Voices Under Berlin: The Tale of a Monterey Mary
From SpioneWiki
Contents |
[edit] Author
[edit] Categories
[edit] Agencies
[edit] People
"Chief of Base" for William King Harvey, Reinhard Gehlen. The apparent reference to Molotov is a joke. General Molotov always speaks with Colonel Serpov. The translation of their names is "hammer and sickle."
[edit] Reflections
Ron Edwards: I quite like this recent trend in Insiders fiction about what happens when a normal person is in a Spy vs. Guy situation. The answer is simple: he brushes it off, doesn't even see the dangle or the guilt-trip offered either by the opposition or by his own employers. As a contrast, this type of story emphasizes the neurotic need on the part of the Guy that makes him a Spy, via its absence. It's totally the opposite of Alec in A Spy By Nature, whose need is so consuming that he'd spy for anyone, any time, with whatever rationale. In this one, which reminds me of the novel MASH a little bit, at first it seems more like a Thriller because the Harvey character is a bit romanticized or comedic, and the hijinks are generally patriotic if rambunctious. Also, the Berlin Tunnel frame for the story is similar to Spies Beneath Berlin, putting a heroic spin on it based on the notion of "well, it's doing something, and we got some good intel occasionally." But the main character becomes more and more isolated from the Cold War, or more accurately, more and more obviously committed to having a reasonable and decent life - ultimately, such that the choice between "the mission" and his life doesn't provoke him at all. In this, it's a lot like From Russia a Virgin, and I wonder if more of this sort of thing is available, probably mostly unpublished.
The following from the author's website
A Novel of SIGINT set in Berlin, where the 9539th does to the Secret Cold War what the 4077th did to the Korean War
This is the tale of one of the early skirmishes of the secret Cold War told with a pace and a black humor reminiscent of that used by Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and Richard Hooker (M*A*S*H*). It is set against the backdrop of the CIA cross-sector tunnel operation in Berlin (Operation GOLD, covername: PBJOINTLY). It is the story of the American soldiers who worked the tunnel, and how they fought for a sense of purpose against boredom and the enemy both within and without.
[edit] Awards
- Hollywood Book Festival 2008
- Selected the the Book of the Month for September 2009 by the Military Writer's Society of America (MWSA).
- 2009 Branson Stars & Flags Book Award winner in the Thriller/Adventure Fiction category.
- PODBRAM annual book awards for 2009: Best Historical Concept
- "Puss Reboots" book blog: Top 10 List of Books Reviewed in 2009
- NIEA 2010
