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Alexsi #1
A Single Spy
During WWII, a young Russian spy with divided loyalties, under deep cover in Nazi Germany, uncovers an assassination plot that could change the course of history
Aleksi Ivanovich Smirnov, an orphan and a thief, has been living by his wits and surviving below the ever-watchful eye of the Soviet system until his luck finally runs out. In 1936, at the age of 16, Aleksi is caught by the NKVD and transported to Moscow. There, in the notorious headquarters of the secret police, he is given a choice: be trained and inserted as a spy into Nazi Germany under the identity of his best friend, the long lost nephew of a high ranking Nazi official, or disappear forever in the basement of the Lubyanka. For Aleksi, it’s no choice at all.
Over the course of the next seven years, Aleksi has to live his role, that of the devoted nephew of a high Nazi official, and ultimately works for the legendary German spymaster Wilhelm Canaris as an intelligence agent in the Abwehr. All the while, acting as a double agent—reporting back to the NKVD and avoiding detection by the Gestapo. Trapped between the implacable forces of two of the most notorious dictatorships in history, and truly loyal to no one but himself, Aleksi’s goal remains the same—survival.
In 1943, Aleksi is chosen by the Gestapo to spearhead one of the most desperate operations of the war—to infiltrate the site of the upcoming Tehran conference between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, and set them up to be assassinated. For Aleksi, it’s the moment of truth; for the rest of the world, the future is at stake.
Aleksi Ivanovich Smirnov, an orphan and a thief, has been living by his wits and surviving below the ever-watchful eye of the Soviet system until his luck finally runs out. In 1936, at the age of 16, Aleksi is caught by the NKVD and transported to Moscow. There, in the notorious headquarters of the secret police, he is given a choice: be trained and inserted as a spy into Nazi Germany under the identity of his best friend, the long lost nephew of a high ranking Nazi official, or disappear forever in the basement of the Lubyanka. For Aleksi, it’s no choice at all.
Over the course of the next seven years, Aleksi has to live his role, that of the devoted nephew of a high Nazi official, and ultimately works for the legendary German spymaster Wilhelm Canaris as an intelligence agent in the Abwehr. All the while, acting as a double agent—reporting back to the NKVD and avoiding detection by the Gestapo. Trapped between the implacable forces of two of the most notorious dictatorships in history, and truly loyal to no one but himself, Aleksi’s goal remains the same—survival.
In 1943, Aleksi is chosen by the Gestapo to spearhead one of the most desperate operations of the war—to infiltrate the site of the upcoming Tehran conference between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, and set them up to be assassinated. For Aleksi, it’s the moment of truth; for the rest of the world, the future is at stake.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published April 25, 2017
335 people are currently reading
1852 people want to read
About the author
William Christie
12 books82 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
WILLIAM CHRISTIE is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a former Marine Corps infantry officer who commanded a number of units and served around the world. In addition to A Single Spy, he has written several other novels, published either under his own name or that of F.J. Chase.
WILLIAM CHRISTIE is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a former Marine Corps infantry officer who commanded a number of units and served around the world. In addition to A Single Spy, he has written several other novels, published either under his own name or that of F.J. Chase.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
March 3, 2017
A gripping WWII novel written by an author who confesses to being a history addict who only wrote contemporary thrillers. Why did he write an historical novel? Because in the course of his research, he came across a five page account of a German plan to assassinate Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt at the Teheran Conference of 1943; a plan thwarted by a Soviet intelligence officer who had infiltrated German military intelligence.
That tidbit set him off on further research, but more detailed information was scarce; the Germans denied it had ever happened, the Russians insisted it did.
The result is this fascinating story packed with spy lore, accurate historical detail, and nail-biting suspense. And explicit sex.
My thanks to Minotaur books for the ARC of this novel, which will go on sale 4/25/17.
That tidbit set him off on further research, but more detailed information was scarce; the Germans denied it had ever happened, the Russians insisted it did.
The result is this fascinating story packed with spy lore, accurate historical detail, and nail-biting suspense. And explicit sex.
My thanks to Minotaur books for the ARC of this novel, which will go on sale 4/25/17.
June 21, 2017
You know when you read a James Bond book you can sort of roll your eyes and say "Okay, this is ridiculous, but it's so fucking entertaining."
Unfortunately, while on the surface this seems like it could pass as a James Bond novel, it falls short.
Alexsi is the most talented 16-year-old you will ever meet. He is an orphan, but he survives on his wits, the fact that he can pick locks, read and write, and speak both Russian and Farsi. All important skills to have, yes, but noooooot that believable in this character who, I might add, speaks and behaves in the exact same way as a 12-year-old in the orphanage when we have some flashes to that period in his life. So much happens to him (including sex - like a LOT of sex, like more than James Bond has sex), but he's so skilled at, well, everything, that it all works out for him.
This is based on the true story of Operation Long Jump which in itself sounds really interesting and I appreciate this book for bringing this piece of history to my attention. But I would much prefer to read actual accounts of the operation, primary sources, etc., than this work of historical fiction that strikes me as being entirely too unbelievable solely because of the character of Alexsi.
There will be a readership for this book, definitely, even though it didn't work for me. One day they'll probably make a movie of it. And it will star Matt Damon.
Full review here.
I received this book from the publisher for review.
Unfortunately, while on the surface this seems like it could pass as a James Bond novel, it falls short.
Alexsi is the most talented 16-year-old you will ever meet. He is an orphan, but he survives on his wits, the fact that he can pick locks, read and write, and speak both Russian and Farsi. All important skills to have, yes, but noooooot that believable in this character who, I might add, speaks and behaves in the exact same way as a 12-year-old in the orphanage when we have some flashes to that period in his life. So much happens to him (including sex - like a LOT of sex, like more than James Bond has sex), but he's so skilled at, well, everything, that it all works out for him.
This is based on the true story of Operation Long Jump which in itself sounds really interesting and I appreciate this book for bringing this piece of history to my attention. But I would much prefer to read actual accounts of the operation, primary sources, etc., than this work of historical fiction that strikes me as being entirely too unbelievable solely because of the character of Alexsi.
There will be a readership for this book, definitely, even though it didn't work for me. One day they'll probably make a movie of it. And it will star Matt Damon.
Full review here.
I received this book from the publisher for review.
February 5, 2017
I am a sucker for this premise: one person, behind the scenes, changes the world, and no one ever knows it. Here's my cover blurb for William Christie's: "A superb spy novel, with a vast sweep across the Eastern Front of World War II, all told from the vantage of a single man fighting to survive, while also perhaps changing the course of history."
September 17, 2018
Novel received courtesy of Goodreads.com First Reads Giveaway
This meticulously researched, wonderfully written novel takes us from Azerbaijan in 1936 to Teheran in 1943 with stops in Moscow, Munich and Berlin on the way. While Alexsi is still a boy, he was in the desert of Azerbaijan living among the tribes while smuggling and stealing to survive. He had to leave his abusive father and make his own way in the world. He's swept up and sent to an orphanage in Russia. His life takes epic turns throughout the novel. He becomes a spy for Russia is sent to Germany and beyond. All the while, knowing that he could be shot at any second for crimes against Stalin either real or imagined.
I think of myself as a fairly well-educated person but I knew absolutely nothing about the role of the Iran in WWII. I guess I never considered the Middle East during the war. With great interest, I read the author's note at the end of the novel and learned the role of Iran was basically re-written so that no one really knows what happened there. Neither the Germans nor the Soviets wanted an accurate record of what happened so most of the soldiers there were summarily executed.
While reading this novel, I kept thinking, "Can a single spy really save the world?" Alexsi's story gives me hope that individuals did indeed change the world and can continue to change the world today.
This meticulously researched, wonderfully written novel takes us from Azerbaijan in 1936 to Teheran in 1943 with stops in Moscow, Munich and Berlin on the way. While Alexsi is still a boy, he was in the desert of Azerbaijan living among the tribes while smuggling and stealing to survive. He had to leave his abusive father and make his own way in the world. He's swept up and sent to an orphanage in Russia. His life takes epic turns throughout the novel. He becomes a spy for Russia is sent to Germany and beyond. All the while, knowing that he could be shot at any second for crimes against Stalin either real or imagined.
I think of myself as a fairly well-educated person but I knew absolutely nothing about the role of the Iran in WWII. I guess I never considered the Middle East during the war. With great interest, I read the author's note at the end of the novel and learned the role of Iran was basically re-written so that no one really knows what happened there. Neither the Germans nor the Soviets wanted an accurate record of what happened so most of the soldiers there were summarily executed.
While reading this novel, I kept thinking, "Can a single spy really save the world?" Alexsi's story gives me hope that individuals did indeed change the world and can continue to change the world today.
January 24, 2018
4+ stars. Lots of very colorful, very interesting scenes which reads like a primer on how to be a Russian spy in the era spanning 1933 to 1944. It lacked a real plot but that can be overlooked for the great characters and a very satisfying ending. A plus was the wonderful narration of the audiobook by Ari Fliakos, who is now on my list of favorite narrators.
March 26, 2017
Very satisfying read for fans of military fiction and historical fiction. Especially enjoyed the look at Iran and Turkey during WWII, which is a largely unexplored setting. Already thinking of my library visitors who will want to read this!
July 3, 2017
1936. Soviet Azerbaijan. Alexsi, in flight from the violence of an orphanage since the age of thirteen, is living on the streets of Baku when he falls in with a gang of tribesmen who live by smuggling goods over the border between the Soviet Union and Iran. "After a few trips he had more rubles hidden away than most party bosses in the Soviet Union, let along sixteen-year-olds." Thus opens William Christie's gripping espionage novel, A Single Spy, his eighth book.
Alexsi is no ordinary Azeri teenager: he is educating himself by reading books in libraries; he speaks Russian, Persian, German, and some English; and he is a resourceful and ruthless fighter who carries a knife hidden away in his clothing. Then, while reading at the Baku General Library he is seized by Soviet secret police (NKVD), tossed into a crowded railcar, and shipped off to Moscow. There, after days of deprivation in the depths of the Lubyanka, he is taken to be interrogated by a humorless older man with an air of authority. The man's name is Lukashev, and he is senior NKVD officer.
Lukashev poses a choice to Alexsi: either enter training as a Soviet spy or face execution for his crimes—which, of course, is no choice at all. Thus the young man enters adulthood through a grueling, months-long education in spycraft and survival skills. Following a real-world test in Moscow infiltrating a group of dissident students, Alexsi learns about the assignment for which he has been so carefully selected: he is to go undercover in Germany, impersonating a childhood friend with an uncle in Munich who is a high-ranking Nazi diplomat. As the Nazi's long-lost nephew, whom he'd last seen as an infant, Alexsi is to worm his way into the Nazi world and seek out ways to gain access to valuable secrets. Lukashev, counting on Alexsi's resourcefulness, tells him, "We gather information by many means, but a single spy in the right place and at the right moment may change the course of history."
In A Single Spy, we follow Alexsi's life from 1932, when he was an abused child in an Azeri village, to 1943, as a double agent working for the Soviets within the Abwehr. The action rockets from Azerbaijan to the Iran to the USSR to Germany, then to Switzerland and Turkey en route back to Iran. Christie paints a convincing picture of every location where he sets his story, and he steadily builds suspense toward a climax full of surprises. His command of details about the German military in World War II is impressive. The book contains information I've read nowhere else about German weaponry and the organization of the German general staff. It's an impressive performance. Christie's tale is grounded in history, hinging on two well-established facts. First, though Soviet spies and Winston Churchill himself informed Stalin well in advance of the German invasion, the Soviet leader refused to believe them—with millions of Russians dying as a result. And the Nazis did mount an elaborate (and of course unsuccessful) plot to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin when they met at the Tehran Conference late in 1943. Christie seems to get it all right.
Recently, I posted an article entitled "My 10 favorite espionage novels." You can find it on my blog.
Alexsi is no ordinary Azeri teenager: he is educating himself by reading books in libraries; he speaks Russian, Persian, German, and some English; and he is a resourceful and ruthless fighter who carries a knife hidden away in his clothing. Then, while reading at the Baku General Library he is seized by Soviet secret police (NKVD), tossed into a crowded railcar, and shipped off to Moscow. There, after days of deprivation in the depths of the Lubyanka, he is taken to be interrogated by a humorless older man with an air of authority. The man's name is Lukashev, and he is senior NKVD officer.
Lukashev poses a choice to Alexsi: either enter training as a Soviet spy or face execution for his crimes—which, of course, is no choice at all. Thus the young man enters adulthood through a grueling, months-long education in spycraft and survival skills. Following a real-world test in Moscow infiltrating a group of dissident students, Alexsi learns about the assignment for which he has been so carefully selected: he is to go undercover in Germany, impersonating a childhood friend with an uncle in Munich who is a high-ranking Nazi diplomat. As the Nazi's long-lost nephew, whom he'd last seen as an infant, Alexsi is to worm his way into the Nazi world and seek out ways to gain access to valuable secrets. Lukashev, counting on Alexsi's resourcefulness, tells him, "We gather information by many means, but a single spy in the right place and at the right moment may change the course of history."
In A Single Spy, we follow Alexsi's life from 1932, when he was an abused child in an Azeri village, to 1943, as a double agent working for the Soviets within the Abwehr. The action rockets from Azerbaijan to the Iran to the USSR to Germany, then to Switzerland and Turkey en route back to Iran. Christie paints a convincing picture of every location where he sets his story, and he steadily builds suspense toward a climax full of surprises. His command of details about the German military in World War II is impressive. The book contains information I've read nowhere else about German weaponry and the organization of the German general staff. It's an impressive performance. Christie's tale is grounded in history, hinging on two well-established facts. First, though Soviet spies and Winston Churchill himself informed Stalin well in advance of the German invasion, the Soviet leader refused to believe them—with millions of Russians dying as a result. And the Nazis did mount an elaborate (and of course unsuccessful) plot to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin when they met at the Tehran Conference late in 1943. Christie seems to get it all right.
Recently, I posted an article entitled "My 10 favorite espionage novels." You can find it on my blog.
February 4, 2017
Aleksi is a spy – and a very good one – but not by choice. He is a Russian orphan who learned to survive by stealing for food and money and by being very, very observant. When he is caught by the Russian secret police in 1936 at age 16 he is given two options – be trained as a spy and go to Germany in the guise of his once boyhood friend who is the long lost nephew of a high ranking German, or go to prison. Aleksi is a survivor – he becomes a spy first for Russia and then for Germany not because of any sense of patriotism or family loyalty but because he wants to live a good life and survive. Based on historical facts, this is one of the best spy novels I’ve read and really highlights how the course of history could have been changed by one single spy.
April 18, 2017
My review of this outstanding book was published in issue #149 of Mystery Scene magazine.
You can check out what I had to say in full via this link: http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/26-rev...
You can check out what I had to say in full via this link: http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/26-rev...
February 9, 2021
This was an ok book. I feel like the plot on the dust jacket could have been a more prominent part of the story rather than the last 70 or so pages. This also seems to be a too good to be true kind of spy story as Alexis gets every break imaginable and is never suspected of anything, minus one daring escape in the middle of the book. Alright book, I feel that there are some spots for improvement.
March 5, 2024
Excellent first book in a series, with a strong character, who is practical and ruthless but not completely amoral. Alexsi is beaten by a child by his father; his mother passes away, and the Russians remove the German family who care for him to a concentration camp, as their German Communist sympathies are presumably not orthodox enough for the Russians. He is sent to an orphanage and then groomed by the NKVD as a spy, later infiltrating the household of the uncle of his German friend in Munich on behalf of the Russians. Aleksi's adventures are told with relish, and it becomes clear that he is on the side of neither the Russians nor the Germans; he sees the flaws of each of their ideologies with a clear eye and is loyal only to his own cause. When he is sent to Teheran, he has the opportunity to foil an assassination which would have become an international incident, proving that he is principled and not a nihilist (and also setting up his trajectory for the second book, The Double Agent, which I'm reading now). The author did an incredible amount of research for this thrilling novel, and the positive professional reviews confirm it. A great story of an interesting agent of espionage.
July 17, 2017
Alexsi, Russian native trained as a spy, sent to Germany in 1930's and becomes a double agent with a lot of exciting adventures! Especially when sent to Iran out in the tribal sectors to deter the British invasion and encounters double-cross after double-cross with thrilling escapes. And then in Tehran to coordinate the assassination of the "Big Three" - where more double-crossing occurs!
Good story with a strong character as the protagonist.
Good story with a strong character as the protagonist.
May 3, 2017
I looked at this book the first time and said "It is SO long" and it took me about a week to get through the first part. However in the last four days I have read better than 40% of it, and it became really good. I was literally on the edge of my seat.
A single spy is about a young man who essentially from birth has been raised and groomed to be just the man they want for a spy. One without the tangles that most people have. However what they did not count on was the fact that he didn't care, he didn't care about him home country, he didn't care about his spy country, he just wanted to live his life.
I received this book free through the Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a review.
A single spy is about a young man who essentially from birth has been raised and groomed to be just the man they want for a spy. One without the tangles that most people have. However what they did not count on was the fact that he didn't care, he didn't care about him home country, he didn't care about his spy country, he just wanted to live his life.
I received this book free through the Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a review.
June 5, 2017
Lots of great detail about life in the USSR under Stalin, Berlin under Hitler and WWII era Iran. If you like exciting adventure that takes the main character from one perilous situation to another, this is a good book for you.
August 31, 2023
Probably the best spy novel I’ve read in a long time. Alexsi is a Russian orphan who has spent his short life living on the outskirts of society. One day he is grabbed in Baku and brought to Moscow where he is recruited by the NKVD. He is sent to Germany where a well placed man has been requesting his nephew be allowed to go to him. Fortunately Alexsi is the same age as this nephew.
Once in Berlin his uncle helps him get jobs and advance in the military. Alexsi’s cunning and intelligence bring him to the attention of higher ups who recruit him and he becomes a double agent. Because he was raised in Azerbaijan he speaks Farsi as well as Russian and German so he gets sent to Iran. There he exceeds expectations.
I won’t say anymore except if you like spy novels then this is a must read. I can’t wait to read more in the series.
Once in Berlin his uncle helps him get jobs and advance in the military. Alexsi’s cunning and intelligence bring him to the attention of higher ups who recruit him and he becomes a double agent. Because he was raised in Azerbaijan he speaks Farsi as well as Russian and German so he gets sent to Iran. There he exceeds expectations.
I won’t say anymore except if you like spy novels then this is a must read. I can’t wait to read more in the series.
December 12, 2017
Remember, one man's flippant summary may be another man's spoiler.
In "A Single Spy" Christie puts flesh on the premise that the best spy is someone who's been relentlessly abused from a young age, which forces him/her to develop skills of observation, avoidance, dramatization, stoicism, combat and revenge that will serve in adult life,.
Because, after all, a spy does have to compartmentalize dirty deeds done by somebody (spy or opponent) for a greater cause.
The story is set in the 1930s. This particular single spy is Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov, who spends preteen years in an orphanage in Azerbajian. After fleeing the cesspool orphanage, he lives off his wits assisting smugglers until he's taken in hand by Soviet authorities, who know of his fluency in multiple languages including German - and his sang froid.
Alexsi's personal motto is a Russian phrase: "Sniff out, suck up, survive."
First the Soviets plant him in Nazi Germany, where he eventually betrays the blood uncle who has been housing him, despite years of no contact.
Eventually Alexsi is moved to the Middle East, to assist in the assassination of Churchill and Roosevelt when the two are supposed to meet with Stalin in Tehran in 1943.
Alexsi figures a way out. First he saves Churchill, and then, after a direct conversation with Churchill, his own skin.
Alexsi's in the wind at story's end. I bet he'll figure out a way to evade his Soviet bosses indefinitely.
You sort of root for this protagonist, but actually I think he's had to turn into a sociopath to survive.
In "A Single Spy" Christie puts flesh on the premise that the best spy is someone who's been relentlessly abused from a young age, which forces him/her to develop skills of observation, avoidance, dramatization, stoicism, combat and revenge that will serve in adult life,.
Because, after all, a spy does have to compartmentalize dirty deeds done by somebody (spy or opponent) for a greater cause.
The story is set in the 1930s. This particular single spy is Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov, who spends preteen years in an orphanage in Azerbajian. After fleeing the cesspool orphanage, he lives off his wits assisting smugglers until he's taken in hand by Soviet authorities, who know of his fluency in multiple languages including German - and his sang froid.
Alexsi's personal motto is a Russian phrase: "Sniff out, suck up, survive."
First the Soviets plant him in Nazi Germany, where he eventually betrays the blood uncle who has been housing him, despite years of no contact.
Eventually Alexsi is moved to the Middle East, to assist in the assassination of Churchill and Roosevelt when the two are supposed to meet with Stalin in Tehran in 1943.
Alexsi figures a way out. First he saves Churchill, and then, after a direct conversation with Churchill, his own skin.
Alexsi's in the wind at story's end. I bet he'll figure out a way to evade his Soviet bosses indefinitely.
You sort of root for this protagonist, but actually I think he's had to turn into a sociopath to survive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2018
"A Single Spy" follows Alexsi from his childhood in an orphanage to his role as a Russian spy during World War II. Alexsi is a talented and intelligent child who can dominate in fights and thievery- these skills are what get him recruited as a spy. The book is engaging, although not what I expected. The book is fast-paced and full of action- and not just spy/war-related violence but a lot of graphic sex scenes that I did not expect (including a "class" on seduction and sex). It read a bit like James Bond or Mission Impossible at times. I found it to be a bit ridiculous at times, but it was lightly entertaining (in the same way as the action films).
I listened to the audiobook, and I will say that I thought the narrator did a great job on pacing and voices. At times, I wish he would have read faster, but I think it was overall great. I enjoyed listening to it- the narrator's voice is pretty soothing, but really feels like it could have been Alexsi's voice (if he had an American accent). I think it was definitely a good book to listen to!
Please note that I received an audiobook through a goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own.
I listened to the audiobook, and I will say that I thought the narrator did a great job on pacing and voices. At times, I wish he would have read faster, but I think it was overall great. I enjoyed listening to it- the narrator's voice is pretty soothing, but really feels like it could have been Alexsi's voice (if he had an American accent). I think it was definitely a good book to listen to!
Please note that I received an audiobook through a goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own.
June 27, 2017
A Single Spy by William Christie, is an amazing story that is hard to put down.
This book follows the life of an orphaned boy, who becomes a spy and leads an incredible life that astounds the reader with his ability, charm and wit.
Superbly written, and full of non stop action, i would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good action packed thriller.
This book follows the life of an orphaned boy, who becomes a spy and leads an incredible life that astounds the reader with his ability, charm and wit.
Superbly written, and full of non stop action, i would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good action packed thriller.
January 20, 2018
Alan Furst, John le Carre and Joseph Kanon had better watch out. William Christie is nipping at their heels in the realm of spies and espionage. His riveting book, A Single Spy never slackens its sense of menace, as 16 year-old orphan Alexei Ivanovich Smirnov tries to keeps his wits about him after he is grabbed from the General library in Baku, Azerbaijan in which he spent hours poring over books on every imaginable subject His NKVD captors put him in a Black Maria police van filled with other prisoners, in which he knifed a man who tried to rob him, then replaced the knife into a hand-sewn pocket in his underwear . The police van took them to a railway siding where they were loaded onto a train. After countless bone-chilling, hungry days and nights, Alexei was removed from the train at an enormous railway switching yard and placed between two secred policemenin the back seat of car. Eventually, Alexi spied the onion domes of the Kremlin and realized he was in Moscow. He sees a sign for Malaya Lubyanka street, whereupon his heart plummets into his shoes because everyone knows that the Lubyanka is the State Security's headquarters.
Alexei is pushed inside and finds himself in a white room and ordered to undress. His guards did not find his pocket-knife now hidden in the heel of his shoe. Alexei was then subjected to a full body search, then given a bar of soap and ordered to take a shower. Still wet, but dressed in his own dirty clothes, he is conducted to a cell containing two other prisoners. During the night he replaces the knife in his underwear. The next day he is taken to another cell in which there are three thieves who note his slight form ,and believe they can toy with him and relieve him of his possessions. Young Alexei acquits himslf admirably, injuring all three thieves. The guards crashed in, beat Alexei's attackers and removed him from the cell, took him to a toilet, strip searched him again, threw buckets of cold water on him to remove the blood, and gave him clean clothes and straw shoes. Alexei is taken to an upper floor and put in an office where he finally meets the man who will change his life's trajectory.
Grigory Petrovich Yakushev is the chief of the GUGB, a shad0wy group, inside the already secretive NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB. Yakushev presents Alexei with two alternatives, either work for him or face death. Since the first interview was conducted in German, it was little surprise that Yakushev proposed to train him as a spy and insert him into Nazi Germany. A dangerous mission indeed, as Alexei is ordered to assume the identity of the nephew of Hans Schulz, a high official in the Reich foreign ministry. Alexei, knowing that aquiescence was the better part of valor in the Soviet Union, agreed, signed his contract, on to which he inserted his chosen code name, Dante. Yakushev provides his secure 'phone number and orders his new soon-to-be agent to call him the following day. The guards then took Alexei down-stairs where he was treated to a hair-cut and shave. He had a luxurious hot shower, dried off with "a fluffy white towel," and donned a smart brown suit, a white shirt, a tie, as well as shiny black shoes. Just before he leaves the Lubyanka, an overcoat was placed on his shoulders and a fur hat on his head. A warm scarf and gloves completed his transformation. Seeming to materialize out of nowhere, a young man called Sergei approached him and offered to conduct him to his new home.
Alexei is trained in spycraft, how to spot tails, how to follow people undetected and to infiltrate groups that may pose a threat to the Soviet Union. His first assignment is with a group of university students, one of whom he had known at the orphange. He is successful and prevents an attack on Stalin's motorcade. Four of the students are immediately executed. His friend remains free because she too informed on her friends as an agent of the NKVD. Alexei is then trained in coding and how to safely and securely send messages back to Yakushev. His uncle suggests that he join the Nazi army. Alexei's exploits thereafter are too numerous and incredible to detail here. His past life as a thief forced to survive by his wits was ample training for the dangers he faces. This is an extraordinarily detailed, believable book. To quote one reviewer, Justin Scott, "To write a Worldd War 11 espionage thriller as chilling as A Single Spy, and the capture what it takes to survive bloodthirssty dicttators, William Christie is either A BRILLIANT NOVELIST and gifted historian, or he is a ninety-three-year-old veteran of the Soviet and the Nazi spy services."
Alexei is pushed inside and finds himself in a white room and ordered to undress. His guards did not find his pocket-knife now hidden in the heel of his shoe. Alexei was then subjected to a full body search, then given a bar of soap and ordered to take a shower. Still wet, but dressed in his own dirty clothes, he is conducted to a cell containing two other prisoners. During the night he replaces the knife in his underwear. The next day he is taken to another cell in which there are three thieves who note his slight form ,and believe they can toy with him and relieve him of his possessions. Young Alexei acquits himslf admirably, injuring all three thieves. The guards crashed in, beat Alexei's attackers and removed him from the cell, took him to a toilet, strip searched him again, threw buckets of cold water on him to remove the blood, and gave him clean clothes and straw shoes. Alexei is taken to an upper floor and put in an office where he finally meets the man who will change his life's trajectory.
Grigory Petrovich Yakushev is the chief of the GUGB, a shad0wy group, inside the already secretive NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB. Yakushev presents Alexei with two alternatives, either work for him or face death. Since the first interview was conducted in German, it was little surprise that Yakushev proposed to train him as a spy and insert him into Nazi Germany. A dangerous mission indeed, as Alexei is ordered to assume the identity of the nephew of Hans Schulz, a high official in the Reich foreign ministry. Alexei, knowing that aquiescence was the better part of valor in the Soviet Union, agreed, signed his contract, on to which he inserted his chosen code name, Dante. Yakushev provides his secure 'phone number and orders his new soon-to-be agent to call him the following day. The guards then took Alexei down-stairs where he was treated to a hair-cut and shave. He had a luxurious hot shower, dried off with "a fluffy white towel," and donned a smart brown suit, a white shirt, a tie, as well as shiny black shoes. Just before he leaves the Lubyanka, an overcoat was placed on his shoulders and a fur hat on his head. A warm scarf and gloves completed his transformation. Seeming to materialize out of nowhere, a young man called Sergei approached him and offered to conduct him to his new home.
Alexei is trained in spycraft, how to spot tails, how to follow people undetected and to infiltrate groups that may pose a threat to the Soviet Union. His first assignment is with a group of university students, one of whom he had known at the orphange. He is successful and prevents an attack on Stalin's motorcade. Four of the students are immediately executed. His friend remains free because she too informed on her friends as an agent of the NKVD. Alexei is then trained in coding and how to safely and securely send messages back to Yakushev. His uncle suggests that he join the Nazi army. Alexei's exploits thereafter are too numerous and incredible to detail here. His past life as a thief forced to survive by his wits was ample training for the dangers he faces. This is an extraordinarily detailed, believable book. To quote one reviewer, Justin Scott, "To write a Worldd War 11 espionage thriller as chilling as A Single Spy, and the capture what it takes to survive bloodthirssty dicttators, William Christie is either A BRILLIANT NOVELIST and gifted historian, or he is a ninety-three-year-old veteran of the Soviet and the Nazi spy services."
April 13, 2018
(UNFINISHED)
Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov was a fascinating character, and must have been based on the “Ace of Spies” Sidney Reilly, aka Shlomo Rosenblum from the Ukraine. Stalin ordered Reilly’s death in 1925, though—while this book takes place between 1932 and 1943.
Alexsi grew up on a kolkhoz, a collective farm, beaten by his father so he spent all his time at the home of a friend and his German Communist family. The mother Elsa was a surrogate mother and taught Alexsi German. When the Communists came to evict the Schultz family and send them to either Siberia or death, the other townspeople immediately looted all of the Schultz’s belongings. Alexsi rescued the beloved Grimm’s Fairy Tales from the bonfire because he loved to read. When he informed against his abusive father, he was awarded by sending him to Special Orphanage Number 27 in Baku, Soviet Azerbaijan. The orphanage was in a large home taken over by the Communists. There Alexsi met a fellow thief, Aida, who got him to break into the school pantry for her, then informed on him. Nice girl, huh? No surprise that they both were later spotted and trained as spies.
But first Alexsi has to escape Baku, because he was going to be sent to prison for theft. He’s adopted” by tribal nomads because he helps them out in town, telling them they’re being cheated. He can also pick locks and speak Farsi and Azeri. In turn they teach him to ride a horse, shoot a rifle, and the art of stealth. He learns to trust no one and develops a 6th sense for impending betrayal—like when one of the Azerbaijanis sells him out to the Russians at the border with Iran.
Eventually Alexsi makes his way to Moscow where he lives by his wits, stealing to survive, and reading everything he can during the day in the city library.
He ends up being shipped to Lubjanka Prison in Moscow, where he once again survives by his wits—and hidden knife. He’s spotted by Pe___, whom I can just picture being played by the older Christopher Plummer.
Alexsi is trained in traditional spycraft, which is grueling and exhausting, though he lives in relative luxury as reward. His training becomes grotesque when he is shown how to make a woman “come”—then ordered to do the same in front of his training officer, who grades his performance.
And this is only the beginning! He meets Aida again, who is a university student. She is quite the femme fatale, and informs on Alexsi again. This time he knows her for what she really is. He doesn’t want to sell weapons to her student comrades, but is ordered to so they can be arrested when they attempt to kill Stalin.
Alexsi is sent to Germany to assume the identity of his lost friend, Friedrich Schultz. There “Uncle Hans” asks him to assume the identity of a nephew Walter Schultz who committed suicide. Uncle Hans has connections—called blat in Russian—and quick on his feet. He advises “Walter” to join the German Army before he gets conscripted at a lower rank. German Army officers pride themselves on being honorable, and look down on the SS and especially the Brown Shirts as thugs.
Why am I summarizing the book?? This is pointless. Ill dedicate the rest of this space by relating sections I highlighted as entertaining. Alexsi is a smart kid and survives by fitting in wherever he is, and above all, by never asking questions! When he is later in Germany he compares the two peoples and is spot-on in seeing the quirks of a national people. When fellow students want to see the fire but don’t want to break the rules and open a door to the roof that is “verboten”, Alexsi rolls his eyes and opens it anyway. They don’t hesitate to follow. In the same way, he noted that Germans are perfectly capable of violence but need “permission” to let loose by a leader.
His adventures and the people he meets are the stuff of legend. He likes women better than men, not least because they tell him secrets as thanks for being a friend—and perfect lover.
(UNFINISHED)
Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov was a fascinating character, and must have been based on the “Ace of Spies” Sidney Reilly, aka Shlomo Rosenblum from the Ukraine. Stalin ordered Reilly’s death in 1925, though—while this book takes place between 1932 and 1943.
Alexsi grew up on a kolkhoz, a collective farm, beaten by his father so he spent all his time at the home of a friend and his German Communist family. The mother Elsa was a surrogate mother and taught Alexsi German. When the Communists came to evict the Schultz family and send them to either Siberia or death, the other townspeople immediately looted all of the Schultz’s belongings. Alexsi rescued the beloved Grimm’s Fairy Tales from the bonfire because he loved to read. When he informed against his abusive father, he was awarded by sending him to Special Orphanage Number 27 in Baku, Soviet Azerbaijan. The orphanage was in a large home taken over by the Communists. There Alexsi met a fellow thief, Aida, who got him to break into the school pantry for her, then informed on him. Nice girl, huh? No surprise that they both were later spotted and trained as spies.
But first Alexsi has to escape Baku, because he was going to be sent to prison for theft. He’s adopted” by tribal nomads because he helps them out in town, telling them they’re being cheated. He can also pick locks and speak Farsi and Azeri. In turn they teach him to ride a horse, shoot a rifle, and the art of stealth. He learns to trust no one and develops a 6th sense for impending betrayal—like when one of the Azerbaijanis sells him out to the Russians at the border with Iran.
Eventually Alexsi makes his way to Moscow where he lives by his wits, stealing to survive, and reading everything he can during the day in the city library.
He ends up being shipped to Lubjanka Prison in Moscow, where he once again survives by his wits—and hidden knife. He’s spotted by Pe___, whom I can just picture being played by the older Christopher Plummer.
Alexsi is trained in traditional spycraft, which is grueling and exhausting, though he lives in relative luxury as reward. His training becomes grotesque when he is shown how to make a woman “come”—then ordered to do the same in front of his training officer, who grades his performance.
And this is only the beginning! He meets Aida again, who is a university student. She is quite the femme fatale, and informs on Alexsi again. This time he knows her for what she really is. He doesn’t want to sell weapons to her student comrades, but is ordered to so they can be arrested when they attempt to kill Stalin.
Alexsi is sent to Germany to assume the identity of his lost friend, Friedrich Schultz. There “Uncle Hans” asks him to assume the identity of a nephew Walter Schultz who committed suicide. Uncle Hans has connections—called blat in Russian—and quick on his feet. He advises “Walter” to join the German Army before he gets conscripted at a lower rank. German Army officers pride themselves on being honorable, and look down on the SS and especially the Brown Shirts as thugs.
Why am I summarizing the book?? This is pointless. Ill dedicate the rest of this space by relating sections I highlighted as entertaining. Alexsi is a smart kid and survives by fitting in wherever he is, and above all, by never asking questions! When he is later in Germany he compares the two peoples and is spot-on in seeing the quirks of a national people. When fellow students want to see the fire but don’t want to break the rules and open a door to the roof that is “verboten”, Alexsi rolls his eyes and opens it anyway. They don’t hesitate to follow. In the same way, he noted that Germans are perfectly capable of violence but need “permission” to let loose by a leader.
His adventures and the people he meets are the stuff of legend. He likes women better than men, not least because they tell him secrets as thanks for being a friend—and perfect lover.
(UNFINISHED)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2022
I've always been partial to WWI and WWII-era spy and thriller tales, and gobble up books by Furst, Kerr, Downing, etc., so picked this one up recently to try out. It starts on the border between Iran and Soviet Azerbaijan in 1936, where Russian teenager Alexi is working with Shahsevan smugglers before the borders are fully sealed. After growing up in a village with German immigrants as neighbors and friends, he was orphaned and now runs the streets of Baku, scamming and stealing his way to survival. Endowed with considerable cunning, street smarts, and several languages, he is forced to work for the NKVD. This backstory and his training as an agent in Moscow take up roughly the first third of the book.
Alexi is then inserted into prewar Germany under the identity of his former childhood best friend. This brings him into the household of an unsuspecting diplomat uncle with plenty of connections. The middle part of the book chronicles his rise within German military intelligence and various episodes of derring do in reporting back to his Moscow handlers. The final third of the book sees his German masters deploy him to Iran for a particularly high-profile assignment.
It's all slightly over-the-top in a 007 way, but the book does a very good job of spelling out how Alexi has to constantly and subtly juggle the demands of both his Soviet and German handlers with an eye to his ultimate survival. Some readers seem to feel that he's too much of a super-spy, but I thought his backstory was well constructed and the origin of each of his skills and abilities is explained. Yes, he's exceedingly intelligent and psychologically astute, but I it's established that from a very young age, he had absorbed the lessons of deceit and suspicion it took to survive in Stanlin's USSR, and when you start adding years of surviving on the streets of multicultural Baku, and then years of NKVD training, he felt plausible to me. There's some kind of lurid sex scenes that felt a little out of place, but other than that, I was fully on board for this adventure and would gladly read a sequel.
Alexi is then inserted into prewar Germany under the identity of his former childhood best friend. This brings him into the household of an unsuspecting diplomat uncle with plenty of connections. The middle part of the book chronicles his rise within German military intelligence and various episodes of derring do in reporting back to his Moscow handlers. The final third of the book sees his German masters deploy him to Iran for a particularly high-profile assignment.
It's all slightly over-the-top in a 007 way, but the book does a very good job of spelling out how Alexi has to constantly and subtly juggle the demands of both his Soviet and German handlers with an eye to his ultimate survival. Some readers seem to feel that he's too much of a super-spy, but I thought his backstory was well constructed and the origin of each of his skills and abilities is explained. Yes, he's exceedingly intelligent and psychologically astute, but I it's established that from a very young age, he had absorbed the lessons of deceit and suspicion it took to survive in Stanlin's USSR, and when you start adding years of surviving on the streets of multicultural Baku, and then years of NKVD training, he felt plausible to me. There's some kind of lurid sex scenes that felt a little out of place, but other than that, I was fully on board for this adventure and would gladly read a sequel.
October 23, 2024
I have no idea why this ended up on my to-read list. Perhaps it was because it was a WW II spy thriller?
OK, a quick summary without giving away any of the plot beyond any already published précis.
1936 -- a late teens boy in the Azeri desert survives as a thief. After some scrapes and actions of derring-do, he ends up caught by Soviet police who send him up to Lubyanka in Moscow.
Since we know this is a spy novel and the cover has the Brandenburg Gate on it, it is revealing nothing that our protagonist (Alexsi) ends up spying for the Soviets inside of Germany.
Getting the reader to this point involves a series of flashbacks to 1932, an orphanage, a university party, intense training and yes, three quite explicit sex scenes. Quite explicit, I say. It was like watching an HBO drama where periodically, characters drop the clothes just to keep the watcher diverted from a fairly ordinary thriller. Alexsi manages to outwit multiple heavies, multiple times, like a young Jack Reacher but without Reacher's physical bulk.
Fortunately, for the reader once Alexsi gets to Germany, our attention is diverted to various caricatures of Nazis, and compared to earlier interludes, a mildly-written nude female mud wrestling scene at a bar. Alexsi winnows his way into German intelligence and the real plot is off to the races.
The last 1/3 of the book is where the plot reaches its crescendo including more feats of Reacher-like quick wits and quick knife strokes as treachery is everywhere. Just one more explicit, totally unnecessary sex scene and then the final action ensues. Page turning.
So - overall, readable but fails to capture the atmosphere of pre-war Russia and actual wartime Germany. Christie tries pretty hard but Alan Furst does it better. As WW II thriller writers like to do, real characters interact with Alexsi from the Abwehr and SD. A bit gratuitous for me -but, it's a thriller.
Diverting but although there is a sequel featuring the erstwhile action-man Alexsi, I won't be picking it up. A throw-away beach read.
OK, a quick summary without giving away any of the plot beyond any already published précis.
1936 -- a late teens boy in the Azeri desert survives as a thief. After some scrapes and actions of derring-do, he ends up caught by Soviet police who send him up to Lubyanka in Moscow.
Since we know this is a spy novel and the cover has the Brandenburg Gate on it, it is revealing nothing that our protagonist (Alexsi) ends up spying for the Soviets inside of Germany.
Getting the reader to this point involves a series of flashbacks to 1932, an orphanage, a university party, intense training and yes, three quite explicit sex scenes. Quite explicit, I say. It was like watching an HBO drama where periodically, characters drop the clothes just to keep the watcher diverted from a fairly ordinary thriller. Alexsi manages to outwit multiple heavies, multiple times, like a young Jack Reacher but without Reacher's physical bulk.
Fortunately, for the reader once Alexsi gets to Germany, our attention is diverted to various caricatures of Nazis, and compared to earlier interludes, a mildly-written nude female mud wrestling scene at a bar. Alexsi winnows his way into German intelligence and the real plot is off to the races.
The last 1/3 of the book is where the plot reaches its crescendo including more feats of Reacher-like quick wits and quick knife strokes as treachery is everywhere. Just one more explicit, totally unnecessary sex scene and then the final action ensues. Page turning.
So - overall, readable but fails to capture the atmosphere of pre-war Russia and actual wartime Germany. Christie tries pretty hard but Alan Furst does it better. As WW II thriller writers like to do, real characters interact with Alexsi from the Abwehr and SD. A bit gratuitous for me -but, it's a thriller.
Diverting but although there is a sequel featuring the erstwhile action-man Alexsi, I won't be picking it up. A throw-away beach read.
May 6, 2017
4.5 stars. I would have given this excellently written spy novel based on historical fiction five stars if it were absent the completely unnecessary sex scenes which added zero value to the story. Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov is a young Russian spy during WWII. As a young boy, he was caught by the NKVD for stealing and was given a choice to be trained as a spy or be killed. He is sent to Germany posing as the nephew to Hans Shultz. Alexsi was friends with Hans's nephew, Freddi, in Soviet Azerbaijan. The Shultz's were executed by the Russians because Otto Shultz was against Stalin and communism. Hans Shultz was perhaps never the wiser of his brother's family's deaths. Either way, he accepted Alexsi. Perhaps to use him as a bargaining chip in the future?
Through Hans, Alexsi is able to join the German military as an intelligence officer. Here he learns of Germany's plan to invade Russia which the Russians via Stalin discounted.
In 1943 in Teheran, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin were meeting to make plans to bring down Hitler and the Nazis. The meeting was known as Operation Long Jump and is little known in the west. A true Russian spy, Otto Skorzeny, was involved in the mission. Abwehr Canaris was involved in the resistance movement against Hitler. He was caught by the Germans and imprisoned in Flossenbürg concentration camp. General Walter Schellenberg was Himmler's right-hand man and was involved romantically with Coco Chanel.
Super fun read (minus the sex scenes). Hope to see Alexsi in a future espionage novel.
Note to Christie: You can spin a good tale and I recommend in future novels to rely on the strength of the story and forget the smutty sex stuff which really turned me off. Experienced readers are compelled by the twists, turns and elements of surprise in a plot. The sex smut is like lipstick on a pig and unbecoming to a sophisticated story. You minimize your book and characters by adding smut.
Through Hans, Alexsi is able to join the German military as an intelligence officer. Here he learns of Germany's plan to invade Russia which the Russians via Stalin discounted.
In 1943 in Teheran, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin were meeting to make plans to bring down Hitler and the Nazis. The meeting was known as Operation Long Jump and is little known in the west. A true Russian spy, Otto Skorzeny, was involved in the mission. Abwehr Canaris was involved in the resistance movement against Hitler. He was caught by the Germans and imprisoned in Flossenbürg concentration camp. General Walter Schellenberg was Himmler's right-hand man and was involved romantically with Coco Chanel.
Super fun read (minus the sex scenes). Hope to see Alexsi in a future espionage novel.
Note to Christie: You can spin a good tale and I recommend in future novels to rely on the strength of the story and forget the smutty sex stuff which really turned me off. Experienced readers are compelled by the twists, turns and elements of surprise in a plot. The sex smut is like lipstick on a pig and unbecoming to a sophisticated story. You minimize your book and characters by adding smut.
June 26, 2017
Rating 4.5: An engaging story of survival by one’s wits, set in an unusual context of a Russian spy in the German intelligence agency in World War II, with an impossible task at the end of the story.
I think I read a review about this on Kirkus. I am not sure why this book among many others attracted my attention – to namely read this book rather than many others.
I am glad I did. The book is set in the era from 1936 to 1943, in Russia, Germany, and Iran. In four broad acts the main character, Alexsi, moves from smuggling to a choice of death or becoming a spy for Russia; to being planted in a German family as a (fake) relative and working his way up in German army intelligence; a first posting to Iran as a Swiss textile merchant; and then a second posting to Iran, as part of Operation Long Jump (possibly a real operation to assassinate Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill in the Tehran meeting). Alexsi is only 16 when the story begins, and is an individual who is a fast learner (techniques, languages, and reader of situations). The first act describes his childhood, his capture and options to spy or die, and his training by an exacting master. Interesting is the choice he has to make with a former acquaintance (to betray or not), only to be betrayed by that individual. In the second act he takes on a new identify in Germany and navigates his way through suspicions of others. As the story moves to act three the action, already fast becomes even faster. An in the four act, it is almost too fast.
It is a great read (there are a couple of steamy pages a reader can skip over). The only reason for less than 5 is that the end seems rushed (although it does reflect the action timeline well) and there is a bit of the improbable.
I think I read a review about this on Kirkus. I am not sure why this book among many others attracted my attention – to namely read this book rather than many others.
I am glad I did. The book is set in the era from 1936 to 1943, in Russia, Germany, and Iran. In four broad acts the main character, Alexsi, moves from smuggling to a choice of death or becoming a spy for Russia; to being planted in a German family as a (fake) relative and working his way up in German army intelligence; a first posting to Iran as a Swiss textile merchant; and then a second posting to Iran, as part of Operation Long Jump (possibly a real operation to assassinate Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill in the Tehran meeting). Alexsi is only 16 when the story begins, and is an individual who is a fast learner (techniques, languages, and reader of situations). The first act describes his childhood, his capture and options to spy or die, and his training by an exacting master. Interesting is the choice he has to make with a former acquaintance (to betray or not), only to be betrayed by that individual. In the second act he takes on a new identify in Germany and navigates his way through suspicions of others. As the story moves to act three the action, already fast becomes even faster. An in the four act, it is almost too fast.
It is a great read (there are a couple of steamy pages a reader can skip over). The only reason for less than 5 is that the end seems rushed (although it does reflect the action timeline well) and there is a bit of the improbable.
November 15, 2022
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Preview
A Single Spy
by William Christie
4.01 · Rating details · 987 ratings · 135 reviews
During WWII, a young Russian spy with divided loyalties, under deep cover in Nazi Germany, uncovers an assassination plot that could change the course of history
Aleksi Ivanovich Smirnov, an orphan and a thief, has been living by his wits and surviving below the ever-watchful eye of the Soviet system until his luck finally runs out. In 1936, at the age of 16, Aleksi is caught by the NKVD and transported to Moscow. There, in the notorious headquarters of the secret police, he is given a choice: be trained and inserted as a spy into Nazi Germany under the identity of his best friend, the long lost nephew of a high ranking Nazi official, or disappear forever in the basement of the Lubyanka. For Aleksi, it’s no choice at all.
Over the course of the next seven years, Aleksi has to live his role, that of the devoted nephew of a high Nazi official, and ultimately works for the legendary German spymaster Wilhelm Canaris as an intelligence agent in the Abwehr. All the while, acting as a double agent—reporting back to the NKVD and avoiding detection by the Gestapo. Trapped between the implacable forces of two of the most notorious dictatorships in history, and truly loyal to no one but himself, Aleksi’s goal remains the same—survival.
In 1943, Aleksi is chosen by the Gestapo to spearhead one of the most desperate operations of the war—to infiltrate the site of the upcoming Tehran conference between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, and set them up to be assassinated. For Aleksi, it’s the moment of truth; for the rest of the world, the future is at stake. (less)
December 8, 2019
Alexsi is a hard-scrabble Azerbaijani raised on the outskirts of the Soviet empire in the period leading up to World War II. He is intelligent and creative, with a strong anti-authoritarian streak and no love of the Soviets. The story follows Alexsi from his youth, as he passes through a government orphanage, and, eventually, is recruited (or, perhaps, forced) to become a Soviet spy during WWII. Alexsi's path is interwoven with important historical events throughout the war, including Russian and German intelligence operations and, eventually, the Tehran Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin.
The tale is intriguing, and Christie cleverly moves both forward and backwards through Alexsi's life; the book is largely chronological, but well-timed flashbacks provide useful insights. Alexsi is always self-interested, but eventually becomes almost amoral, playing all sides against one-another, which makes him an interesting character. Christie's thriller is pleasantly tense, with enough double-dealing to keep the reader guessing, and the history against which it is sent makes the book compelling. Sadly, however, the conclusion of the story is a dissatisfying magic trick.
The tale is intriguing, and Christie cleverly moves both forward and backwards through Alexsi's life; the book is largely chronological, but well-timed flashbacks provide useful insights. Alexsi is always self-interested, but eventually becomes almost amoral, playing all sides against one-another, which makes him an interesting character. Christie's thriller is pleasantly tense, with enough double-dealing to keep the reader guessing, and the history against which it is sent makes the book compelling. Sadly, however, the conclusion of the story is a dissatisfying magic trick.
July 5, 2017
I won this book through the Goodreads Giveaways, and was not disappointed. The protagonist is not a "nice" person, and has no issues with lying, stealing, or killing. Yet he does all this as part of his quest to survive as a spy during WWII, first in Soviet territory, then in Nazi Germany and Iran.
Most spy stories are written from the perspective of "the good guys", or occassionally the "bad guys", but in this case the author shows us that in the world of espionage, there really aren't any good guys. Alexsi has no political convictions, he's simply trying to stay alive. I'm a big fan of stories that take place in WWII Europe, and the author gives us a glimpse into areas we don't normally hear much about (training of a spy in Russia, life of the poor in the Iranian desert, etc). Other reviewers have mentioned their issues with believeability and a quick ending to the story. Valid points, to some extent, but I still found the book thoroughly enjoyable, and hard to put down. If I want total accuracy, I can read a history book. I look to be entertained by fiction, and this book excels on that front.
Most spy stories are written from the perspective of "the good guys", or occassionally the "bad guys", but in this case the author shows us that in the world of espionage, there really aren't any good guys. Alexsi has no political convictions, he's simply trying to stay alive. I'm a big fan of stories that take place in WWII Europe, and the author gives us a glimpse into areas we don't normally hear much about (training of a spy in Russia, life of the poor in the Iranian desert, etc). Other reviewers have mentioned their issues with believeability and a quick ending to the story. Valid points, to some extent, but I still found the book thoroughly enjoyable, and hard to put down. If I want total accuracy, I can read a history book. I look to be entertained by fiction, and this book excels on that front.
January 8, 2023
No doubt this is an exciting action novel. Also, this author, William Christie, shows sensitivity and skill in depicting the settings, narrative descriptions, and his prose engages readers’ five senses. His opening paragraph hooked me.
Chapter 1
1936 Soviet Azerbaijan
“The complaint began to rumble deep down in the mule’s throat. Alexsi hopped up from the ground and rubbed her nose and ears before the sound could work its way out and erupt into a deafening bray that would ruin them all. She scuffed her front hooves in the sand, settled down, and kept silent. If you gave a mule something to think about other than what was annoying it at that particular moment, it tended to forget all about it. You really couldn’t force a mule to do what it didn’t want to.”
The main character displays far too many fighting skills, knowledge, and wisdom for an impoverished orphan who must kill others to stay alive in Stalin’s Russia. So the storyline remains in the realm of unbelievable fantasy. It’s going to far to disguise itself as historical fiction.
I know lovers of military and World War II fiction will enjoy this novel.
Chapter 1
1936 Soviet Azerbaijan
“The complaint began to rumble deep down in the mule’s throat. Alexsi hopped up from the ground and rubbed her nose and ears before the sound could work its way out and erupt into a deafening bray that would ruin them all. She scuffed her front hooves in the sand, settled down, and kept silent. If you gave a mule something to think about other than what was annoying it at that particular moment, it tended to forget all about it. You really couldn’t force a mule to do what it didn’t want to.”
The main character displays far too many fighting skills, knowledge, and wisdom for an impoverished orphan who must kill others to stay alive in Stalin’s Russia. So the storyline remains in the realm of unbelievable fantasy. It’s going to far to disguise itself as historical fiction.
I know lovers of military and World War II fiction will enjoy this novel.
October 8, 2018
Our protagonist here is Alexsi Smirnov who is a sixteen year old Russian lad. We meet him in 1936 in Soviet Azerbaijan where he is living and working among a coven of desert dwelling smugglers and thieves. He has taken up with this motley crew because he is an orphan and must work his way through life somehow. This lifestyle dictates that he move around extensively and he gathers a variety of talents among which is fluency in several languages. These abilities attract the notice of an official in the NKVD, the Russian intelligence agency, and he is given the choice of spy training for Mother Russia or banishment into the bowels of the Lubyanka. He is trained and subsequently inserted into Nazi Germany where he joins the Abwehr, the German intelligence service. From
there we have a loosely told spy story, the telling of which was a little too vague for me. I found it tough to follow.
there we have a loosely told spy story, the telling of which was a little too vague for me. I found it tough to follow.
December 22, 2018
I read this book to research how another author handled fictionalization of a little-known event in World War II history. While it served its purpose, this novel is not something I would recommend to other readers.
The protagonist, Alexis, is a young, self-educated man who somehow becomes sufficiently fluent in at least three languages to be able to pass as a native in all. He is able to outwit any adversary, never makes a misstep, and always has the foresight to take along whatever tool he will need to extricate himself from any unforeseen situation. Too many characters arrive on the scene without any foreshadowing, serve their purpose, and disappear.
There’s lots of intricate detail about weapons and geographic details, so the author has done his homework, but he can’t decide whether he’s writing a spy novel, an historical novel, or a thriller. About the third time he uses “honed in,” you begin to wonder what the editor was doing while he was supposed to be editing.
The protagonist, Alexis, is a young, self-educated man who somehow becomes sufficiently fluent in at least three languages to be able to pass as a native in all. He is able to outwit any adversary, never makes a misstep, and always has the foresight to take along whatever tool he will need to extricate himself from any unforeseen situation. Too many characters arrive on the scene without any foreshadowing, serve their purpose, and disappear.
There’s lots of intricate detail about weapons and geographic details, so the author has done his homework, but he can’t decide whether he’s writing a spy novel, an historical novel, or a thriller. About the third time he uses “honed in,” you begin to wonder what the editor was doing while he was supposed to be editing.
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