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Berlin Mesa: A WWII Thriller set in the American West
" Berlin Mesa is an exquisite gem — a truly original story, superbly told. Michael Frost Beckner weaves a mesmerizing tapestry from the inner circle of Nazi Germany to the desert landscape of Los Alamos. An authentic tour de force !" Payne Harrison, New York Times Bestselling Author of Storming Intrepid
In the middle of a desert, a POW camp harbors a deadly secret. A sleeper agent embedded among combat prisoners receives orders activating him to a deadly mission beyond the wire.
Get ready for a WWII thriller unlike any you have ever read. For this prison is Camp Santa Rosa, New Mexico. And this prisoner, Colonel Jurgen von Hofmann, is an SS intelligence officer attached to Hitler's most daring plan against the United States.
"Tony Mendez [portrayed by Ben Affleck in Best Picture winner Argo ] and I have always been two of Michael Frost Beckner's most enthusiastic readers! He captures the essence of spies and the cat and mouse choreography of espionage." Jonna Mendez, Former CIA Chief of Disguise
With Berlin Mesa , novelist Michael Frost Beckner breaks from his Spy Game series to deliver a strikingly original WWII thriller set on the knife-edge of an unexplored curl of history—the escape of German POWs into the heart of the American West.
"Spy thriller? Western adventure? Military action? Yes, all of the above. [Berlin Mesa] is straight, old-school, thriller storytelling that evokes the writing of the masters in all three genres, but with a flair that is Beckner's alone."
James Stejskal, author of the Snake Eater Chronicles, former CIA and Green Beret
"It's Cormac McCarthy cowboys versus Ken Follett Nazi spies with a Forbidden Romance at its heart — what's not to love? Five Stars/Highly Recommended!" Kara W, NetGalley ARC Reader
A land as wild and savage as its past, while the US Army, the FBI, and the OSS clash over the glory of capturing the escaped spy, von Hofmann raids the Triple H Ranch. There, he and his men run headlong into a rancher's vendetta against the man he once put away for the rape of his daughter—the strong-willed war bride Virginia Hendricks.
A story filled with intrigue and violence, romance and redemption, where dark passions are cloaked by secret agendas, only a six-gun will hold against Hitler's ambitions for the fate of the world. But it's a gun held by ex-con Tyler falsely judged, mistrusted, and untested. A cowboy with nothing left to lose.
In the middle of a desert, a POW camp harbors a deadly secret. A sleeper agent embedded among combat prisoners receives orders activating him to a deadly mission beyond the wire.
Get ready for a WWII thriller unlike any you have ever read. For this prison is Camp Santa Rosa, New Mexico. And this prisoner, Colonel Jurgen von Hofmann, is an SS intelligence officer attached to Hitler's most daring plan against the United States.
"Tony Mendez [portrayed by Ben Affleck in Best Picture winner Argo ] and I have always been two of Michael Frost Beckner's most enthusiastic readers! He captures the essence of spies and the cat and mouse choreography of espionage." Jonna Mendez, Former CIA Chief of Disguise
With Berlin Mesa , novelist Michael Frost Beckner breaks from his Spy Game series to deliver a strikingly original WWII thriller set on the knife-edge of an unexplored curl of history—the escape of German POWs into the heart of the American West.
"Spy thriller? Western adventure? Military action? Yes, all of the above. [Berlin Mesa] is straight, old-school, thriller storytelling that evokes the writing of the masters in all three genres, but with a flair that is Beckner's alone."
James Stejskal, author of the Snake Eater Chronicles, former CIA and Green Beret
"It's Cormac McCarthy cowboys versus Ken Follett Nazi spies with a Forbidden Romance at its heart — what's not to love? Five Stars/Highly Recommended!" Kara W, NetGalley ARC Reader
A land as wild and savage as its past, while the US Army, the FBI, and the OSS clash over the glory of capturing the escaped spy, von Hofmann raids the Triple H Ranch. There, he and his men run headlong into a rancher's vendetta against the man he once put away for the rape of his daughter—the strong-willed war bride Virginia Hendricks.
A story filled with intrigue and violence, romance and redemption, where dark passions are cloaked by secret agendas, only a six-gun will hold against Hitler's ambitions for the fate of the world. But it's a gun held by ex-con Tyler falsely judged, mistrusted, and untested. A cowboy with nothing left to lose.
552 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 14, 2022
4 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 23, 2023
I’m a fan of Michael Frost Beckner’s “Spy Game” trilogy - Muir’s Gambit, Bishop’s Endgame, and Aiken In Check, but I wasn’t quite sure what to make of his other works, especially “Hitler’s Loki,” a World War II fiction series about a group of deadly undercover warriors unleashed on America’s homeland with the intent of taking the United States out of the war once and for all.
I’m thinking L'Amour, Chandler, Karl May, Stephen Hunter? So, with some trepidation, I considered the first novel in the “Loki” series: Berlin Mesa.
It’s plot is unique, the background original. Set “In the middle of a desert, a World War II POW camp harbors a secret: a sleeper agent embedded among combat prisoners receives orders activating him to a daring escape and a mission beyond the prison wire. A mission that, if successful, will deliver Allied Unconditional Surrender to the Third Reich.”
Then the author says, “I defy any red-blooded American not to get a thrill out of cowboys vs. Nazis!” So, I took him at his word.
It features a ruthless and remorseless Standartenführer Jurgen von Hofmann, a SS Sicherheitsdienst colonel on a secret mission in New Mexico with a team of escaped German POWs. They face off against an ex-felon cowboy armed with a Winchester and nothing to lose, an FBI Agent with an attitude and a lot of baggage, along with a beautiful blonde woman who entangles them all. There are a host of historical players from Himmler and J. Edgar Hoover to William Donovan who are important to the story. Beckner brings them all to life as unlikable in spades or perfectly fitting the times and environment.
Spy thriller? Western adventure? Military action? Yes, all of the above. It is straight, old-school, thriller storytelling that brings together the history and historical characters which evokes the writing of the masters in all three genres, but with a flair that is Beckner’s alone.
Espionage tradecraft, horsemanship, car and train chases, a couple of epic firefights, and the tense intricate planning for clandestine meetings between Russian spies and American traitors… it’s all there.
But underpinning it all is a love gone wrong years before and a man who is searching for redemption.
Is it worth the read? Absolutely! Now, I am waiting for the next episode…
I’m thinking L'Amour, Chandler, Karl May, Stephen Hunter? So, with some trepidation, I considered the first novel in the “Loki” series: Berlin Mesa.
It’s plot is unique, the background original. Set “In the middle of a desert, a World War II POW camp harbors a secret: a sleeper agent embedded among combat prisoners receives orders activating him to a daring escape and a mission beyond the prison wire. A mission that, if successful, will deliver Allied Unconditional Surrender to the Third Reich.”
Then the author says, “I defy any red-blooded American not to get a thrill out of cowboys vs. Nazis!” So, I took him at his word.
It features a ruthless and remorseless Standartenführer Jurgen von Hofmann, a SS Sicherheitsdienst colonel on a secret mission in New Mexico with a team of escaped German POWs. They face off against an ex-felon cowboy armed with a Winchester and nothing to lose, an FBI Agent with an attitude and a lot of baggage, along with a beautiful blonde woman who entangles them all. There are a host of historical players from Himmler and J. Edgar Hoover to William Donovan who are important to the story. Beckner brings them all to life as unlikable in spades or perfectly fitting the times and environment.
Spy thriller? Western adventure? Military action? Yes, all of the above. It is straight, old-school, thriller storytelling that brings together the history and historical characters which evokes the writing of the masters in all three genres, but with a flair that is Beckner’s alone.
Espionage tradecraft, horsemanship, car and train chases, a couple of epic firefights, and the tense intricate planning for clandestine meetings between Russian spies and American traitors… it’s all there.
But underpinning it all is a love gone wrong years before and a man who is searching for redemption.
Is it worth the read? Absolutely! Now, I am waiting for the next episode…
Displaying 1 of 1 review