Book Review

The author packs a full-length story into this novella!

The Berlin Affair (Release Date: July 6, 2017)

Summer, 1940.

American Xanthe Schneider finds herself catapulted into the world of British espionage, and is sent into the heart of Nazi Germany: Berlin.

Her task? To find out whether Ralph Lancing-Price – a former government minister she had known briefly in London – is a patriot or traitor.

And what of the code he talked about so abstrusely? Using her guise as an American correspondent, Xanthe sets out to find him. But not all is what it seems. Xanthe soon becomes drawn into a web of intrigue involving a project entitled “Enigma” – and she also unexpectedly falls in love.

As the weeks go by, and Germany begins to mobilise its armies, Xanthe has to question who she can trust – and how she can survive?

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My Thoughts…

Firstly, I’d like to say I was very impressed with the amount of information the author was able to fit into a novella. Nor did it feel crammed or out-of-place. This pint-size thriller has everything a full-length novel should have and it was done really well.

The storyline and characters were fully developed and in no way felt two-dimensional. No easy feat considering, the author also had to provide an interesting plot, and in this case, accurate historical information.

I have always been fascinated with WWII and enjoy opportunities to learn new things. “The Berlin Affair” gave me an interesting glimpse of life in Berlin during the war. For example, the rationing and how German women weren’t allowed to wear trousers or makeup. In addition to that, it was really cool to learn that at the beginning of the war, american journalists or foreign correspondence were not only welcome but invited to Germany to cover the German side of things. Heavily censored of course. How fascinating that many of these journalists were actually spies!

I quite liked this book and if you enjoy political thrillers with a little romance thrown in, then I encourage you to give it a go.

Rating… B+

Available on Amazon

David Boyle

Endeavour Press

*Thank you Endeavor Press for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.