I wish I had read the actual account rather than the fictionalized novel.

Based on the life of real-life spy Fritz Kolbe. ( )

A slow start, but once into the actual story, it's quite interesting. Being a spy in WWII was a harrowing experience, never knowing when the Gestapo would catch on and come for you, not knowing if you would be lucky enough for a quick execution when caught, and what would happen to your loved ones. A great story. ( )

This is a fabulous book! A real page-turner that kept me reading well into the night. Based on the story of Fritz Kolbe, perhaps the greatest spy ever, it paints a very realistic picture of life in Berlin during the war, and the disgust of one man at the heart of the German office who decides that he cannot stand by and watch all the horrors of the Nazi regime and does something about it. Through a friend in Switzerland Kolbe manages to get in touch with the OSS operatives stationed in Bern, and delivers key Nazi documents to none other than Allen Dulles, who heads up that office. As the trusted assistant of one of the top foreign service officers, he makes several such trips. Along the way, he has a love affair with a married woman, with whom at the end of the war he is finally able to get to safety in Switzerland. The narrative is beautifully written and translated, and Kollender switches between the technique of having Kolbe tell his story to two Swiss journalists after the war, to landing us right in the thick of things in the hotbed of the German Foreign Office. Expertly done; hats off! One of the best books I have read recently. ( )

The true story of US spy Fritz Kolbe who worked in Ribbentrop's foreign ministry in Berlin during WW2 and was run by Allen Dulles in Bern. The story is based on a biography of Kolbe and is essentially a true story although some aspects have been imagined. Provides an interesting insight into the plight of non-Nazi Berliners and Germans who were mostly afraid to resist, unlike Kolbe. ( )