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The Matchmaker: A Spy in Berlin
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
In the vein of Graham Greene and John le Carré, The Matchmaker delivers a chilling Cold War spy story set in West Berlin, where an American woman targeted by the Stasi must confront the truth behind her German husband's mysterious disappearance.
Berlin, 1989. Protests across East Germany threaten the Iron Curtain and Communism is the ill man of Europe.
Anne Simpson, an American who works as a translator at the Joint Operations Refugee Committee, thinks she is in a normal marriage with a charming East German. But then her husband disappears, and the CIA and Western German intelligence arrive at her door.
Nothing about her marriage is as it seems. She had been targeted by the Matchmaker—a high level East German counterintelligence officer—who runs a network of Stasi agents. These agents are his "Romeos" who marry vulnerable women in West Berlin to provide them with cover as they report back to the Matchmaker. Anne has been married to a spy, and now he has disappeared, and is presumably dead.
The CIA are desperate to find the Matchmaker because of his close ties to the KGB. They believe he can establish the truth about a high-ranking Soviet defector. They need Anne because she's the only person who has seen his face - from a photograph that her husband mistakenly left out in his office - and she is the CIA’s best chance to identify him before the Matchmaker escapes to Moscow. Time is running out as the Berlin Wall falls and chaos engulfs East Germany.
But what if Anne's husband is not dead? And what if Anne has her own motives for finding the Matchmaker to deliver a different type of justice?
In the vein of Graham Greene and John le Carré, The Matchmaker delivers a chilling Cold War spy story set in West Berlin, where an American woman targeted by the Stasi must confront the truth behind her German husband's mysterious disappearance.
Berlin, 1989. Protests across East Germany threaten the Iron Curtain and Communism is the ill man of Europe.
Anne Simpson, an American who works as a translator at the Joint Operations Refugee Committee, thinks she is in a normal marriage with a charming East German. But then her husband disappears, and the CIA and Western German intelligence arrive at her door.
Nothing about her marriage is as it seems. She had been targeted by the Matchmaker—a high level East German counterintelligence officer—who runs a network of Stasi agents. These agents are his "Romeos" who marry vulnerable women in West Berlin to provide them with cover as they report back to the Matchmaker. Anne has been married to a spy, and now he has disappeared, and is presumably dead.
The CIA are desperate to find the Matchmaker because of his close ties to the KGB. They believe he can establish the truth about a high-ranking Soviet defector. They need Anne because she's the only person who has seen his face - from a photograph that her husband mistakenly left out in his office - and she is the CIA’s best chance to identify him before the Matchmaker escapes to Moscow. Time is running out as the Berlin Wall falls and chaos engulfs East Germany.
But what if Anne's husband is not dead? And what if Anne has her own motives for finding the Matchmaker to deliver a different type of justice?
352 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2022
435 people are currently reading
1730 people want to read
About the author
Paul Vidich
12 books351 followersPAUL VIDICH is the acclaimed author of The Coldest Warrior (2020), An Honorable Man (2016) and The Good Assassin (2017), and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, LitHub, CrimeReads, Fugue, The Nation, Narrative Magazine, and others. He lives in New York.
Praise for THE COLDEST WARRIOR:
A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Mystery/Thriller Pick for Spring 2020
Publishers Weekly and Library Journal STARRED reviews.
“Vidich . . . writes with the nuanced detail and authority of a career spook. With this outing, Vidich enters the upper ranks of espionage thriller writers.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A worthwhile thriller and a valuable exposé.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Vidich presents a fast-paced, historically accurate thriller, placing him alongside other great spy authors such as John le Carré and Alan Furst. Readers of the genre will want this slow-burn chiller that shows how far government will go to keep secrets."—Library Journal (starred review)
“The Coldest Warrior is more than an entertaining and well-crafted thriller; Vidich asks questions that remain relevant today.”—JEFFERSON FLANDERS, picked as a Top Espionage Novel of 2020
Praise for AN HONORABLE MAN:
Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Top 10 mysteries and thrillers coming 2016.
A Booklist STARRED Review.
"Cold War spy fiction in the grand tradition--neatly plotted betrayals in that shadow world where no one can be trusted and agents are haunted by their own moral compromises." -- Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Berlin and Istanbul Passage.
"A cool, knowing, and quietly devastating thriller that vaults Paul Vidich into the ranks of such thinking-man's spy novelists as Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst. Like them, Vidich conjures not only a riveting mystery but a poignant cast of characters, a vibrant evocation of time and place, and a rich excavation of human paradox." -- Stephen Schiff, Co-Producer and writer, The Americans.
"As I read AN HONORABLE MAN, I kept coming back to George Smiley and THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. That’s how good this book is. Much like John le Carre and Eric Ambler before him, Vidich writes with a confidence that allows him to draw his characters in clean, simple strokes, creating dialogue that speaks volumes in a few spare lines while leaving even more for the reader to fathom in what’s not said at all. At the center of the novel is George Mueller, a man who walks in the considerable shadow of Smiley but with his own unique footprint, his own demons and a quiet, inner strength that sustains and defines him in endless shades of cloak and dagger gray. Pick up this book. You’ll love it." --Michael Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Chicago Way
"An Honorable Man" is wonderful -- an unputdownable mole hunt written in terse, noirish prose, driving us inexorably forward. In George Mueller, Paul Vidich has created a perfectly stoic companion to guide us through the intrigues of the red-baiting Fifties. And the story itself has the comforting feel of a classic of the genre, rediscovered in some dusty attic, a wonderful gift from the past. – Olen Steinhauer, New York Times Bestselling author of The Tourist and The Cairo Affair.
“Paul Vidich's tense, muscular thriller delivers suspense and intelligence circa 1953: Korea, Stalin, the cold war, rage brilliantly, and the hall of mirrors confronting reluctant agent George Mueller reflects myriad questions. Just how personal is the political? Is the past ever past? An Honorable Man asks universal questions whose shadows linger even now. Paul Vidich's immensely assured debut, a requiem to a time, is intensely alive, dark, silken with facts, replete with promise.” -- Jayne Anne Phillips, New York Times Bestselling author of Lark and Terminte a
Praise for THE COLDEST WARRIOR:
A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Mystery/Thriller Pick for Spring 2020
Publishers Weekly and Library Journal STARRED reviews.
“Vidich . . . writes with the nuanced detail and authority of a career spook. With this outing, Vidich enters the upper ranks of espionage thriller writers.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A worthwhile thriller and a valuable exposé.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Vidich presents a fast-paced, historically accurate thriller, placing him alongside other great spy authors such as John le Carré and Alan Furst. Readers of the genre will want this slow-burn chiller that shows how far government will go to keep secrets."—Library Journal (starred review)
“The Coldest Warrior is more than an entertaining and well-crafted thriller; Vidich asks questions that remain relevant today.”—JEFFERSON FLANDERS, picked as a Top Espionage Novel of 2020
Praise for AN HONORABLE MAN:
Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Top 10 mysteries and thrillers coming 2016.
A Booklist STARRED Review.
"Cold War spy fiction in the grand tradition--neatly plotted betrayals in that shadow world where no one can be trusted and agents are haunted by their own moral compromises." -- Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Berlin and Istanbul Passage.
"A cool, knowing, and quietly devastating thriller that vaults Paul Vidich into the ranks of such thinking-man's spy novelists as Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst. Like them, Vidich conjures not only a riveting mystery but a poignant cast of characters, a vibrant evocation of time and place, and a rich excavation of human paradox." -- Stephen Schiff, Co-Producer and writer, The Americans.
"As I read AN HONORABLE MAN, I kept coming back to George Smiley and THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. That’s how good this book is. Much like John le Carre and Eric Ambler before him, Vidich writes with a confidence that allows him to draw his characters in clean, simple strokes, creating dialogue that speaks volumes in a few spare lines while leaving even more for the reader to fathom in what’s not said at all. At the center of the novel is George Mueller, a man who walks in the considerable shadow of Smiley but with his own unique footprint, his own demons and a quiet, inner strength that sustains and defines him in endless shades of cloak and dagger gray. Pick up this book. You’ll love it." --Michael Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Chicago Way
"An Honorable Man" is wonderful -- an unputdownable mole hunt written in terse, noirish prose, driving us inexorably forward. In George Mueller, Paul Vidich has created a perfectly stoic companion to guide us through the intrigues of the red-baiting Fifties. And the story itself has the comforting feel of a classic of the genre, rediscovered in some dusty attic, a wonderful gift from the past. – Olen Steinhauer, New York Times Bestselling author of The Tourist and The Cairo Affair.
“Paul Vidich's tense, muscular thriller delivers suspense and intelligence circa 1953: Korea, Stalin, the cold war, rage brilliantly, and the hall of mirrors confronting reluctant agent George Mueller reflects myriad questions. Just how personal is the political? Is the past ever past? An Honorable Man asks universal questions whose shadows linger even now. Paul Vidich's immensely assured debut, a requiem to a time, is intensely alive, dark, silken with facts, replete with promise.” -- Jayne Anne Phillips, New York Times Bestselling author of Lark and Terminte a
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 231 reviews
December 31, 2021
When handed the ARC of Paul Vidich’s latest novel, I was not sure what to expect. A spy thriller set in the dying days of the Cold War, Vidich transports the reader to a divided Germany, where tensions still run high along the seam of the Iron Curtain. Anne Simpson receives word that her husband’s wallet has been found along the banks of the river, but his body is nowhere to be found. Sure that he is away at work as a piano tuner, she is baffled, but the local American consular official makes it clear that something is amiss. As the investigation continues, Anne learns that her husband may have been working for the Matchmaker, an East German counterintelligence official, someone the CIA has been hunting in relation to a Soviet defector. Now, Anne must wonder if her entire marriage was a farce and how her husband plays into the larger narrative of a Cold War game of political chess! Vidich does a great job of stirring up emotions and political intrigue with this piece. Perfect for those whose love spy thrillers with political flavouring.
It’s 1989 and Europe is about to make a seismic shift. In Berlin, things are teetering on the brink and the Iron Curtain is fraying as the year advances. When Anne Simpson receives a knock on the door, she is by an American consular official with news about her husband. Thus begins the whirlwind of truth and emotions.
It would seem that the wallet belonging to Stefan Koehler has been found on the banks of the river, but no body. Anne is baffled, but cannot think of why her husband would be there at all, as he’s been away tuning pianos across the West. When the CIA and West German Intelligence become involved, she begins to worry, not only about Stefan’s whereabouts, but her marriage as a whole.
It’s soon revealed that Stefan may have connections to the Matchmaker, an elusive East German counterintelligence official wanted by the CIA for his known association with the KGB. It’s a race to discover the truth about Stefan and what he might have known before his apparent death.
As Anne wrestles with the truth about her husband, an apparent spy, she is thrust into the middle of the CIA’s investigation, the only person who has actually seen the Matchmaker years before when she was introduced to Stefan. Now she comes under scrutiny as the Agency pushes for answers while Berlin becomes the symbolic epicentre of a crumbling Communist empire. A chilling tale that pulls the reader into the middle of a web of lies, while showing just how masterful Paul Vidich is within the genre.
While spy thrillers have never been one of the genres I turn to with any regularity, I was eager to see how I would feel about this piece. Paul Vidich not only paints an intense picture with this words, but he places the reader in the heart of the East-West divide in the waning days of the Cold War. With a great narrative and powerful plot twists, the story comes to life and all is slowly revealed by the final chapter. This surely lives up to the standards of Graham Greene and John le Carré, as denoted in the dust jacket blurb.
Anne Simpson is the apparent protagonist throughout, though the craftiness of her husband surely helps share the spotlight. The reader is thrust into the middle of the mystery surrounding Stefan Koehler and who is truly could be, while Anne is left to question everything about the life she’s had with the man. As Anne delves deeper into the past few years, tidbits of the narrative surrounding their marriage and chance encounter become key parts of the puzzle around the plan set in motion by the Matchmaker. Vidich uses this effectively and builds up his characters in stunning fashion, developing a story that will keep the readers adding their own suppositions about each individual who graces the pages of the book.
While I have never read Paul Vidich’s work, I can see he that he’s a master of his craft. A strong narrative that keeps pace with the ever-evolving plot helps the reader become lost in the story. There are so many layers that must be revealed, it is not for the reader who seeks a quick and simple read, but rewards those who want something that adds tension and confusion. Well-developed characters bring much to the story and there is substance to each, adding depth to the political side of things at a time when tensions ran high between the East and West. Vidich does well to remind the reader of how things were in the closing months of the Cold War and uses some effective ideas to keep the tension alive. I am eager to look for more of Vidich’s work soon to see how it compares.
Kudos, Mr. Vidich, for an entertaining read that left me reminiscing of the days of the Cold War.
Be sure to check for my review, first posted on Mystery and Suspense, as well as a number of other insightful comments by other reviewers.
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/th...
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
It’s 1989 and Europe is about to make a seismic shift. In Berlin, things are teetering on the brink and the Iron Curtain is fraying as the year advances. When Anne Simpson receives a knock on the door, she is by an American consular official with news about her husband. Thus begins the whirlwind of truth and emotions.
It would seem that the wallet belonging to Stefan Koehler has been found on the banks of the river, but no body. Anne is baffled, but cannot think of why her husband would be there at all, as he’s been away tuning pianos across the West. When the CIA and West German Intelligence become involved, she begins to worry, not only about Stefan’s whereabouts, but her marriage as a whole.
It’s soon revealed that Stefan may have connections to the Matchmaker, an elusive East German counterintelligence official wanted by the CIA for his known association with the KGB. It’s a race to discover the truth about Stefan and what he might have known before his apparent death.
As Anne wrestles with the truth about her husband, an apparent spy, she is thrust into the middle of the CIA’s investigation, the only person who has actually seen the Matchmaker years before when she was introduced to Stefan. Now she comes under scrutiny as the Agency pushes for answers while Berlin becomes the symbolic epicentre of a crumbling Communist empire. A chilling tale that pulls the reader into the middle of a web of lies, while showing just how masterful Paul Vidich is within the genre.
While spy thrillers have never been one of the genres I turn to with any regularity, I was eager to see how I would feel about this piece. Paul Vidich not only paints an intense picture with this words, but he places the reader in the heart of the East-West divide in the waning days of the Cold War. With a great narrative and powerful plot twists, the story comes to life and all is slowly revealed by the final chapter. This surely lives up to the standards of Graham Greene and John le Carré, as denoted in the dust jacket blurb.
Anne Simpson is the apparent protagonist throughout, though the craftiness of her husband surely helps share the spotlight. The reader is thrust into the middle of the mystery surrounding Stefan Koehler and who is truly could be, while Anne is left to question everything about the life she’s had with the man. As Anne delves deeper into the past few years, tidbits of the narrative surrounding their marriage and chance encounter become key parts of the puzzle around the plan set in motion by the Matchmaker. Vidich uses this effectively and builds up his characters in stunning fashion, developing a story that will keep the readers adding their own suppositions about each individual who graces the pages of the book.
While I have never read Paul Vidich’s work, I can see he that he’s a master of his craft. A strong narrative that keeps pace with the ever-evolving plot helps the reader become lost in the story. There are so many layers that must be revealed, it is not for the reader who seeks a quick and simple read, but rewards those who want something that adds tension and confusion. Well-developed characters bring much to the story and there is substance to each, adding depth to the political side of things at a time when tensions ran high between the East and West. Vidich does well to remind the reader of how things were in the closing months of the Cold War and uses some effective ideas to keep the tension alive. I am eager to look for more of Vidich’s work soon to see how it compares.
Kudos, Mr. Vidich, for an entertaining read that left me reminiscing of the days of the Cold War.
Be sure to check for my review, first posted on Mystery and Suspense, as well as a number of other insightful comments by other reviewers.
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/th...
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
January 30, 2022
As the author, I am biased. The book follows the upending of one woman’s life as she learns of her disappeared husband’s secret life and motivations, launching into a mission to expose a network of East German spies at the end of the Cold War. Kirkus Review: " Intrigue, murder, and vengeance make for a darkly enjoyable read."
February 11, 2022
Disappointing
I bought it after the glowing Times review. The plot is preposterous and the writing weak. I finally just skipped to the end after reading more than half.
I bought it after the glowing Times review. The plot is preposterous and the writing weak. I finally just skipped to the end after reading more than half.
March 29, 2022
Do you ever pick up a book, read the blurb, check out the cover and think, "hey, this is a great idea! I'm gonna buy it?" THIS IS THAT BOOK!
Then you get into it and it is.....simplistic.....and, quite frankly, unbelievable -- not because of the Cold War premise, but because of the main characters, and their motivations. THIS IS THAT BOOK.
Then, I asked myself, what did I not like. The idea was right, an East German spy marries and unsuspecting Westerner, then things get wonky. The details of the fall of the Berlin Wall played in believably well, how situations could have evolved.
Then I realized, the main character's long game was not credible. Her grief as a widow, at being used, her reaction to her "husband"'s other life, her final plan -- it is not a normal woman's reaction, at least not as such in my 40+ years of living through the ups and downs of my and my friends' lives - including divorces, betrayals and coexistence. Then I look at the last page -- it is written by a man. Hmmmm. Maybe this was sexist of me, but I just don't get the character's actions.
Then the inconsistencies -- first there are cameras everywhere, but everyone takes the heroine's word for things? She's kept on forever by threats and cajoling and she falls for it (given the final chapters, she seems like a much tougher cookie). Then the disgraced CIA man -- needing some really not well explained resolution to.....the Kennedy assassination 30 years later? It's weak.
Proceed with caution, there are better spy books out there -- including some true stories that are so crazy-shocking that they read like fiction.
Then you get into it and it is.....simplistic.....and, quite frankly, unbelievable -- not because of the Cold War premise, but because of the main characters, and their motivations. THIS IS THAT BOOK.
Then, I asked myself, what did I not like. The idea was right, an East German spy marries and unsuspecting Westerner, then things get wonky. The details of the fall of the Berlin Wall played in believably well, how situations could have evolved.
Then I realized, the main character's long game was not credible. Her grief as a widow, at being used, her reaction to her "husband"'s other life, her final plan -- it is not a normal woman's reaction, at least not as such in my 40+ years of living through the ups and downs of my and my friends' lives - including divorces, betrayals and coexistence. Then I look at the last page -- it is written by a man. Hmmmm. Maybe this was sexist of me, but I just don't get the character's actions.
Then the inconsistencies -- first there are cameras everywhere, but everyone takes the heroine's word for things? She's kept on forever by threats and cajoling and she falls for it (given the final chapters, she seems like a much tougher cookie). Then the disgraced CIA man -- needing some really not well explained resolution to.....the Kennedy assassination 30 years later? It's weak.
Proceed with caution, there are better spy books out there -- including some true stories that are so crazy-shocking that they read like fiction.
February 20, 2022
To be honest this was a disappointment compared to his earlier books. Too many repetitive phrases, some typos (not the author's fault), a little heavy on the assumptions, the relationship between the two wives asked a little much of the reader...I could mention a few other things but.....Kruger's end could have been fleshed out more as well as Winslow's. There were moments when I simply didn't believe the protagonist as she seemed to bounce back and forth between naivete and cunning. Hopefully his next book, apparently to take place in the Middle East, a move from the Cold War and into late 20th Century terrorism, will come out better.
February 11, 2022
There are some interesting scenes involving life in East Berlin when the wall came down, but otherwise, a very pedestrian spy novel.
February 24, 2022
Atmospheric spy thriller - full review to follow for blog tour
March 26, 2022
What is it lately? Everything I pick up is a great concept and goes immediately downhill from there. Great idea - but poorly plotted and written and terrible characterization. Save yourself the time - read the classic Cold War spy novels.
February 22, 2022
Over the past half-dozen years, Paul Vidich has emerged as a major new voice in the literature of espionage. He writes historical fiction, with each of the five books he has published to date solidly grounded in verifiable facts. A mole hunt in the CIA during the paranoid years of the Red Scare. A CIA operation in Cuba the year before its Revolution. The death of a CIA scientist during Project MKUltra, the Agency’s experiment with LSD. A KGB defector during the final months before Mikhail Gorbachev took the helm of the Soviet Union. And now, in The Matchmaker, a tense, brilliantly plotted venture into the divided city of Berlin in the weeks before the Wall came down. The story is loosely based on the career of the East German spymaster Markus Wolf.
THE SEARCH FOR A BODY IN A CANAL
It’s 1989. Anne Simpson works as an interpreter for the US Army in occupied West Berlin. She is married to an East German man, a piano-tuner who travels extensively throughout the region on call to temperamental musicians. But Stefan Kroehler is also an agent of East Germany’s Stasi. To Anne’s mounting horror, that truth begins to eke out when James Cooper turns up from the American Embassy to inform her that Stefan has gone missing. The police are dragging the Landwehr Canal between the Soviet and American sectors in search of his body.
CAUGHT BETWEEN THE SIDES IN A DANGEROUS COLD WAR
While the search for Stefan’s body proceeds, Anne receives a primer in the architecture of the German police services. Two men interrogate her, one from the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), West Germany’s intelligence service, the other from the BKA, the domestic police. Both suspect her of hiding a secret about Stefan. Although the Americans and the West Germans seem convinced Stefan is dead, the East Germans are not persuaded. And the CIA seeks to use the Stasi’s determination to locate Stefan as a way to lure Rudolf Kruger, the Stasi’s number two, into a trap for their own hidden reasons. Anne now comes under pressure from both sides—and she discovers she can trust no one in her increasingly fraught search for her wayward husband.
For the CIA and the German police, Kruger is the key. As James Cooper explains to Anne, it’s Kruger who had selected her as a target for Stefan to romance and marry as a route into the West. Kruger is the Matchmaker.
A PASSEL OF BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS
Vidich adroitly reveals the contours of his characters as the action unfolds—and every one of them harbors secrets.
** We get to know Anne Simpson, of course, as well as Stefan Kroehler (whatever his name might really be).
** Three men in the CIA become involved in the tale: James Cooper and his boss, world-weary Dick Winslow, as well as Winslow’s boss in Langley, Deputy Director George Mueller. Mueller plays a role in Vidich’s novels similar to George Smiley’s in the work of John le Carré, popping up from time to time in large roles or small.
** Two West German police officers, Inspector Erich Praeger of the BND, and Tomas Keller of the BKA, bedevil Anne with their suspicion that she herself may be involved in espionage for the Stasi.
** But the central character of this novel is the Matchmaker himself, Rudolf Krueger. Vidich paints a picture of Kruger that is both disturbing and perfectly credible.
THE KGB’S STEPCHILD, THE STASI
For 40 years, from 1950 to 1990, the people of the East German state known as the German Democratic Republic, or GDR, suffered under the thumb of what was then the world’s most pervasive and oppressive secret police agency. Known as the Stasi, the Staatssicherheitsdienst directly employed tens of thousands of officers and managed hundreds of thousands of informers. Over the course of its existence, the Stasi compiled files on more than two million East Germans and arrested 250,000 people as political prisoners.
For 34 of the agency’s 40 years, Markus Wolf (1923-2006) headed the Stasi’s foreign intelligence division, the number two position. Western intelligence knew him as “the man without a face” for his elusiveness. Wikipedia notes that “Western agencies did not know what the East German spy chief looked like until 1978, when he was photographed by . . . Sweden’s National Security Service, during a visit to Stockholm. Wolf was widely regarded as one of the most effective Communist spies of the century. Vidich uses him as the model for Rudolf Kruger, “the Matchmaker.” In fact, he did engineer uncounted numbers of “matches” with women in West Germany. He is the embodiment of what Hannah Arendt called the “banality of evil.”
ANOTHER REVIEWER’S VIEW
In the February 13, 2022, New York Times Book Review, crime columnist Sarah Weinman gushed over Vidich’s writing. “There is a casual elegance to Vidich’s spy fiction,” she wrote. “a seeming effortlessness that belies his superior craftsmanship. Every plot point, character motivation and turn of phrase veers toward the understated, but they are never underwritten. ‘The Matchmaker’ is an ideal entrance to Vidich’s work, one that should compel new readers to plumb his backlist.” Amen to that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Matchmaker is Paul Vidich’s fifth spy novel. According to his author website, Vidich “had a distinguished career in music and media at Time Warner, AOL, and Warner Music Group” prior to turning to writing. At Warner, “he was Executive Vice President in charge of global digital strategy. He was a member of the National Academies committee on The Impact of Copyright Policy on Innovation in the Digital Era and testified in Washington before rate hearings.He presently serves as an independent board director, angel investor, and advisor to Internet media companies in video and music. Vidich is a graduate of Wesleyan University where he was a Trustee and received a Distinguished Alumni Award, and The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the boards of directors of Poets and Writers, The New School for Social Research, and the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation.” Vidich lives in Manhattan.
THE SEARCH FOR A BODY IN A CANAL
It’s 1989. Anne Simpson works as an interpreter for the US Army in occupied West Berlin. She is married to an East German man, a piano-tuner who travels extensively throughout the region on call to temperamental musicians. But Stefan Kroehler is also an agent of East Germany’s Stasi. To Anne’s mounting horror, that truth begins to eke out when James Cooper turns up from the American Embassy to inform her that Stefan has gone missing. The police are dragging the Landwehr Canal between the Soviet and American sectors in search of his body.
CAUGHT BETWEEN THE SIDES IN A DANGEROUS COLD WAR
While the search for Stefan’s body proceeds, Anne receives a primer in the architecture of the German police services. Two men interrogate her, one from the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), West Germany’s intelligence service, the other from the BKA, the domestic police. Both suspect her of hiding a secret about Stefan. Although the Americans and the West Germans seem convinced Stefan is dead, the East Germans are not persuaded. And the CIA seeks to use the Stasi’s determination to locate Stefan as a way to lure Rudolf Kruger, the Stasi’s number two, into a trap for their own hidden reasons. Anne now comes under pressure from both sides—and she discovers she can trust no one in her increasingly fraught search for her wayward husband.
For the CIA and the German police, Kruger is the key. As James Cooper explains to Anne, it’s Kruger who had selected her as a target for Stefan to romance and marry as a route into the West. Kruger is the Matchmaker.
A PASSEL OF BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS
Vidich adroitly reveals the contours of his characters as the action unfolds—and every one of them harbors secrets.
** We get to know Anne Simpson, of course, as well as Stefan Kroehler (whatever his name might really be).
** Three men in the CIA become involved in the tale: James Cooper and his boss, world-weary Dick Winslow, as well as Winslow’s boss in Langley, Deputy Director George Mueller. Mueller plays a role in Vidich’s novels similar to George Smiley’s in the work of John le Carré, popping up from time to time in large roles or small.
** Two West German police officers, Inspector Erich Praeger of the BND, and Tomas Keller of the BKA, bedevil Anne with their suspicion that she herself may be involved in espionage for the Stasi.
** But the central character of this novel is the Matchmaker himself, Rudolf Krueger. Vidich paints a picture of Kruger that is both disturbing and perfectly credible.
THE KGB’S STEPCHILD, THE STASI
For 40 years, from 1950 to 1990, the people of the East German state known as the German Democratic Republic, or GDR, suffered under the thumb of what was then the world’s most pervasive and oppressive secret police agency. Known as the Stasi, the Staatssicherheitsdienst directly employed tens of thousands of officers and managed hundreds of thousands of informers. Over the course of its existence, the Stasi compiled files on more than two million East Germans and arrested 250,000 people as political prisoners.
For 34 of the agency’s 40 years, Markus Wolf (1923-2006) headed the Stasi’s foreign intelligence division, the number two position. Western intelligence knew him as “the man without a face” for his elusiveness. Wikipedia notes that “Western agencies did not know what the East German spy chief looked like until 1978, when he was photographed by . . . Sweden’s National Security Service, during a visit to Stockholm. Wolf was widely regarded as one of the most effective Communist spies of the century. Vidich uses him as the model for Rudolf Kruger, “the Matchmaker.” In fact, he did engineer uncounted numbers of “matches” with women in West Germany. He is the embodiment of what Hannah Arendt called the “banality of evil.”
ANOTHER REVIEWER’S VIEW
In the February 13, 2022, New York Times Book Review, crime columnist Sarah Weinman gushed over Vidich’s writing. “There is a casual elegance to Vidich’s spy fiction,” she wrote. “a seeming effortlessness that belies his superior craftsmanship. Every plot point, character motivation and turn of phrase veers toward the understated, but they are never underwritten. ‘The Matchmaker’ is an ideal entrance to Vidich’s work, one that should compel new readers to plumb his backlist.” Amen to that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Matchmaker is Paul Vidich’s fifth spy novel. According to his author website, Vidich “had a distinguished career in music and media at Time Warner, AOL, and Warner Music Group” prior to turning to writing. At Warner, “he was Executive Vice President in charge of global digital strategy. He was a member of the National Academies committee on The Impact of Copyright Policy on Innovation in the Digital Era and testified in Washington before rate hearings.He presently serves as an independent board director, angel investor, and advisor to Internet media companies in video and music. Vidich is a graduate of Wesleyan University where he was a Trustee and received a Distinguished Alumni Award, and The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the boards of directors of Poets and Writers, The New School for Social Research, and the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation.” Vidich lives in Manhattan.
April 1, 2022
In an attempt to be mysterious, the plot kept jumping ahead without an explanation of what happened. It ended up just being confusing.
March 4, 2022
Who exactly is The Matchmaker in Paul Vidich’s great new spy thriller? Is it the high-level East German counterintelligence officer who fiendishly connects his Stasi agents to unsuspecting vulnerable women in West Berlin? Is it your Aunt Rona who is always trying to get you to go on a date with that “real catch” who mans the counter at her deli? Perhaps it is television personality Gene Rayburn who hosted the incredible Match Game TV show to the unhinged delight of millions of viewers for over two decades. No, actually it is the first choice. Why would you even think it was sweet Aunt Rona or Mr. Rayburn? Try to use your heads a little more readers. Anyway, the Matchmaker, this East German spy has entangled Anne Simpson, an American interrupter in his web. Soon her husband is missing, maybe on the run, maybe dead. She is being targeted by both the Stasi agents he worked for as well as the C.I.A. As Gene Rayburn would say, there are so many folks chasing her that even her blank is turning red. Vidich’s stories are always lean (not unlike the roast beef Aunt Rona gets from that seductive deli worker) and they have a lot of heart. There are moment that cut deeper than a meat slicing machine when you forgot to wear your chainmail gloves. Vidich always manages to bring his oversize stories down to a human level. I would have to agree with Gene Rayburn when he says, “The Matchmaker: A Spy in Berlin is better than a blank up the blank.” I don’t think anyone could say it better.
November 7, 2022
I do like spy novels, and this one had its moments, but I found it confusing and I didn’t “get” the main character.
December 13, 2022
A dark, somber spy novel set in Berlin as the Wall comes down in 1989. Comparisons to Greene and LeCarre are apt, especially in tone and pacing, which is measured but with an underlying sense of urgency. Interesting characters--I'll have to see if it's part of a series--good guys and bad on both sides. Real sense of place in Cold War Berlin, East and West. Involving characters, complex plot with twists, stylish and spare language.
February 24, 2022
The Matchmaker is the third book I've now read by Paul Vidich and is as atmospheric and elegantly plotted as I've come to expect. Set in Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, this is a spy novel that is about more than just the spies themselves and is an intimate, astute portrait of a woman who could be fairly described as one of their victims.
However, describing Anne Simpson this way would be short-sighted as despite being successfully targeted by 'The Matchmaker', her response to discovering that everything she thought she knew about her second marriage was a lie, is to determinedly attempt to find her own course through the confusion that ensues. When she receives a knock on the door from an American Embassy Consular officer, her life is turned upside down. She works as an interpreter, debriefing refugees from eastern Europe and believed her husband, Stefan Koehler was a piano tuner, whose work took him away on regular trips to Vienna and Prague. Now Stefan is missing, possibly dead and there are several people beyond Anne who are very keen to find out if he is alive or dead.
Demands are placed on Anne by the intelligence agencies who see her as their link to the Matchmaker, an East German counterintelligence officer. His character is inspired by spymaster, Markus Wolf and like his real-life counterpart, he is known as the man without a face, responsible for the Stasi network of 'Romeo' spies who seduced and married women in order to gain proximity to key figures and information. It's grimly fascinating to read about the measures that were employed to dupe these women and Anne's bitter grief and anger are conveyed with empathetic authenticity as she realises her gullibility. As the mistakes she has made mean she is given little choice but to co-operate, there are glimpses behind the scenes into conversations and decisions she is unaware of; like many others caught up in the apparently endless Cold War, she becomes a pawn in a power game of ideology and ruthless ambition.
It quickly transpires that Anne isn't as guileless as it would first seem and although her response could seem unlikely, the insights we are given into her character reveal her to be an independent, perceptively intelligent woman who quickly adapts to her new reality and undergoes her own metamorphosis. She's an intriguing character; not obviously warm yet clearly principled, if not entirely honest, and although this is a standalone novel, I can easily imagine her as a recurrent figure utilising her newly discovered aptitude for clandestine work.
The contrast between the freedoms of West Germany and the oppressive control in East Germany is convincingly described, as is the undercurrent of suspicion that runs through the whole city as surely as the Spree and as seemingly intransigently as the Berlin Wall. However, the timing of this story is no accident and the Wall coming down is a strikingly symbolic representation of everything that is changing; especially for those who have spent decades manipulating and deceiving in the name of national or international security. These are the people who acknowledge they put duty before decency but if justice suffers as a result then can their actions be excused? I loved that there are no easy answers granted here and rather than a definite sense of right or wrong, the actuality is as grey and opaque as the November sky.
The sense of time and place is impeccable throughout The Matchmaker, casting an ominous melancholy over proceedings yet still offering a glimmer of hope. The eloquent prose with its rich, observant descriptions and the intricately layered, gripping plot makes for an engrossing, thought-provoking spy thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
However, describing Anne Simpson this way would be short-sighted as despite being successfully targeted by 'The Matchmaker', her response to discovering that everything she thought she knew about her second marriage was a lie, is to determinedly attempt to find her own course through the confusion that ensues. When she receives a knock on the door from an American Embassy Consular officer, her life is turned upside down. She works as an interpreter, debriefing refugees from eastern Europe and believed her husband, Stefan Koehler was a piano tuner, whose work took him away on regular trips to Vienna and Prague. Now Stefan is missing, possibly dead and there are several people beyond Anne who are very keen to find out if he is alive or dead.
Demands are placed on Anne by the intelligence agencies who see her as their link to the Matchmaker, an East German counterintelligence officer. His character is inspired by spymaster, Markus Wolf and like his real-life counterpart, he is known as the man without a face, responsible for the Stasi network of 'Romeo' spies who seduced and married women in order to gain proximity to key figures and information. It's grimly fascinating to read about the measures that were employed to dupe these women and Anne's bitter grief and anger are conveyed with empathetic authenticity as she realises her gullibility. As the mistakes she has made mean she is given little choice but to co-operate, there are glimpses behind the scenes into conversations and decisions she is unaware of; like many others caught up in the apparently endless Cold War, she becomes a pawn in a power game of ideology and ruthless ambition.
It quickly transpires that Anne isn't as guileless as it would first seem and although her response could seem unlikely, the insights we are given into her character reveal her to be an independent, perceptively intelligent woman who quickly adapts to her new reality and undergoes her own metamorphosis. She's an intriguing character; not obviously warm yet clearly principled, if not entirely honest, and although this is a standalone novel, I can easily imagine her as a recurrent figure utilising her newly discovered aptitude for clandestine work.
The contrast between the freedoms of West Germany and the oppressive control in East Germany is convincingly described, as is the undercurrent of suspicion that runs through the whole city as surely as the Spree and as seemingly intransigently as the Berlin Wall. However, the timing of this story is no accident and the Wall coming down is a strikingly symbolic representation of everything that is changing; especially for those who have spent decades manipulating and deceiving in the name of national or international security. These are the people who acknowledge they put duty before decency but if justice suffers as a result then can their actions be excused? I loved that there are no easy answers granted here and rather than a definite sense of right or wrong, the actuality is as grey and opaque as the November sky.
The sense of time and place is impeccable throughout The Matchmaker, casting an ominous melancholy over proceedings yet still offering a glimmer of hope. The eloquent prose with its rich, observant descriptions and the intricately layered, gripping plot makes for an engrossing, thought-provoking spy thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
January 31, 2022
A thoroughly enjoyable and dramatic spy thriller. Capturing all the nuances of a divided Berlin but propelling the action to the period just as the wall began to come down.
Atmospheric and intense. In keeping and a nod to all the glorious espionage novels of the past. Tense border crossings, missing bodies and the sense of being watched or followed.
In addition, wonderfully creative in providing a fresh look at the honey trap. Two great female characters lead the way amid grey men in suits and police uniforms.
Based on the exploits of a spymaster who was able to use romantic liaisons to better infiltrate his spies. This is an original and far reaching story about agents and betrayal but also shows that official expediency to pragmatically skip over past sins for a greater good. Re-unification and state secrets.
Some moments of classic spy noir and an underestimation of the control held over those you cajole, blackmail and control. Where an amateur approach to getting things done counter to the thinking of how a spy would operate in such circumstances.
Interesting in the light of award for damages awarded to women mislead by undercover police officers here in the U.K. recently. Does the end justify the means?
A new author to me but whose writing carried the story along with a growing tension and an expanding understanding of the central character. Anne Simpson changes during the book and becomes someone we care about and value as a human being. Her sense of betrayal and response to government justification for inaction and the misinformation given to her is the reader’s journey. She is intelligent, generous and resourceful.
Atmospheric and intense. In keeping and a nod to all the glorious espionage novels of the past. Tense border crossings, missing bodies and the sense of being watched or followed.
In addition, wonderfully creative in providing a fresh look at the honey trap. Two great female characters lead the way amid grey men in suits and police uniforms.
Based on the exploits of a spymaster who was able to use romantic liaisons to better infiltrate his spies. This is an original and far reaching story about agents and betrayal but also shows that official expediency to pragmatically skip over past sins for a greater good. Re-unification and state secrets.
Some moments of classic spy noir and an underestimation of the control held over those you cajole, blackmail and control. Where an amateur approach to getting things done counter to the thinking of how a spy would operate in such circumstances.
Interesting in the light of award for damages awarded to women mislead by undercover police officers here in the U.K. recently. Does the end justify the means?
A new author to me but whose writing carried the story along with a growing tension and an expanding understanding of the central character. Anne Simpson changes during the book and becomes someone we care about and value as a human being. Her sense of betrayal and response to government justification for inaction and the misinformation given to her is the reader’s journey. She is intelligent, generous and resourceful.
March 3, 2022
A rather good spy thriller. The premise was original - I thought I knew everything about the horrors of the Cold War by now, but I did not know about East Germany sending undercover agents on these sorts of missions. How destructive it must have been for so many women. Vidich does a good job entering the mind of a young woman who is losing all faith in the world and fellow human beings. Some of the passages are truly beautiful, with top-notch writing much above what you usually get in the genre. An enjoyable read all-in-all. Will look for other novels by this author.
March 23, 2022
A solid 4+ stars. Thank you, Robert, once again.
March 25, 2022
As a huge fan of Paul Vidich's work, a new novel by him is always a cause for celebration. 'The Matchmaker' is a fine addition to his catalog, not completely up to the high bar he's set with his previous output but interesting and tense just the same.
The setting is divided Berlin in the late 80's before the wall came down. Anne Simpson is a young American working as a translator for a refugee organization, married to an East German man who makes his living traveling all over Europe tuning pianos. Or does he? He disappears after a trip prior to returning home and is thought to be a drowning victim since his belongings are found by a nearby river. The local CIA operative shows up along with police investigators and informs her that her husband is actually an East German spy. As she listens incredulously, she learns that she was duped into marrying him as a result of the machinations of The Matchmaker, a controller of a team of 'Romeo' agents who befriend and marry westerners in order to gain information. As you can imagine, this rocks her world and she's torn in several directions. Meanwhile, the CIA wants to find him so he can lead them to The Matchmaker, who supposedly has information about a mole in the upper reaches of US intelligence.
As with all of Paul Vidich's novels, the writing is rock solid and he paints an atmospheric picture of German life in that era. His descriptions of the different daily activities of East and West German residents are particularly expressive. Most of the narrative is from Anne's point of view, which exposes us to more of her internal dialogue that necessary and a few of the situations in which she finds herself strain credulity, for example her meeting of the 'other family' and the action around the conclusion. The Matchmaker is a tension-filled look back at the impact of high level espionage activities on those who are caught up in them.
The setting is divided Berlin in the late 80's before the wall came down. Anne Simpson is a young American working as a translator for a refugee organization, married to an East German man who makes his living traveling all over Europe tuning pianos. Or does he? He disappears after a trip prior to returning home and is thought to be a drowning victim since his belongings are found by a nearby river. The local CIA operative shows up along with police investigators and informs her that her husband is actually an East German spy. As she listens incredulously, she learns that she was duped into marrying him as a result of the machinations of The Matchmaker, a controller of a team of 'Romeo' agents who befriend and marry westerners in order to gain information. As you can imagine, this rocks her world and she's torn in several directions. Meanwhile, the CIA wants to find him so he can lead them to The Matchmaker, who supposedly has information about a mole in the upper reaches of US intelligence.
As with all of Paul Vidich's novels, the writing is rock solid and he paints an atmospheric picture of German life in that era. His descriptions of the different daily activities of East and West German residents are particularly expressive. Most of the narrative is from Anne's point of view, which exposes us to more of her internal dialogue that necessary and a few of the situations in which she finds herself strain credulity, for example her meeting of the 'other family' and the action around the conclusion. The Matchmaker is a tension-filled look back at the impact of high level espionage activities on those who are caught up in them.
December 17, 2022
I am really enjoying Paul Vidich’s “The Matchmaker,” a cerebral spy novel with intriguing, complex characters set in 1989 West Berlin.
On the rebound from a bad first marriage, American translator for the Joint Operations Refugee Committee, Anne Simpson meets and marries charming Stefan, a piano tuner for major orchestras throughout Germany and Eastern Europe and frequently away on business. At least, that’s what he’s told her.
But on the day Anne expects Stefan’s return, she instead finds the CIA and West German intelligence on her doorstep. Turns out Stefan is a Stasi spy handled by “The Matchmaker” and ordered to marry Anne as cover for his espionage activities. Now Stefan is missing, presumed dead, and Anne has a choice. Either go to prison for a mistake she’s made or help Western intelligence capture “The Matchmaker” to learn vital information about a Soviet defector.
Mr. Vidich writes well. He’s especially adept at creating interesting, believable characters—characters we may not initially like very much, but that we can identify with. For example, his main character Anne seems bitter, hard-shelled, even perverse. But underneath all that, there’s a vulnerability—an aloneness—that invites us to care about what happens to her and sweeps us up in her dilemma. The supporting characters are also well-drawn: the sympathetic CIA agent; his much colder, results-oriented boss; and a terrifically unsympathetic, crop-wielding West German intelligence officer.
And Mr. Vidich does a very good job portraying the moody, melancholy, about-to-come-apart-at-the-seams world of 1989 Berlin: the cold, the damp, the graffiti-ed Berlin Wall, the guard towers, the no-man's-land inhabited by Soviet-land-mine-dodging wild rabbits.
This is not an action-packed novel. It's more in the nature of a Le Carre than a Fleming or a Ludlum or a Silva. But it is very enjoyable.
On the rebound from a bad first marriage, American translator for the Joint Operations Refugee Committee, Anne Simpson meets and marries charming Stefan, a piano tuner for major orchestras throughout Germany and Eastern Europe and frequently away on business. At least, that’s what he’s told her.
But on the day Anne expects Stefan’s return, she instead finds the CIA and West German intelligence on her doorstep. Turns out Stefan is a Stasi spy handled by “The Matchmaker” and ordered to marry Anne as cover for his espionage activities. Now Stefan is missing, presumed dead, and Anne has a choice. Either go to prison for a mistake she’s made or help Western intelligence capture “The Matchmaker” to learn vital information about a Soviet defector.
Mr. Vidich writes well. He’s especially adept at creating interesting, believable characters—characters we may not initially like very much, but that we can identify with. For example, his main character Anne seems bitter, hard-shelled, even perverse. But underneath all that, there’s a vulnerability—an aloneness—that invites us to care about what happens to her and sweeps us up in her dilemma. The supporting characters are also well-drawn: the sympathetic CIA agent; his much colder, results-oriented boss; and a terrifically unsympathetic, crop-wielding West German intelligence officer.
And Mr. Vidich does a very good job portraying the moody, melancholy, about-to-come-apart-at-the-seams world of 1989 Berlin: the cold, the damp, the graffiti-ed Berlin Wall, the guard towers, the no-man's-land inhabited by Soviet-land-mine-dodging wild rabbits.
This is not an action-packed novel. It's more in the nature of a Le Carre than a Fleming or a Ludlum or a Silva. But it is very enjoyable.
January 25, 2022
The Matchmaker: A Spy in Berlin, (Pegasus Crime, $25.99, 352 pages, ISBN 978-1-643313-865-7), by Paul Vidich, opens in 1989 and life, as she knew it, is about to change forever for an American woman named Anne Simpson. She’s living in West Berlin, speaks several languages, works as a translator at the Joint Allied Refugee Operations Center, and is happily married to a German named Stefan Koehler; a professional piano tuner who travels around Europe. As the novel begins, Anne is expecting her husband to return from Austria—where she thinks he’s been working—when a U.S. Embassy Official named James Cooper knocks on her apartment door and informs her that Stefan is missing and presumed dead . . . his wallet found alongside Landwehr Canal. The investigators believe he drowned, but his body has not been found. That’s when a German intelligence officer informs her that they believe Stefan is a spy for the East Germans, working with a notorious spymaster known as “The Matchmaker”, to steal secret information about NATO forces and equipment as well as how they’re deployed. At first, when Anne digs into her husband’s background, trying to exonerate him, she believes he’s innocent. But as more information about the man she’s been married to for only two years becomes known, she’s forced to accept the fact that Stefan has been leading a double life.
Set against the background of the end of the Cold War when the Berlin Wall fell and the end of the Soviet Union and East Germany, Anne’s world crumples, piece by piece as she learns the sordid details of her husband’s secret life as well as his treachery. This one’s for hard-core espionage lovers who’ll enjoy the re-telling of a well-used plot.
Set against the background of the end of the Cold War when the Berlin Wall fell and the end of the Soviet Union and East Germany, Anne’s world crumples, piece by piece as she learns the sordid details of her husband’s secret life as well as his treachery. This one’s for hard-core espionage lovers who’ll enjoy the re-telling of a well-used plot.
February 16, 2022
This is a Cold War Spy thriller set in Berlin in 1989, around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Not a simple tale, there are many threads in this tense drama with some great characters, not least being two strong women; not usual in these times.
Briefly, Anne Simpson is the wife of Stefan, an East German, living in West Berlin. Stefan has told her he is a piano expert who regularly has to travel to repair and return pianos. Her life crumbles when she is told that someone has seen her husband been attacked and ending up in the River Spree; missing presumed drowned. Anne subsequently learns that Stefan is an East German agent operating as a ‘Romeo’ under the control of the Matchmaker, a senior East German counterintelligence officer. Things are further complicated when Anne becomes mixed up with the CIA and West German intelligence as she is the only one who can recognise the Matchmaker who, following the fall of the Wall, is wanted for different reasons by both parties and the Russians.
However Anne has her own secrets which keep rearing their heads as the plot twists and turns in a really clever way. Seamlessly interwoven into the story is the factual situation on both sides of the Wall leading up to and during the fall of The Wall. A historical spy thriller full of suspense and a story wrapped in intrigue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Briefly, Anne Simpson is the wife of Stefan, an East German, living in West Berlin. Stefan has told her he is a piano expert who regularly has to travel to repair and return pianos. Her life crumbles when she is told that someone has seen her husband been attacked and ending up in the River Spree; missing presumed drowned. Anne subsequently learns that Stefan is an East German agent operating as a ‘Romeo’ under the control of the Matchmaker, a senior East German counterintelligence officer. Things are further complicated when Anne becomes mixed up with the CIA and West German intelligence as she is the only one who can recognise the Matchmaker who, following the fall of the Wall, is wanted for different reasons by both parties and the Russians.
However Anne has her own secrets which keep rearing their heads as the plot twists and turns in a really clever way. Seamlessly interwoven into the story is the factual situation on both sides of the Wall leading up to and during the fall of The Wall. A historical spy thriller full of suspense and a story wrapped in intrigue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March 14, 2022
Vidich is one of my new favorite spy guys. He rarely creates a wrong note. The fall of the Berlin Wall is the setting for this short, thoughtful and compelling read as the CIA butts heads with the Stasi mastermind, The Matchmaker. Historical and Berlin details are stunning, evocative, and the author uses the dark streets, the weather, the description of the Wall to continually build Tone and create suspicion and fear. Good flawed CHs and ethical ambiguity pervade the novel as our loyalties shift from CH to CH and we both root for and despair for Anne--the main CH whose husband is missing, presumed dead, and apparently a Stasi agent who used her for information without her knowledge. You believe her naive beginning and her subsequent growth as the narrative takes you there. All the spies and the West German police are both fascinating and, in turns, reprehensible and sometimes sympathetic. When you pick a side and believe in the cause, there is no turning back. It was a satisfying ending and I did not care how plausible it really could be--I wanted it to work out for Anne. For fans of Olen Steinhauer and Len Deighton, Whittell's nonfiction Bridge of Spies Tom Hanks movie with Mark Rylance!) or anyone who wants a literate, historical spy thriller.
March 14, 2022
This was quite a good Cold War-type espionage thriller. Anne Simpson, who works as a translator for the American government in Berlin just before the Berlin Wall comes down. She is waiting for her husband, Stefan, a piano-tuner, to return from a couple of weeks of work in Vienna, but instead there's a knock at her door and a US Embassy person is there to inform her that her husband has gone missing.
As Anne tries to figure out where Stefan is and what's happened to him she discovers she didn't really know her husband at all...and is he even her husband.
An interesting thriller, with the additional device of its setting in Berlin and the events surrounding the opening of the border between East and West Berlin. Clever and engaging.
As Anne tries to figure out where Stefan is and what's happened to him she discovers she didn't really know her husband at all...and is he even her husband.
An interesting thriller, with the additional device of its setting in Berlin and the events surrounding the opening of the border between East and West Berlin. Clever and engaging.
September 21, 2024
Did I pick this book up my mistake? Yes.
Did I actually really enjoy it? Also yes!
Berlin just before the wall falls makes for a really cool setting for a spy novel. Anne starts out as a pretty naive housewife who suddenly becomes of interest to numerous spy agencies when her husband is revealed to be a Soviet spy. As she tries to unravel the lies surrounding the past two years of her life, she finds herself falling further into the world of espionage. She’s not a perfect person, it’s not a perfect world, but I’m not sure I fault any of her decisions. I’m pretty sure it’s a standalone but I think she’s got potential to explore in the future so would definitely read a sequel if it ever came.
Did I actually really enjoy it? Also yes!
Berlin just before the wall falls makes for a really cool setting for a spy novel. Anne starts out as a pretty naive housewife who suddenly becomes of interest to numerous spy agencies when her husband is revealed to be a Soviet spy. As she tries to unravel the lies surrounding the past two years of her life, she finds herself falling further into the world of espionage. She’s not a perfect person, it’s not a perfect world, but I’m not sure I fault any of her decisions. I’m pretty sure it’s a standalone but I think she’s got potential to explore in the future so would definitely read a sequel if it ever came.
February 6, 2022
Another winner from Paul Vidich…
Another great spy novel from Paul Vidich, who is now becoming my favorite spy novelist. Fast paced, intelligent, and with heart. I loved the setting in Berlin in 1989… he takes you there, a special time and place in history, and weaves memorable characters with an intriguing plot. Can’t wait for his next novel.
Another great spy novel from Paul Vidich, who is now becoming my favorite spy novelist. Fast paced, intelligent, and with heart. I loved the setting in Berlin in 1989… he takes you there, a special time and place in history, and weaves memorable characters with an intriguing plot. Can’t wait for his next novel.
February 22, 2022
Paul Vidich is rapidly becoming my go-to author for impeccably researched, well written Cold War spy novels which slowly draw out the tension and keep you reading throughout the book.
When I mention the name of Joseph Manon as one of my other favourites then this is hopefully high praise indeed.
This is well up to the standard of his previous books and intrigued and engrossed me from the start as I knew that I was in the hand of a master of his trade.
Highly recommended.
When I mention the name of Joseph Manon as one of my other favourites then this is hopefully high praise indeed.
This is well up to the standard of his previous books and intrigued and engrossed me from the start as I knew that I was in the hand of a master of his trade.
Highly recommended.
February 2, 2022
May be one of Paul’s best. Wonderful plot, characters, setting. And there was a stasi officer like the Matchmaker.
August 12, 2023
Spy games just before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
July 19, 2022
Between 3.5 and 4 stars. The plot was suspenseful, but it had some holes that didn't make sense.
June 7, 2022
I've not read a spy novel in awhile and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy them. I thought the matchmaker hook was a little different, so picked this up on a whim and was glad I did. The writing is solid, the characters interesting, and the plot twists all made for a fun read. Will definitely seek out other books by Vidich.
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