The Berlin Exchange, Joseph Kanon
The Berlin Exchange, Joseph Kanon
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

The Berlin Exchange

Author: Joseph Kanon

Narrator: Jonathan Davis

Unabridged: 10 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/22/2022


Synopsis

From “the most accomplished spy novelist working today” (The Sunday Times, London), a “heart-poundingly suspenseful” (The Washington Post) espionage thriller set at the height of the Cold War, when a captured American who has spied for the KGB is returned to East Berlin, needing to know who arranged for his release and what they now want from him.

Berlin, 1963. An early morning spy swap, not at the familiar setting for such exchanges, nor at Checkpoint Charlie, where international visitors cross into the East, but at a more discreet border crossing, usually reserved for East German VIPs. The Communists are trading two American students caught helping people to escape over the wall and an aging MI6 operative. On the other side of the trade: Martin Keller, a physicist who once made headlines, but who then disappeared into the English prison system. Keller’s most critical possession: his American passport. Keller’s most ardent desire: to see his ex-wife Sabine and their young son.

The exchange is made with the formality characteristic of these swaps. But Martin has other questions: Who asked for him? Who negotiated the deal? The KGB? He knows that nothing happens by chance. They want him for something. Not physics—his expertise is out of date. Something else, which he cannot learn until he arrives in East Berlin, when suddenly the game is afoot.

Intriguing and atmospheric, with action rising to a dangerous climax, The Berlin Exchange “expertly describes what happens when a disillusioned former agent tries to come in from the cold” (The New York Times Book Review), confirming Kanon as “the greatest writer ever of historical espionage fiction” (Spybrary).

About Joseph Kanon

Joseph Kanon is the Edgar Award–winning author of Los Alamos and nine other novels: The Prodigal SpyAlibiStardustIstanbul PassageLeaving BerlinDefectorsThe AccompliceThe Berlin Exchange, and The Good German, which was made into a major motion picture starring George Clooney and Cate Blanchett. Other awards include the Hammett Award of the International Association of Crime Writers and the Human Writes Award of the Anne Frank Foundation. He lives in New York City.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kathy on April 23, 2022

I have read a number of books written by this author and found them all to be well executed and very good reads. This one manages to be moving as well as delivering a tightly woven account of life in East Berlin in the early 60's. The release of prisoner Martin, a physicist during that bomb making e......more

Goodreads review by Jeremy on February 08, 2022

I haven't read Joseph Kanon previously but had heard good things. The excerpt sounded interesting so I gave it a try. I love espionage thrillers but The Berlin Exchange left me wanting for more. I tried and tried to get into but couldn't. I kept picking it up and putting it down. From the time I sta......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on March 16, 2022

5/10 Reading this book further solidified in my mind the greatness of the book “The Spy Who Came In From The Cold”, by John Le Carre. Joseph Kanon is no Le Carre. The “Berlin Exchange” has some similarities to “Came In From The Cold” but is a second rate version. Let me clarify. The story is good en......more

Goodreads review by Rayrumtum on May 06, 2022

Joseph Kanon has done it again with another superb Cold War thriller. The main character is released from a British prison for espionage as part of a prison swap. He learn that his former wife's husband has arranged the exchange and he gets to reunite with his son. I won't describe what unfolds furt......more

Goodreads review by Amit on March 09, 2023

It’s a nice quick breezy read and a keeps you engaged. A little bit of espionage , a little bit of Cold War and a little bit of family story. In the end it looked like author was in a hurry to meet his writing deadline and hurriedly ended the book .......more


Quotes

"Narrator Jonathan Davis helps build the tension, creating a dark atmosphere of suspicion and suspense. His strong characterizations help listeners keep track of the story’s principals. Davis’s authentic-sounding pronunciation of names and places also helps to set the scenes and build the atmosphere, while his excellent pacing amps up the tension."