The Swiss Spy

Spy Masters, Book 2

By: Alex Gerlis

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

It's not unusual for spies to have secrets, but Henry Hunter has more than most, and after he is stopped by British Intelligence at Croydon airport on the eve of the Second World War, he finds that he has even more. From Switzerland he embarks on a series of increasingly perilous missions into Nazi Germany, all while having to cope with different identities and competing spymasters. In March 1941 in Berlin, haunted by a dark episode from his past, he makes a fateful decision, resulting in a dramatic journey to the Swiss frontier with a shocking outcome. The Swiss Spy is set against the real-life backdrop of the top-secret Nazi plans to invade the Soviet Union. The story paints an authentic picture of life inside wartime Europe: the menacing atmosphere, the ever-present danger, and the constant intrigue of the world of espionage.

©2015 Alex Gerlis (P)2015 Tantor

Great WWII spy fiction

the author goes through great pains to make this book as historically accurate as possible

Solid read

What did you love best about The Swiss Spy?

Always nice to have new additions to the WWII spy genre, I believe.

What did you like best about this story?

Fairly unique story.

Have you listened to any of Derek Perkins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Loved it

Alex Gerlis has the great talent of creating unlikeable characters whom I root for. This was an excellent mix of history and fiction, a spy story and a story of atonement (almost). I enjoyed every moment.

Mr. Perkins' narration was equally superb. He didn't just read the book, he performed it. I will make sure to look for more of his work.

Another great spy story by Alex Geris

This is my fourth or fifth book by the author. He does a good job in creating an interesting, complicated yet realistic plot. There were some troubling scenes, but I’m sure that kind of brutality was common during World War II.

Reveals the Germans Mindset

I think this may be the first WWII novel that I have read that reveals the every day life of average Germans in the early days of the war. It certainly doesn't pull any punches. Most citizens were complicit, according to Gerlis, in the evil reign of the Nazi party.

Gerlis does a wonderful job recreating the oppressing and fearful atmosphere of living in In Nazi Germany. It's why I gave it 4 stars. But it is also why it is so tragic to read.

You should not read this if you are simply wanting an escape. Because in Nazi Germany there was no escape.