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The Coldest War
Henry Engel is the CIA’s top man in West Germany, his father Conrad the Agency’s main troubleshooter on matters of Counterintelligence. But when Conrad is gunned down on a rainy Moscow street by a KGB thug, Henry must take up his investigation of a mole in the CIA’s ranks, which sends him racing around the globe and deep behind the Iron Curtain, trying always to stay a step ahead of the KGB and his father’s enemies in the highest echelons of the CIA. And as he searches for the traitor who served his father and others up to the enemy, he’ll have to protect his own damaging secrets and will be forced to confront a devastating it’s only the people closest to us who have the power to truly betray.
A book about fathers, sons...and spycraft.
A book about fathers, sons...and spycraft.
291 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 9, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 9, 2023
This is Chip Riggs “The Coldest War”.
Set in 1965 Henry Engel, the CIA’s Top Man in Berlin, is informed of his father’s death. His father is The Rop Man the CIA has and he’s just been assassinated by the KGB. Can Henry find his father’s killer?
No spoilers here, but when Henry works out his father’s hiding place for his notes the mole hunt begins and there are no humane traps in this hunt.
This is the second best Cold War novel written since John LeCarre’s “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”. The only one better, in my humble opinion is my recently reviewed “Baker Street Irregular” by Craig W. Fisher.
Mr. Riggs’s Henry Engel was raised by his father, as mentioned top agent, Conrad. Henry doesn’t get the normal upbringing of an upper class boy in the 1950s, his mother passed away and Conrad, who adored his son, did things a bit differently. He taught Henry to think, really think, using puzzles. Henry becomes adept at solving them by thinking critically and logically. Henry loves his father, though he is a bit scary. In time, that education and upbringing will be all Henry needs to solve this ever twisting case.
This book is extremely well written, the characters are people, not stereotypes. Mr. Riggs honestly shows what the work place was like for women with career goals, those who married government men and those who just want to live. He also shows what it was like for those growing long in the tooth and how espionage and spy work changes a person when the stakes are high.
I loved this tale! I read it in the space of about a week because I was addle brained with Fever and could only read when my head didn’t hurt. If you love historical noir, if you love reading about that period in history when the Soviet Union and the free world, especially the United States were grappling to be the world’s super power you do NOT want to miss this! To Mr. Riggs I can only say this was the first in the series, when can we expect to spy with Mr. Engel again?
Set in 1965 Henry Engel, the CIA’s Top Man in Berlin, is informed of his father’s death. His father is The Rop Man the CIA has and he’s just been assassinated by the KGB. Can Henry find his father’s killer?
No spoilers here, but when Henry works out his father’s hiding place for his notes the mole hunt begins and there are no humane traps in this hunt.
This is the second best Cold War novel written since John LeCarre’s “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”. The only one better, in my humble opinion is my recently reviewed “Baker Street Irregular” by Craig W. Fisher.
Mr. Riggs’s Henry Engel was raised by his father, as mentioned top agent, Conrad. Henry doesn’t get the normal upbringing of an upper class boy in the 1950s, his mother passed away and Conrad, who adored his son, did things a bit differently. He taught Henry to think, really think, using puzzles. Henry becomes adept at solving them by thinking critically and logically. Henry loves his father, though he is a bit scary. In time, that education and upbringing will be all Henry needs to solve this ever twisting case.
This book is extremely well written, the characters are people, not stereotypes. Mr. Riggs honestly shows what the work place was like for women with career goals, those who married government men and those who just want to live. He also shows what it was like for those growing long in the tooth and how espionage and spy work changes a person when the stakes are high.
I loved this tale! I read it in the space of about a week because I was addle brained with Fever and could only read when my head didn’t hurt. If you love historical noir, if you love reading about that period in history when the Soviet Union and the free world, especially the United States were grappling to be the world’s super power you do NOT want to miss this! To Mr. Riggs I can only say this was the first in the series, when can we expect to spy with Mr. Engel again?
June 12, 2022
I liked it
Interesting novel . Hurry up and write the second!
I thought it was well done. Kept me turning the page
Interesting novel . Hurry up and write the second!
I thought it was well done. Kept me turning the page
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews