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The Double Agent #3
City of Traitors
As the end of the Second World War in Europe looms, a new conflict is in its early stages: who will control Europe when the war ends?
Soviet double-agent 'Archie' is now a British diplomat in the United States, feeding information on the Special Relationship back to Moscow Centre. Meanwhile, erstwhile Soviet agent 'Bertie' - Chrales Cooper - is sent on a perilous mission to Italy before being drawn towards Berlin as the Allies draw near their goal.
As the Red Army draws in on Berlin from the east, the British and Americans from the West, the heart of the Reich trembles beneath bombardment and the pitiless tracks of tanks. The stage is set for a climactic showdown, and the traitors become more central than ever...
Soviet double-agent 'Archie' is now a British diplomat in the United States, feeding information on the Special Relationship back to Moscow Centre. Meanwhile, erstwhile Soviet agent 'Bertie' - Chrales Cooper - is sent on a perilous mission to Italy before being drawn towards Berlin as the Allies draw near their goal.
As the Red Army draws in on Berlin from the east, the British and Americans from the West, the heart of the Reich trembles beneath bombardment and the pitiless tracks of tanks. The stage is set for a climactic showdown, and the traitors become more central than ever...
- GenresEspionage
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 13, 2026
About the author
Alex Gerlis
41 books358 followersAlex Gerlis was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, in 1955. He graduated with a degree in Law and Politics from Hull University in 1977 and, after working as a political researcher and journalist, joined the BBC in 1983 as a researcher on Panorama.
Over the next twenty years he worked on a number of BBC News and Current Affairs programmes, including making documentaries for The Money Programme and election programmes with David Dimbleby and Jeremy Paxman. He has also edited Breakfast News, the One o'Clock News, the Six o'Clock News and the Weekend News for the BBC. In August 1998 he was the BBC TV News duty editor on the day of the Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, the coverage of which later won a Royal Television Society award. In September 2001 he was one of the BBC Newsroom team covering the attack on the Twin Towers. He has also worked for the BBC throughout Europe, the United States, the Middle East and in China, and from 2005 to March 2011 was Head of Training at the BBC College of Journalism – the body in charge of the training of the corporation's 7,500 journalists.
Alex's first novel was inspired by his work covering the 50th anniversary of D-Day from Normandy. He is married with two daughters and lives in west London.
Over the next twenty years he worked on a number of BBC News and Current Affairs programmes, including making documentaries for The Money Programme and election programmes with David Dimbleby and Jeremy Paxman. He has also edited Breakfast News, the One o'Clock News, the Six o'Clock News and the Weekend News for the BBC. In August 1998 he was the BBC TV News duty editor on the day of the Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, the coverage of which later won a Royal Television Society award. In September 2001 he was one of the BBC Newsroom team covering the attack on the Twin Towers. He has also worked for the BBC throughout Europe, the United States, the Middle East and in China, and from 2005 to March 2011 was Head of Training at the BBC College of Journalism – the body in charge of the training of the corporation's 7,500 journalists.
Alex's first novel was inspired by his work covering the 50th anniversary of D-Day from Normandy. He is married with two daughters and lives in west London.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The race to uncover the traitor hots up.
"City of Traitors" is the third book in a planned four-book series. It opens in November 1943. Everyone knows the war is in its end stages, but there's still a lot to play for. Traitor Archie is still at large, his identify being narrowed down to seven suspects, all MI5 operatives. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin are due to meet in Iran, and there's every chance the Nazis will use the opportunity to assassinate all of them. Archie must not be permitted to disclose details, so Charles Cooper is assigned to uncover any plots.. However, unknown to MI5, Cooper is also the double agent known as Bertie.
As befits the third book in the series, the author wastes little time scene-setting, but dives right into the action. Moving from Britain to Tehran, to America, the complex and intricate plot follows well-established characters Cooper, Clarke, Morgan and Remington-Barber as they race to uncover Archie, while also following their Russian counterparts, as they manoeuvre their various chess-pieces in an attempt get ahead in the forthcoming post-war race for dominance. There are still few clues to Archie's identity, but the reader is rewarded with further insight into his character. Likewise, Cooper shines in this book - a man torn, driven to drastic measures, but prevailing under tremendous mental and physical strain. His race across the Alps in straight out of an Alistair Maclean thriller.
As usual, the story is full of period detail, painted against the backdrop of the final months of WW2 - the bombing of Berlin, the allies' race to get there first, the Nazis final attempts to eradicate Jews, and the plans that were already being laid to divide up Germany once the war was over. British traitor Donald Maclean even gets a mention. The historical detail is spot-on, as ever. Archie's time in New York is particularly evocative, as life in America seems to carry on as normal.
Fans of Alex Gerlis in general, and the Double Agent series in particular are going to love this penultimate instalment. The final book promises to be a belter.
Highly recommended.
"City of Traitors" is the third book in a planned four-book series. It opens in November 1943. Everyone knows the war is in its end stages, but there's still a lot to play for. Traitor Archie is still at large, his identify being narrowed down to seven suspects, all MI5 operatives. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin are due to meet in Iran, and there's every chance the Nazis will use the opportunity to assassinate all of them. Archie must not be permitted to disclose details, so Charles Cooper is assigned to uncover any plots.. However, unknown to MI5, Cooper is also the double agent known as Bertie.
As befits the third book in the series, the author wastes little time scene-setting, but dives right into the action. Moving from Britain to Tehran, to America, the complex and intricate plot follows well-established characters Cooper, Clarke, Morgan and Remington-Barber as they race to uncover Archie, while also following their Russian counterparts, as they manoeuvre their various chess-pieces in an attempt get ahead in the forthcoming post-war race for dominance. There are still few clues to Archie's identity, but the reader is rewarded with further insight into his character. Likewise, Cooper shines in this book - a man torn, driven to drastic measures, but prevailing under tremendous mental and physical strain. His race across the Alps in straight out of an Alistair Maclean thriller.
As usual, the story is full of period detail, painted against the backdrop of the final months of WW2 - the bombing of Berlin, the allies' race to get there first, the Nazis final attempts to eradicate Jews, and the plans that were already being laid to divide up Germany once the war was over. British traitor Donald Maclean even gets a mention. The historical detail is spot-on, as ever. Archie's time in New York is particularly evocative, as life in America seems to carry on as normal.
Fans of Alex Gerlis in general, and the Double Agent series in particular are going to love this penultimate instalment. The final book promises to be a belter.
Highly recommended.
October 17, 2026
A solid entry into this current series by Gerlis. I would class myself as a big fan of Gerlis’ work and I rank him among my favourite writers, and he is certainly among the best in his genre. However, I found this book a bit of a challenge to get through. The usual highlights of Gerlis’ detailed setting, strong pacing and good twists and turns. The one thing I struggled with was the lack of time we get with Cooper and the amount of time which was seemingly wasted in the middle portion of the novel with characters who seemingly are never particularly relevant to the overall storyline of the novel. My only hope is that this was not merely filler and they will be somewhat important to the final novel in the series to be published Summer 2027. This book and series is definitely worth a read, but this series does not come close to the likes of Gerlis’ Wolfpack thrillers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The third book of four in the Traitors series. As the end of the war draws closer, the characters are all converging on Berlin. This is a well written book and the historical detail is excellent. The story picks up straight where it left off, so it took me a while to remember all the characters. There is a very large cast of characters so it did feel a bit overwhelming at first, but once I hit my stride, this was a tense and exciting read. I can't wait for the concluding part to this story.
A highly recommended author and series.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.
A highly recommended author and series.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was fun to read!! Even though I sometimes felt it was over the top, I loved it! Traitors, double agents, spies: who is who? The historical background is fascinating and richly rendered. The novel is well structured and suspenseful. Too suspenseful: now I can't wait to read the next book in this series!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.
September 2, 2026
An excellent WW2 spy novel. This is the 3rd book in the series and is one of his best novels. Recommended.
October 8, 2026
There’s tense and then there is Alex Gerlis’ city of traitors. So good.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews