Dan Fesperman

What an interesting read - dual narratives, moving back and forth between 1979 -Germany CIA /Langley, VA CIA hdqtrs and then 2014, the daughter of the protagonist, and an investigator - trying to get the bottom of her mental disabled brother's complete breakdown: he shoots both his parents, and then calmly sits on front porch when authorities discover the grisly double murder. Part CIA-Cold War drama, part murder mystery investigation - compelling characters and a real twist in the last chapter... why isn't this a limited film series or a movie? Holy cow -it'd be sooo suspenseful. Have to pay attention - the narratives shift back & forth and it's a bit drawn out in the 2014 part, but still worth the read!… (altro)

Digital audiobook performed by David Bendena

After his wife left him and his partner was killed, detective sergeant Woodrow Cain left North Carolina to start over in New York City. But it’s 1942 and the USA has entered the war against Germany and Japan. When a body is found floating in the Hudson River. Cain meets a man named Danzinger. He looks like a “crackpot,” but he speaks five languages fluently and has the manners of a man of means and education. But who is he really? And is Danzinger really helping Cain solve the murder, or ensnaring him in a larger espionage plot?

This was really a great read. Many of the hallmarks of literary fiction, as well as the pace of an espionage thriller. The characters are fully realized, and I liked the way Fesperman wove their relationships together. The writing is atmospheric, and the setting is vividly portrayed. There are enough plot twists to keep the most ardent mystery fan guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more works by Fesperman.

David Bendena does a marvelous job of performing the audiobook. He’s a talented voice artist and is able to use a variety of accents as required by the eclectic mix of characters.… (altro)

Vlado Petric, un ex policía en el Sarajevo desgarrado por la guerra, tiene que dejar su tierra para reunirse con su esposa y su hija en Alemania, donde se gana modestamente el sustento como trabajador de la construcción en las obras del nuevo Berlín. Una tarde, al volver a casa después de la jornada laboral, un enigmático investigador estadounidense le está esperando en el pequeño apartamento familiar. El investigador, Calvin Pine, enviado por el Tribunal Internacional para Crímenes de Guerra en la ex Yugoslavia, solicita a Petric que viaje a La Haya. Petric acepta sin titubeos cuando Pine le dice que están siguiendo a un pez gordo: uno de los hombres a los que consideran responsables de la terrible matanza de Srebrenica.
Lo que Petric no sabe es que lo están utilizando como cebo para descubrir a un asesino de la generación anterior, un hombre cuyas actividades en la Segunda Guerra Mundial hacen que los asesinos de ésta parezcan aficionados.… (altro)