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The BookViral Review:
A taut, exciting read that throws surprises at the reader on a regular basis Assignment Potsdam; Countdown To War proves a powerful debut for Charlie FitzGerald’s Colonel McDesmond Series and a must-read for fans of Military and Historical Fiction Espionage Thrillers.
Succeeding on almost all fronts FitzGerald delivers high octane adventure that is utterly absorbing, extremely smart and – considering its drably grey-green post-war East Berlin setting of obsessives, misdirection, disillusionment, self-delusion and treachery – quite beautifully executed as he brings those suspicion-fueled cold war days to vivid life.
It’s clear from the start that FitzGerald is reaching for an epic sweep with his series and another author might have become bogged down in clichéd drama and two-dimensional characters but Fitzgerald’s attention to detail makes his narrative authentically gripping. Avoiding the traps of dull, dutiful heritage fiction he brings fresh emotional weight to the genre whilst a keen ear for dialect and dialogue brings a level of immediacy which is sadly often lacking.
On this level, Fitzgerald deals with the gritty side of spycraft and does a splendid job of establishing mood and characters to have readers perching on the edge of their seats! Not knowing who is to be trusted and wondering how Mac and Engels will emerge emotionally and physically unscathed as converging plot lines come crashing together.
Some books become classics simply because they’re from a bygone era, others deserve to be called classics because, in addition to being of literary merit, they tell us something about a bygone era. Fitzgerald’s first book in his Colonel McDesmond Series is certainly one of the latter.
A powerful and incisive examination of Cold War ethics, rich in both contemporary resonance and elegiac melancholy Assignment Potsdam; Countdown To War is a five-star read for upmarket thriller audiences and is unreservedly recommended!
An extremely affecting reading experience, down to the very last page. True crime Fiction rarely gets better than Saint Bloodbath with Frederick Douglass Reynolds once again demonstrating a prodigious talent for writing in his chosen genre.
In a blaze of colour imagery and a maze of ancient flashbacks, ‘Mexican Sunset’ shines its light on highly emotive and deep parts of human nature and dependency, following the emotional biographic adventure of Rick Jebb as he negotiates loss, love and the difficult business of growing up.
Dusk creeps upon you as you make your way home, bringing with it the stillness and dark of night. As one sense shutters another opens, magnifying each whisper of wind-every shuffle on the pavement behind you.
Is anything ever again like your ‘first love’? The trembling hands, the beating heart, the breathless anticipation-in short, the culmination of all you ever saw and heard and felt about love?
History and present day testifies to the struggles women face and have faced to earn what should be the natural right of all humankind – fairness.
Have you ever come home to a hot bath strewn with rose petals and filled with bubbles, in a bathroom bedecked with scented candles and an ice cold glass of champagne fizzing invitingly on the side. If not you might be thinking poor me but you might want to think again!
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