What do you think?
Rate this book
Czechmate
Everyone was entitled to bury his mother.
Except, it seemed, Leo Panuska.
All hell broke out in the Glasshouse when Leo vanished. SIS agents don’t disappear - unless they’re defecting.
Had he really gone back to Czechoslovakia to bury his mother?
And what should they do now that he’s resurfaced and wants help to get out?
In Prague, alone and hunted by the secret police, Leo is sheltered by Eliska, a beautiful young dissident.
Together they uncover a horrifying story of treachery and dishonour involving Leo’s father and the betrayal of a partisan group to the Nazis in the dying days of the war.
His father’s diaries reveal the identity of the real traitor.
And Leo wants revenge.
Back in the Glasshouse they’re not so sure.
If Leo is not a double-agent his actions make him a security risk.
And if he’s discovered their secrets they can’t take any chances…
For Leo Panuska the nightmare is only just beginning...
Czechmate is a classic Cold War thriller by a master of the genre.
Except, it seemed, Leo Panuska.
All hell broke out in the Glasshouse when Leo vanished. SIS agents don’t disappear - unless they’re defecting.
Had he really gone back to Czechoslovakia to bury his mother?
And what should they do now that he’s resurfaced and wants help to get out?
In Prague, alone and hunted by the secret police, Leo is sheltered by Eliska, a beautiful young dissident.
Together they uncover a horrifying story of treachery and dishonour involving Leo’s father and the betrayal of a partisan group to the Nazis in the dying days of the war.
His father’s diaries reveal the identity of the real traitor.
And Leo wants revenge.
Back in the Glasshouse they’re not so sure.
If Leo is not a double-agent his actions make him a security risk.
And if he’s discovered their secrets they can’t take any chances…
For Leo Panuska the nightmare is only just beginning...
Czechmate is a classic Cold War thriller by a master of the genre.
- GenresFiction
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 18, 1984
13 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 30, 2022
Czechmate by David Brierley
You know how all the time authors are banging out spy thrillers which are compared favourably to John Le Carré, and you buy it and read it and it is a damp squib compared to the master? Well this book really is as good – if not better – than Le Carré. Huzzah!
There are only two downsides: the first is that Brierley’s output of novels is relatively small – a mere twelve. The second is that he is a contemporary of Le Carré being born in 1936 (Le Carré was born in 1931), working in the same field, at very much the same sort of quality, and has been largely eclipsed. Such a shame! Was there really not room for two?
As far as character depiction and Cold War plotting goes, I think (for me) Brierley may just edge it. Czechmate is, apparently his most popular – thus, possibly, his best novel. I was bowled over by it, and kept up nights by it.
It was published first in 1984 and acknowledges Glasnost. Being set in Czechoslovakia before the Balkans war of the Nineties, it is interesting now as much for being a historical document as for being a page-turning spy novel. The author obviously knows the area and its history well. Spy fiction being dependent on the bluff and double bluff I cannot say much about the plot without dropping massive spoilers.
All Brierley’s spy novels are on Kindle and can be fettled also on paper (second hand), having been reissued by Lume Books in 2015. If you enjoy spy fiction and are a haunter of second hand book shops, it will be worth keeping an eye out there.
Perhaps appropriately, there is no mention of David Brierley, author, on Wikipedia. Nor any proper biography of him on the web that I can find. Fantastic Fiction carries a few details here: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/da.... From this I have gleaned that his first novel in the ‘Cody’ series (a female spy) was published in 1979. His last novel was published in 2000. A volume of short fiction was published in 2012.
If you enjoy spy thrillers, Czechmate is well worth your time. I shall certainly be seeking out more of Brierley’s books.
You know how all the time authors are banging out spy thrillers which are compared favourably to John Le Carré, and you buy it and read it and it is a damp squib compared to the master? Well this book really is as good – if not better – than Le Carré. Huzzah!
There are only two downsides: the first is that Brierley’s output of novels is relatively small – a mere twelve. The second is that he is a contemporary of Le Carré being born in 1936 (Le Carré was born in 1931), working in the same field, at very much the same sort of quality, and has been largely eclipsed. Such a shame! Was there really not room for two?
As far as character depiction and Cold War plotting goes, I think (for me) Brierley may just edge it. Czechmate is, apparently his most popular – thus, possibly, his best novel. I was bowled over by it, and kept up nights by it.
It was published first in 1984 and acknowledges Glasnost. Being set in Czechoslovakia before the Balkans war of the Nineties, it is interesting now as much for being a historical document as for being a page-turning spy novel. The author obviously knows the area and its history well. Spy fiction being dependent on the bluff and double bluff I cannot say much about the plot without dropping massive spoilers.
All Brierley’s spy novels are on Kindle and can be fettled also on paper (second hand), having been reissued by Lume Books in 2015. If you enjoy spy fiction and are a haunter of second hand book shops, it will be worth keeping an eye out there.
Perhaps appropriately, there is no mention of David Brierley, author, on Wikipedia. Nor any proper biography of him on the web that I can find. Fantastic Fiction carries a few details here: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/da.... From this I have gleaned that his first novel in the ‘Cody’ series (a female spy) was published in 1979. His last novel was published in 2000. A volume of short fiction was published in 2012.
If you enjoy spy thrillers, Czechmate is well worth your time. I shall certainly be seeking out more of Brierley’s books.
July 14, 2017
This book started off promisingly. Set in the 1980s, it kicks off with the disappearance of a British-Czech man who works for British Intelligence. The service is worried about where he's gone and why. Has he defected? Is he spilling secrets to a foreign power?
The early part of the book focuses on the hunt through London for the missing man. The scene-setting and dialogue is good and we build up a picture of the characters involved in the hunt. Then, suddenly, we switch to Czechoslovakia to be with Leo Panuska, the missing man. There is an interesting thread here about his war hero father, but in many ways that is little more than a plot device. And while Leo is not a bad character, he's not that interesting either. He also takes an unwelcome turn towards being angsty and lovelorn when he meets the beautiful Eliska and they fall almost instantaneously in love.
The story isn't as strong as I thought it would be and the ending appears rushed to me. I didn't dislike this book, I was just a bit disappointed by it.
The early part of the book focuses on the hunt through London for the missing man. The scene-setting and dialogue is good and we build up a picture of the characters involved in the hunt. Then, suddenly, we switch to Czechoslovakia to be with Leo Panuska, the missing man. There is an interesting thread here about his war hero father, but in many ways that is little more than a plot device. And while Leo is not a bad character, he's not that interesting either. He also takes an unwelcome turn towards being angsty and lovelorn when he meets the beautiful Eliska and they fall almost instantaneously in love.
The story isn't as strong as I thought it would be and the ending appears rushed to me. I didn't dislike this book, I was just a bit disappointed by it.
Read
September 15, 2020Can't remember. It was years ago.
January 14, 2024
One of his best...
This book is Brierley at his best, right up there with "Big Bear Little Bear". There is nobody in this genre that writes better than David Brierley.
This book is Brierley at his best, right up there with "Big Bear Little Bear". There is nobody in this genre that writes better than David Brierley.
November 24, 2016
A very good Cold War era spy story, with plenty of twists and turns.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews