming to trust his contact, Holbrook knows he should act when he is tipped off that a Mossad terrorist attempts to assassinate two of the three Spandau prisoners upon their release from the prison... Set in the divided city of Berlin in the mid-1960s where recent incidents have brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before, this debut novel brings a complex tapestry of events to a breathtaking conclusion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Orkand (Misfire: The Tragic Failure of the M16 in Vietnam with Lyman Duryea) draws on his experiences as a U.S. Army officer stationed in a divided Berlin for his fiction debut, a low-energy, somewhat directionless military drama. In 1966, Maj. Harry Holbrook, the army's public information officer in West Berlin, has a front row seat at several key events, including the defection of a Soviet fighter pilot who purposefully crashes his MIG into a West Berlin lake; the attempt by terrorists to kill dozens of military officers at a community fair; and the foiled effort by a Mossad agent to assassinate two Nazi war criminals upon their release from Spandau Prison after long sentences. When he's not handling important army business, Holbrook courts the lovely Carolyn Mattersdorf, who teaches third graders at a school on the army base; pals around with foreign correspondents; and sends out the occasional press release. The action closes with Holbrook getting his wish—being reassigned to a combat position in Vietnam and shipping out. Most readers will likely pine for a firmer story line and some suspense. Military buffs may appreciate the glimpse into a slice of cold war life.
