Play Book Tag discussion

Agent in Berlin by Alex Gerlis follows British spymaster Barnaby Allen as he works to build a network of agents inside Nazi Germany in the tense years just before the Second World War. Allen is the sort of character who operates best in the shadows — calm, patient, and always thinking two or three steps ahead. Much of the story centres on the people he recruits and the risks they take, often with very little to protect them except Allen’s guidance and their own nerve.

The book paints Berlin as a city balancing on a knife-edge: full of swaggering confidence on the surface but brimming with fear underneath. Gerlis handles the historical setting well, and there’s a believable sense of paranoia running through the whole thing. The plot builds steadily rather than explosively, and while that gives the novel a grounded feel, it also means the pace sometimes drifts.

Allen himself is interesting — quietly stubborn, occasionally prickly, and clearly aware that even the best-laid plans can fall apart in an instant. Still, the emotional stakes don’t always land as strongly as they might, and some of the supporting characters feel more functional than fully fleshed out.