One war has ended Another is just beginning. November 1945. John Russell is walking home through the cold and misty streets of post-war London when his old accomplice, Soviet agent Yevgeny Shchepkin, falls into step alongside him. Shchepkin informs Russell that his masters in Moscow have decided it's time to pay them back for having secured his safe passage from Moscow in the last days of the war. Russell must return to Berlin to spy on his erstwhile colleagues in the German Communist Party, reporting on any aberration from the Stalinist party line. Worse, he is ordered to offer his services to the Americans ? in short, to become a double agent on Stalin's payroll. But Russell knows all too well how short the life expectancy of a double agent is. Together with Shchepkin, who after years of devotion has finally lost his faith in the Soviet project, he hatches a plan to gain his freedom. It's a dangerous scheme. In a world fuelled by paranoia and on the edge of a new, 'cold' war, Russell will need all his wits ? and some luck ? to survive. SELLING POINTS: ? The first John Russell book in the post war period, this is a brilliant story fizzing with suspense from the first page to the last. ? Fascinating portrayal of Berlin in the first months after the war. ? Over 35,000 copies of the series sold so far in the UK ? TV rights optioned by Barrandov (Casino Royale, The Chronicles of Narnia) and the team behind The Tudors. REVIEWS: ?Excellent and evocative' The Times ?Think Robert Harris and Fatherland mixed with a dash of Le Carré' Sue Baker ?An extraordinary evocation of Nazi Germany' C.J. Sansom (Crime writer) ?Exciting and frightening all at once? it's got everything going for it' Julie Walters (Actress and Novelist) ?An outstanding thriller... This series is a quite remarkable achievement' Mike Ripley (Author) , Shots Magazine AUTHOR: David Downing is a full time author.
