אהבה אסורה בפטרבורג

by Mishka Ben-David, מישקה בו דוד

בוקר מושלג בסנט פטרבורג מתעורר איש מוסד לצדה של אהובתו הרוסייה, ומחליט להפוך את השקר לאמת: סיפור הכיסוי שלו יהיה מעתה למציאות חייו. לא עוד סוכן חשאי שנישואיו נהרסו בגלל סוד שהסתיר במשך שנים. מהיום הוא יהיה איש עסקים קנדי המנהל חיים שקטים עם מוכרת הספרים שבה התאהב.

אבל כוחות חזקים מזו הנאהבים מסרבים להרפות את אחיזתם. את החוזה שכרת הגיבור עם מדינתו לפני שנים רבות - גם אהבה גדולה לא תוכל לבטל, ומכאן מסתחרר הסיפור עד לסופו הדרמטי.

אהבה אסורה בפטרבורג הוא רומן סוחף על אדם הפונה עורף לעברו ויוצא למלחמה נואשת על הסיכוי האחרון שלו לאושר.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, Israel, Russia, Novels

414 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Mishka Ben-David served in the Mossad for twelve years, becoming a high-ranking officer. He is now a full-time novelist living outside Jerusalem.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review for Forbidden Love in St. Petersburg by Mishka Ben-David will be featured on Romancing the Book Blog in the near future. Watch for it by clicking on this link:
http://romancing-the-book.com/

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

יופי של רומן מתח. מישקה מוביל סיפור בלי להרפות

[Romancing the Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Julie
Book provided by the publisher

Yogev Ben-Ari, a member of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency, is in St. Petersburg, Russia to establish a network basis and make connections. After his occupation destroyed his first marriage, he has now resigned himself to living a solitary life, with his work taking up most of his time and attention. But, quite unexpectedly, he meets Anna, a vivacious woman, his own age, who quickly becomes very important to him. But, he must clear his involvement with her with his superiors, who are less than thrilled by this development.  Will the agency allow the romance to continue, or will they pull out all the stops to end their relationship?

I will admit spy novels or secret intelligence based thrillers are hit and miss with me. Sometimes, the details can be so subtle and the plots so complex, I have a hard time keeping up with it and lose interest. But, at other times, I get very involved with the plot and find these types of books to be the most intelligent and suspenseful novels ever written.

I was hoping this book would fall into the latter category, and after reading the synopsis, which promised me an action packed page turner, I had high hopes for this story.

I will confess, up front, that when I think of intelligence agencies, the first thing that comes to my mind, as an American, is the CIA, or maybe the KGB. I actually did an internet search to better understand what the Mossad actually did.   So, because the setting falls into the ‘cultural’ category for me, this novel was like a learning experience, and Yogev’s work was of great interest to me.

However, as interesting as the work of the Mossad is, with the authentic feel of the missions, the action did not pick up until the last quarter of the book. The first part of the book details Yogev’s first love, marriage, and the couple’s failure to conceive a child, a situation that eventually puts such a strain on the marriage, the couple winds up growing apart. But, the elephant in the room, during the marriage, is Yogev’s assignments, which takes him away from home frequently, and the nature of his work eventually drives the final nail in the coffin of his marriage.

This section goes into such detail, and takes up so much space in the novel, that it read more like a family drama than a thriller. It is important to know what brought Yogev to this juncture in his life, but, entirely too much time was spent on this segment, and could be a real buzz kill for those wishing for more suspense and action.

Having said that, the last quarter of the book is very complex, tense, and absorbing, moving at that agonizingly slow pace many spy thrillers employ, creating an unbearable element of suspense.

But, at the heart of the matter is the love story between Yogev, (Paul) and Anna, two pawns who fall unwittingly into a clever trap, blindsided by their intense feelings for each other, and suffering horrible consequences, with a heart wrenching fallout that leaves them both devastated.

But, as those of us who are regular readers of romance can tell you, there is nothing, but nothing that can deter the power of love, not even powerful governments and secret intelligence agencies, despite their best efforts.

This is a compelling novel on many fronts, and does eventually deliver the goods in the suspense department, but the first part of the book really needed to be trimmed down, in order to increase the pace and keep the reader from losing interest before they got to the really good part. So, you will need some patience if you are expecting a fast paced thriller, but in the end it’s worth the wait.

I believe fans of spy and espionage thrillers will really like this book, and while this is certainly NOT a romance novel, there is most definitely a love story here, which means this novel can certainly appeal to a wider audience.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel and appreciated the change of pace, locations and the human interest element which was the glue that held it all together, and is why the conclusion left me with a feeling of relief, satisfaction, and hope.

[Linden · Rating 1 out of 5]

The description sounded fascinating—a thriller centering on a Mossad agent who falls in love in Moscow, defying his superiors. However, this novel was a huge disappointment. The convoluted story with shifting narration could definitely have benefited from some judicious editing, and the attempt at a "Hollywood ending" seemed kind of pathetic.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spy novel, yes. But also: relationship disintegration, complexity of starting a family, what your past vs your present brings to new beginnings, families we build through our communities. And, of course, scenery of both St. Petersburg (inner atmosphere of bloc era apartments so well captured, made me miss N, H, J) and Tel Aviv.

[Efrat · Rating 4 out of 5]

עולמו של סוכן מוסד נחשף בפני עם כל הקשיים הפיזים והמוסריים. הספר מותח ומעניין.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked how Russian literature was woven into this in more ways than one.

[Benjamin · Rating 1 out of 5]

predictable. cheesy.

[Ioana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forbidden Love in St. Petersburg is based on an intriguing premise of espionage (the reason I was drawn to it in the first place), but the writing fails to deliver suspense and artistic insight.

Part of the problem may be the translation (from the Hebrew). I studied Hebrew briefly some years back, and have returned to it recently after a long hiatus. It's such a different language than the Germanic (English) or Latin groups (French, Spanish, Romanian) I'm familiar with, that I can absolutely see how it may be incorrigibly butchered when rendered into English. I'm not sure if that's what happened here, or if it's just that Ben-David's writing lacks craft, skillfulness, and/or the ability to create dramatic tension.

Basically, I did not feel I was reading a work of fiction, but rather a mission-report written by a field-operative. Details were 'factually' laid out (from the pov of our protagonist), and there was no element of story-telling involved, making this a very dry, non-compelling read. Language was not used in a 'literary' way, to induce curiosity and present insights, but in a technical way, aimed to inform.

I also did not find the characterizations - and therefore, the characters, compelling. The protagonist himself seemed impossible from the start - a Mossad agent who didn't even think before moving in with a Russian woman and only notified the Agency much later? Doesn't ring true, or if it is, it makes for a very naive, novice spy.

I'm adding one star above 1 because Ben-David clearly knows what he is talking about, and also for the promising idea behind the book.

I received my copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are solely mine.

[Gordon Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yogev Ben-Ari, an operative for Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, has been posted to St. Petersburg, Russia. His assignment: use his cover as an international businessman to gather intelligence. When he meets a beautiful woman, and they promptly fall in love, Yogev doesn't mind, at least not too much, anyway that Anna is probably not whom she says she is; after all, neither is Yogev.When his masters back in Israel decide his relationship with Anna is too risky to permit, however, Yogev finds himself at war with his own people. The novel has a solid sense of intrigue and suspense, and its depiction of the world of international espionage feels accurate (as it should, since the author is a former Mossad agent). The characterizations are precise, too: these aren't stick figures in a spy story but real people in a real environment. A nice blend of classic spy-novel conventions with a thoroughly contemporary setting. (Synopsis edited from Booklist.)

This is a superb story. Ben-David is not only an excellent storyteller but also writes with a colorful palette as he describes particularly St. Petersburg but also Tel Aviv and other cities in which the story takes place. Yogev and Anna are multi-dimensional, complex, and conflicted characters. Fairly early on I figured out who and what Anna was, but that didn't deter me from wanting to know how the story ends. Ben-David ties it together at the end and manages to surprise us at the same time.

[Richard Uhlhorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked Duet in Beruit, but had great difficulty reading this book. While the premise was good, Ben-David spent way to many pages building characters and the love affair. In other words, he didn't move the story along and it didn't get interesting until late in the book when the Mossad decided to stop the love affair and bring their agent back from Russia.

I also had a problem with the agents inability to recognize threats. Very amateurish for a Mossad agent who was supposed to be highly trained and accomplished.

I look forward to his next book when it is translated from Hebrew. Ben-David does know espionage having worked for Mossad for 12 years.

[Golan Schzukin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good combination of espionage and a love story

[Lisbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

bitti ama soru işaretleri bırakarak bitti..

[Lorraine Silver]

Book excellent written by an israeli

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and fast-paced...fun read!

[Danna · Rating 1 out of 5]

abandoned halfway through.