Helpful Score: 1
Every once in a while, a new thriller writer emerges with such an instant command of his craft that readers everywhere take notice. Such a one is John Altman, with A Gathering of Spies.
In l943, America thought it had rounded up all the German spies on its soil. It was wrong. Now, Germany's greatest weapon-a woman with special talents, both for tradecraft and for death-is headed home with critical information about the still-developing atomic bomb, and the Allies' chief hope for stopping her is a British agent with agendas of his own. Originally recruited into MI5 to pose as a double agent, he's been telling the Germans that he'd do anything to free his wife, a prisoner of a Polish concentration camp. This happens to be true. The question is: How much would he really do to set her free? Where are his loyalties exactly?
As the two spies play cat-and-mouse games across three countries, the ambiguities deepen, each figure showing new sides, each action providing new twists, until at last both agents are swept into a series of climaxes as unpredictable as they are inevitable. This is suspense writing at its best-and the beginning of a brilliant new career.
"If there are thriller writers better than this, I'd like to know who they are. John Altman is a major new talent on the scene."-Jack Higgins
John Altman is a musician and a freelance writer in New York City. A member of an extended family of writers, he is currently at work on his second novel.
In l943, America thought it had rounded up all the German spies on its soil. It was wrong. Now, Germany's greatest weapon-a woman with special talents, both for tradecraft and for death-is headed home with critical information about the still-developing atomic bomb, and the Allies' chief hope for stopping her is a British agent with agendas of his own. Originally recruited into MI5 to pose as a double agent, he's been telling the Germans that he'd do anything to free his wife, a prisoner of a Polish concentration camp. This happens to be true. The question is: How much would he really do to set her free? Where are his loyalties exactly?
As the two spies play cat-and-mouse games across three countries, the ambiguities deepen, each figure showing new sides, each action providing new twists, until at last both agents are swept into a series of climaxes as unpredictable as they are inevitable. This is suspense writing at its best-and the beginning of a brilliant new career.
"If there are thriller writers better than this, I'd like to know who they are. John Altman is a major new talent on the scene."-Jack Higgins
John Altman is a musician and a freelance writer in New York City. A member of an extended family of writers, he is currently at work on his second novel.
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