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Double Crossing
A tightly plotted international intrigue. Russian doctor’s desperate bid for freedom—a pageturner and a passionate defense of man’s right to be free.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
60 people are currently reading
466 people want to read
About the author
Erika Holzer
15 books4 followersErika Holzer received her B.S. from Cornell University and her law degree from New York University.
For several years following her admission to the New York bar, she practiced constitutional and appellate law with Henry Mark Holzer. Their clients included Soviet dissidents and defectors, and other lawyers for whom they prepared appellate briefs and Petitions for Certiorari for the Supreme Court of the United States.
One of the Holzer firm’s clients (and later friend) was the novelist, Ayn Rand. Because of Rand’s literary influence, Erika Holzer switched careers from law to writing.
With Henry Mark Holzer, she co-authored “Aid and Comfort”: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam, proving that Jane Fonda’s trip to Hanoi during the Vietnam War, and her activities there, constituted constitutional treason.
Again with Henry Mark Holzer, Erika co-authored Fake Warriors: Identifying, Exposing, and Punishing Those Who Falsify Their Military Service.
Her other non-fiction writing consists of essays, articles, reviews, political and legal commentary.
In addition, Erika is author of the book Ayn Rand: My Fiction-Writing Teacher: A novelist’s mentor-protégé relationship with the author of Atlas Shrugged.
For several years following her admission to the New York bar, she practiced constitutional and appellate law with Henry Mark Holzer. Their clients included Soviet dissidents and defectors, and other lawyers for whom they prepared appellate briefs and Petitions for Certiorari for the Supreme Court of the United States.
One of the Holzer firm’s clients (and later friend) was the novelist, Ayn Rand. Because of Rand’s literary influence, Erika Holzer switched careers from law to writing.
With Henry Mark Holzer, she co-authored “Aid and Comfort”: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam, proving that Jane Fonda’s trip to Hanoi during the Vietnam War, and her activities there, constituted constitutional treason.
Again with Henry Mark Holzer, Erika co-authored Fake Warriors: Identifying, Exposing, and Punishing Those Who Falsify Their Military Service.
Her other non-fiction writing consists of essays, articles, reviews, political and legal commentary.
In addition, Erika is author of the book Ayn Rand: My Fiction-Writing Teacher: A novelist’s mentor-protégé relationship with the author of Atlas Shrugged.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
June 6, 2017
Very good book. Quite a few twists.
December 25, 2013
I downloaded a free copy of Freedom Bridge from Amazon. In exchange, I offer the author this—my fair and honest review.
The first time I visited Berlin was in 1973. The Berlin Wall was quite a sight. I recall seeing white crosses and barbed wire, the last signs of some of those souls who had sought and fought for freedom—and lost. It made a strong impression on my young mind. I recall being mesmerized years later, as I watched live television footage of the Wall coming down (in 1989). In 2008, I visited that great city once again—and Berlin is a truly great city. The inner parks are lovely; the ancient feel to some of the streets thought provoking; the grand buildings, exquisite. I picked up a souvenir piece of the Wall during that visit and I keep it as a reminder. . . .
I took a detour one day to Potsdam, making my way there by going over the famous Glienicke Bridge, the “Bridge of Spies.” Potsdam, a city that had once been the home of the former Prussian royalty, later taken over by the Soviets, was still in the process of being re-built almost ten years after the Soviets “left” it. I saw some of the most beautiful “houses” ever. In some places one that had been completely restored stood amidst others that still showed the severe neglect and damage that had come with Soviet control.
I was pleased to have the opportunity to revisit in my mind, some of these places and things in my read of Freedom Bridge: A Cold War Thriller, by Erika Holzer.
In Freedom Bridge, we meet three brothers, all born behind the iron curtain. One makes it out with his mother, when the two are allowed to leave for emergency medical attention for the child during his early years. Though his mother believes she will never see her other two children again, she determines that at least one will live in freedom. Thus, she does not return to the Soviet Union. Rather, she finds a new identity and moves to the U.S. Her son receives the medical treatment he requires, grows and becomes a famous doctor.
Back in the Soviet Union, two remaining brothers carry the stigma of a family member who has abandoned their homeland. To compensate, one grows to be a party member, flexing his muscle as and when he might, orchestrating events to maintain control over others. The other shuns the party and grows to become a doctor himself, struggling to keep secret from his power-crazed older brother, his desire to defect. Through a series of unexpected events, the three eventually meet again. While I thoroughly enjoyed the story, I did have one issue that accounts for the missing “star” in my rating and that is that I found it highly unlikely that one brother would look so very much like another that no one (including the man’s wife) would be able to tell the two apart. (I may not have had this problem if the two had been born “identical” twins, but they were not.) Even so, Holzer has provided a fully satisfying mystery/suspense.
Freedom Bridge opens with a reminder of some of the results of the ruthlessness of an ideology that will not allow independence of thought and spirit and word. Here lies the danger in collectivism, in statism: the institutionalized force “necessary to implement it.” The experiment in the Soviet Union, Holzer reminds us, left “almost 80 years of power destroyed nations, tens of millions of corpses, and the moribund but never fully discredited killer viruses of collectivism and statism.” All freedom lovers should take note: the very concept of “political correctness” implies that there is only one way to think and to act. Ultimately, it requires force to fully implement that single way. As Friedrich A. von Hayek illustrated in The Road to Serfdom, in the end the price may be more than your freedom and that of your friends, family and neighbors. In the end, the price may be your life itself.
The first time I visited Berlin was in 1973. The Berlin Wall was quite a sight. I recall seeing white crosses and barbed wire, the last signs of some of those souls who had sought and fought for freedom—and lost. It made a strong impression on my young mind. I recall being mesmerized years later, as I watched live television footage of the Wall coming down (in 1989). In 2008, I visited that great city once again—and Berlin is a truly great city. The inner parks are lovely; the ancient feel to some of the streets thought provoking; the grand buildings, exquisite. I picked up a souvenir piece of the Wall during that visit and I keep it as a reminder. . . .
I took a detour one day to Potsdam, making my way there by going over the famous Glienicke Bridge, the “Bridge of Spies.” Potsdam, a city that had once been the home of the former Prussian royalty, later taken over by the Soviets, was still in the process of being re-built almost ten years after the Soviets “left” it. I saw some of the most beautiful “houses” ever. In some places one that had been completely restored stood amidst others that still showed the severe neglect and damage that had come with Soviet control.
I was pleased to have the opportunity to revisit in my mind, some of these places and things in my read of Freedom Bridge: A Cold War Thriller, by Erika Holzer.
In Freedom Bridge, we meet three brothers, all born behind the iron curtain. One makes it out with his mother, when the two are allowed to leave for emergency medical attention for the child during his early years. Though his mother believes she will never see her other two children again, she determines that at least one will live in freedom. Thus, she does not return to the Soviet Union. Rather, she finds a new identity and moves to the U.S. Her son receives the medical treatment he requires, grows and becomes a famous doctor.
Back in the Soviet Union, two remaining brothers carry the stigma of a family member who has abandoned their homeland. To compensate, one grows to be a party member, flexing his muscle as and when he might, orchestrating events to maintain control over others. The other shuns the party and grows to become a doctor himself, struggling to keep secret from his power-crazed older brother, his desire to defect. Through a series of unexpected events, the three eventually meet again. While I thoroughly enjoyed the story, I did have one issue that accounts for the missing “star” in my rating and that is that I found it highly unlikely that one brother would look so very much like another that no one (including the man’s wife) would be able to tell the two apart. (I may not have had this problem if the two had been born “identical” twins, but they were not.) Even so, Holzer has provided a fully satisfying mystery/suspense.
Freedom Bridge opens with a reminder of some of the results of the ruthlessness of an ideology that will not allow independence of thought and spirit and word. Here lies the danger in collectivism, in statism: the institutionalized force “necessary to implement it.” The experiment in the Soviet Union, Holzer reminds us, left “almost 80 years of power destroyed nations, tens of millions of corpses, and the moribund but never fully discredited killer viruses of collectivism and statism.” All freedom lovers should take note: the very concept of “political correctness” implies that there is only one way to think and to act. Ultimately, it requires force to fully implement that single way. As Friedrich A. von Hayek illustrated in The Road to Serfdom, in the end the price may be more than your freedom and that of your friends, family and neighbors. In the end, the price may be your life itself.
April 21, 2025
The writing style is a bit dated, but the story is great (in a chilling way).
The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, horrible stuff.
The story captures the desperation of people to escape as well as the mindset required to stay.
Kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
May 29, 2017
Good book
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so.Shelley MA
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so.Shelley MA
September 1, 2018
A gripping thriller that's easy to get into and hard to put down.
June 21, 2019
Freedom Bridge
Excellent book. Kept me involved all the way threw. be very realistic and full of twist and turn on story
One had you rotting for Kirk
All the way
Excellent book. Kept me involved all the way threw. be very realistic and full of twist and turn on story
One had you rotting for Kirk
All the way
April 23, 2020
I really did try to get through this book. its just not my speed. I got about half way through before I decided to not continue with it. I'm sure others will love it. but its way too slow for me.
January 16, 2015
My first reading of this book was in the early '80s, far too long ago to pick out the revisions Ms. Holzer did for this edition, but no matter. "Freedom Bridge" will transport you to the aftermath of the U2 incident in the blink of an eye and make you forget that the Soviet Union is no more. The sense of suffocating totalitarian malice, the sense of urgency in the face of certain death, the suspense of imminent betrayal under the highest of stakes, are as palpable and immediate in this novel as this morning's headlines.
Holzer weaves a plot that becomes a kind of literary origami - I won't do spoilers, but suffice it to say that her original title "Double Crossing" is a serious understatement, a play-on-words several times over. As a reader repeatedly disappointed in spy thrillers so complex that they're nearly unreadable, "Freedom Bridge" is a refreshing surprise. Rather than miring the story in a quicksand of frustrating complexity, its multiplying plot convolutions work together so logically that they actually *clarify* rather than muddle. The analogy to an elaborate jigsaw puzzle is perhaps a cliché, but in this case it fits.
The characters in this novel could not be more different from one another - in culture, in ethics and in motives - but Holzer draws them together from those disparate points as if by a gargantuan magnet. Ground zero is the Glienecker Bridge between East and West Berlin, and the resulting multi-faction clash is at once understated and explosive. An edgy, brooding atmosphere throughout accelerates with a cinematic flow that makes me think "Freedom Bridge" would make a great movie - provided someone could be found in that industry with the integrity to do it justice. Holzer's exposition of these different personalities, particularly in context of their ethics and moral choices, does positively wonderful things to the integration of plot and theme.
That theme, the magnet that pulls everything together in Cold War Berlin, is of course: Freedom.
Holzer makes freedom not just "the moral of the story" but the motive that animates the actions - and for some, the transitions - of the characters. For Soviet defector Kiril, it's an overriding passion worth dying for; for American journalist and kindred spirit Adrienne, it's a value fully grasped and vigorously defended; for the Soviet and East German communist operatives, it's a threat to be hated, crushed and, unmistakably, feared - in much the same way that a liar fears the truth; for an underling assigned to spy on Kiril, it becomes an unbearable conflict of allegiances; for a corrupt doctor waffling between the two poles, it becomes an object of disdain to be ignored and betrayed.
All of which means that "Freedom Bridge" is a choices-driven morality play that becomes a timely meditation on something too often taken for granted in today's world. If you're looking for a read that's of significantly greater long-term value than passing entertainment, "Freedom Bridge" is an excellent choice.
Holzer weaves a plot that becomes a kind of literary origami - I won't do spoilers, but suffice it to say that her original title "Double Crossing" is a serious understatement, a play-on-words several times over. As a reader repeatedly disappointed in spy thrillers so complex that they're nearly unreadable, "Freedom Bridge" is a refreshing surprise. Rather than miring the story in a quicksand of frustrating complexity, its multiplying plot convolutions work together so logically that they actually *clarify* rather than muddle. The analogy to an elaborate jigsaw puzzle is perhaps a cliché, but in this case it fits.
The characters in this novel could not be more different from one another - in culture, in ethics and in motives - but Holzer draws them together from those disparate points as if by a gargantuan magnet. Ground zero is the Glienecker Bridge between East and West Berlin, and the resulting multi-faction clash is at once understated and explosive. An edgy, brooding atmosphere throughout accelerates with a cinematic flow that makes me think "Freedom Bridge" would make a great movie - provided someone could be found in that industry with the integrity to do it justice. Holzer's exposition of these different personalities, particularly in context of their ethics and moral choices, does positively wonderful things to the integration of plot and theme.
That theme, the magnet that pulls everything together in Cold War Berlin, is of course: Freedom.
Holzer makes freedom not just "the moral of the story" but the motive that animates the actions - and for some, the transitions - of the characters. For Soviet defector Kiril, it's an overriding passion worth dying for; for American journalist and kindred spirit Adrienne, it's a value fully grasped and vigorously defended; for the Soviet and East German communist operatives, it's a threat to be hated, crushed and, unmistakably, feared - in much the same way that a liar fears the truth; for an underling assigned to spy on Kiril, it becomes an unbearable conflict of allegiances; for a corrupt doctor waffling between the two poles, it becomes an object of disdain to be ignored and betrayed.
All of which means that "Freedom Bridge" is a choices-driven morality play that becomes a timely meditation on something too often taken for granted in today's world. If you're looking for a read that's of significantly greater long-term value than passing entertainment, "Freedom Bridge" is an excellent choice.
August 28, 2013
When I first read this book it was titled Double Crossing, while it's been revised and published recently as Freedom Bridge: A Cold War Thriller. Such a different time. When this book was first published there was still a Soviet Union, still an East Germany, and I was very young and filled with moral outrage that so many around me were so... blase about the evils of what were happening behind the Iron Curtain, this idea that the differences between us were trivial. I loved reading Thomas Clancy then, and loved reading this book then, because for once it didn't wrap things in this drab blanket of moral greyness. It still rather annoys me when I read authors such as John Le Carre or Graham Greene who seem to send the message there's wasn't much to choose between the Soviets and the Americans. At the same time, both are superb writers--while Erika Holzer just strikes me as competent.
Which mind you, is not to be disparaged. I liked this book. I liked the characters, the twists, and at times I found it suspenseful. I wouldn't mind taking a book of this quality along on a long plane trip--if I hadn't read it before. It's entertaining. That's why it doesn't get any less than three stars. But it's just not a book I can read again and again, it doesn't have for me that staying power decades after having first read it. Her characters and prose just don't quite come up to the level I can find new things, admire the writing, or read as great comfort food reading.
Which mind you, is not to be disparaged. I liked this book. I liked the characters, the twists, and at times I found it suspenseful. I wouldn't mind taking a book of this quality along on a long plane trip--if I hadn't read it before. It's entertaining. That's why it doesn't get any less than three stars. But it's just not a book I can read again and again, it doesn't have for me that staying power decades after having first read it. Her characters and prose just don't quite come up to the level I can find new things, admire the writing, or read as great comfort food reading.
October 18, 2013
The old evil empire raises its ugly head on a down and dirty personal level in this book. Let us just say that the first 100 pages are a slog. The author belabors the anti-Soviet propaganda to the extreme. True, the police state overwhelmed the people and spread its wicked tentacles deep into the hearts and minds of the population, but 20 pages of succinct, dialogue-based expository balanced with some narrative would have been enough.
From about 35% into the book, things really picked up. The story wound through a complex series of events (described enough in other reviews) and often surprised and propelled the reader forward. Character development charmed this reader. Real people started to jump off the page more and more as the story unfolded.
Give the book a chance. Get past the slow start. Even the slog has its bright side: real experience obviously decorated and built the author's enthusiasm for the subject.
From about 35% into the book, things really picked up. The story wound through a complex series of events (described enough in other reviews) and often surprised and propelled the reader forward. Character development charmed this reader. Real people started to jump off the page more and more as the story unfolded.
Give the book a chance. Get past the slow start. Even the slog has its bright side: real experience obviously decorated and built the author's enthusiasm for the subject.
June 14, 2013
This book was free from Amazon. The mechanics of good writing were fine. There were some grammatical errors, but they did not hinder my reading. The history of Freedom Bridge was very interesting. People tried to defect from Communist East Germany and Russia (USSR) via the Freedom Bridge. I was engrossed in the plot in the first half of the book, but the second half was a let down. The descriptions of the main characters were good, and they remained true to themselves throughout the book, but there was no climactic rush at or near the end of the book. I liked the author's insight into the human spirit that longs to be free from tyranny, the spirit that thinks only of its own self, and the spirit that enjoys controlling and bullying other people. Despite the second half let down, this book deserves four stars.
Thank you, Ms. Holzer, for a good read.
Thank you, Ms. Holzer, for a good read.
June 8, 2013
When I started this book, I was really wishing I was reading the next book in the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett, but I stuck with it, and the characters started growing on me. It was a little far-fetched that the two brothers could look so much alike that one could double the other, but no one really noticed when they were next to each other because one had died hair...but it was still a fun premise. There was definitely some suspense and excitement, waiting to see how the great escape would occur. Ultimately, I enjoyed it.
February 24, 2014
as seems to be happening more than I'd like, this was once again an overly LONG book .. I thought I'd never get to the end; in places it was great but too often the plot slowed and got bogged down .. the 2 brothers left in Russia v 1 American brother and 1 Russian brother near the end looked so much alike that they took each others place and fooled many people just by dying their hair -- but previous to that noone seemed to notice the resemblance?!?! a bit farfetched .. but it did give one a feel for what it was like to be "just a 1/2 a bridge length" away from freedom!
August 25, 2013
I tried but couldn't find it in me to give this a 3 star rating. The first 20% was like a political science class with no real new insight into the repressive Soviet Union and its client states.
The plot was interesting but it became melodramatic, and seemed like a soap opera story.
There were plenty of dangling sentences and stilted language which also detracted from the plot. As another reviewer put it, the theme lacked subtlety and the climax couldn't have come fast enough for me.
The plot was interesting but it became melodramatic, and seemed like a soap opera story.
There were plenty of dangling sentences and stilted language which also detracted from the plot. As another reviewer put it, the theme lacked subtlety and the climax couldn't have come fast enough for me.
October 4, 2014
In the era when the Berlin Wall symbolized the struggle for freedom we get a brief glimpse at the depressing life in the Soviet Union and East Germany. All of the things the western world takes for granted are missing including freedom of travel and speech, the choice of careers, lack of privacy-- the store shelves are as empty as the hopes of the average citizen. In these turbulent times we meet a young doctor who yearns for a better life and for freedom.
No sex
No graphic violence
No sex
No graphic violence
February 5, 2016
Good plot but reads ilke propaganda most of the time
As a Cold War enthusiast, I give this book 3 stars just for the atmosphere it creates (East and West Berlin, microfilms hidden in zippo lighters, defections by crossing bridges, etc). However, there is a disturbing tone, set from the very start, that makes it sound like an anti-Soviet propaganda. The author is making sure to show the reader who the good and bad guys are, at the beginning and periodically throughout.
As a Cold War enthusiast, I give this book 3 stars just for the atmosphere it creates (East and West Berlin, microfilms hidden in zippo lighters, defections by crossing bridges, etc). However, there is a disturbing tone, set from the very start, that makes it sound like an anti-Soviet propaganda. The author is making sure to show the reader who the good and bad guys are, at the beginning and periodically throughout.
September 26, 2016
I went into this book with serious doubts considering I can't think of anything worse than to read about dreary concrete slab buildings and suffering gulags. However, I always judge based in most part on the reviews and they did not disappoint. This book is fabulous. I was already about 40% through tonight and couldn't put it down until I finished it leaving me wanting more. I don't know who this author is but she can write a mean story in a blue streak.
August 19, 2014
Great book with Russian history, communism and lies that will chill you to the bone. How far will one person go to defect from Russia when they have had a lifetime to think about it? Is Russia still this strict? Great thriller that was hard to put down and shows a person will do anything for freedom.
July 5, 2013
4.9 stars. Great book. Had a little problem keeping characters straight at the beginning...hence the 4.9 (Kindle's Paper White x-ray feature a big help!) Book then became a page turner. Well written & edited.
November 26, 2015
Exciting and suspenseful.
Couldn't put this book down. Had to keep reading to find out what was next. This was by far a better novel of the history of Germany and how it is to be an American in a foreign land and how the people of this country fight so hard to get out of there.
Couldn't put this book down. Had to keep reading to find out what was next. This was by far a better novel of the history of Germany and how it is to be an American in a foreign land and how the people of this country fight so hard to get out of there.
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June 9, 2013Good plot, enjoyed the history, needed some editing for the kindle version. It was free which was nice.
July 6, 2013
A rather slow start but it picked up speed and was a don't want to put down until it's over and I'm holding my breath finish!
July 18, 2013
Exceeded my expectations. Good story and well written.
October 21, 2013
Had a hard time reading because it's just not my kinda book...
October 6, 2013
good story
March 13, 2015
Quite racy..
November 15, 2013
This book is so close to believable, I thought it was based on a true story. Enjoyed the intrigue and the historical aspect of it.
June 7, 2017
Mystery & characters were developed & interesting. TTS-enabled. Read 2 by the author. She's an Ayn Rand fan, as there's always a woman raped.
November 4, 2013
Cold War, escape from East Germany/USSR
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews