Review this Book   Kindle Edition Audiobook Download to your Nook (eBook) Download from Smashwords (eBook) Alan Cook Audio Edition Category:  Action/Thriller Type: Fiction Copyright: June 2, 2020 Price: $0.99 (eBook) Charlie and Liz are recruited by the CIA to go through the Berlin Wall to East Germany in 1963. They need to look for information about a weapon of mass destruction and avoid the Stasi (East German Secret Police). In June 1963 the Berlin Wall has been up for almost two years. The CIA has had a rough time maintaining an intelligence operation in East Germany, known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), because of the Stasi—the East German secret police who have perhaps the best surveillance system ever established. There are rumors that the Germans were working on a weapon of mass destruction during World War II that was never completed, but the U.S. intelligence service has no easy way of finding out anything about this project. For the security of the free world they want to beat the Soviets in acquiring what information they can. Ted Robinson, an agent who is acquainted with financial analysts Charlie Ebersole and Liz Reid because of their operation in Castro’s Cuba, attempts to recruit them to go through the Wall into the GDR. Liz’s second cousin lives in the GDR, and his father, who is dead, may have worked on the World War II project. Motivated by patriotism and concern for Liz’s cousin, who may have some knowledge of what his father did, the pair agree to go, despite the obstacles put in the way of travelers to the GDR. Their job is to gather what information they can before the Soviets do, and stay out of the hands of the Stasi. Excerpt CHAPTER 1 Charlie Ebersole thought he recognized the man in the sharp blue suit, white shirt, and red tie sitting in Frank Morrison’s conference room, but his mind couldn’t generate a name. The short hair should be a clue. Most men in the business world wore their hair short, but this one looked as if a runaway razor had ploughed through his head this very morning, leaving stubble in its path. “Charlie, this is Agent Ted Robinson. You may remember him from your little incident in Fort Lauderdale last year.” The helpful comment by Frank, head of the fraud division at International Investments, brought back not only who Robinson was, but a host of other memories at the same time—some good, some horrific. No wonder he had suppressed them. Mentally shaking his head to clear it of the bad ones, Charlie shook Robinson’s hand and mumbled something about being happy to see him again. However, Robinson had only been a bit player in that episode of his life, which had taken place in the spring of 1962, and Charlie wondered what he was doing here now. Before he had a chance to ask any questions, Elizabeth Reid bounced into the room. Liz, as she was known by her friends, looked unusually happy even for her. She wore her feelings on her sleeve, but, fortunately, she felt good most of the time. When she saw Robinson her smile faded and she stopped in mid-stride and echoed Charlie’s thought, saying, “What are you doing here?” If Robinson was put off by this comment, he didn’t show it. He stuck out his hand and said, “It’s good to see you, Miss Reid.” After hesitating for a moment, she shook it. Frank spoke quickly. “Agent Robinson is here to talk to you about something he needs help with. It’s outside the scope of what we do, and so you would be on loan to him. Because the assignment is secret, he hasn’t briefed me on the details. Therefore, I’m going to tiptoe out of here and let him tell you about it.” Frank stood. “One more thing. You are both free to turn it down.” Frank rose from his seat at the table and left the conference room, not waiting to see if they had any questions, and closed the door behind him. Charlie saw Robinson frowning, and surmised that he didn’t like what Frank had said about them turning down the job. The man erased his frown and got down to business. “Please have a seat.” Charlie and Liz both sat on the opposite side of the wooden table from Robinson. “First, let me say that the reason I’m speaking to you is because I was very impressed with both of you when I talked to you in Fort Lauderdale.” Robinson tried to make it sound as if it had been a social gathering, but it had really been a criminal investigation. And the questions hadn’t just been lobbed softballs, either—more like rising fastballs. Liz could think of several places she’d rather be than here, but since Frank had let Robinson in the building, she felt she had to give him a chance. She glanced at Charlie, and from his expression she suspected he was thinking about the same thing. Robinson continued. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here. Usually, when we have a job to do we select people from our own company. However, in this case we didn’t have anyone with the right fit. We need someone who is good at analyzing financial statements, and someone who knows German.” “Our own company” being the CIA, as Liz recalled, with company often capitalized as in “The Company.” Charlie was the financial whiz, although she had learned a lot about financial statements during the past year. She was good at languages, but surely Robinson could find someone better… “German is probably my fourth best language, if you include English.” Robinson cracked a smile. “But you have other qualities, including the fact that you’re a spitfire when aroused.” Robinson placed an attaché case on the table and clicked open the fasteners. He produced two multi-page documents and put one in front of Charlie and the other in front of Liz. “We don’t have time to get you security clearances, but the background checks we’ve done have been positive.” So the government had been spying on him and Liz. Charlie didn’t like the sound of that, but he figured there wasn’t a lot he could do about it.” Robinson said, “These are standard nondisclosure forms that I need to have you sign before I tell you more about what we need your help with.” Robinson emphasized the word “standard.” Charlie flipped through the printed pages. Liz was watching him, ready to follow his lead. Robinson obviously wasn’t going to give them time to thoroughly study the documents or show them to the International Investments legal staff. Charlie went back and read the first couple of paragraphs and skimmed the rest. He took the pen proffered by Robinson. “Well, we’re probably signing our lives away, but here goes.” He signed and dated where instructed to do so and handed the pen to Liz. She did likewise. Something akin to a smile passed over Robinson’s face as he took the documents from them, replaced them in his case, and closed it. Had he expected them to be reluctant to sign? Robinson cleared his throat. “What do you know about the situation in Berlin?” Charlie read the newspapers and knew things weren’t good in Berlin. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go there either. While he was contemplating how to answer that question, Liz spoke. “The Russians have built a wall separating East Berlin and West Berlin, in order to keep the East Germans from defecting to the West.” Robinson smiled a real smile. “That’s pretty much it in a nutshell, although the government of East Germany would say the purpose of the Wall is to protect its citizens from the fascist and decadent West.” That’s bullshit.” Charlie was tired of people making excuses for the Russians. “Before the Wall was built there was a tremendous brain drain of East Germany’s smartest people to the West; over three million as I recall. Those people want to be free.” “I like the way you two don’t beat around the bush. My question to you is, would you be willing to go into East Berlin and other parts of East Germany on an assignment.?” Charlie and Liz looked at each other. That could be dangerous. They had both been to Cuba, a country without personal freedom, so they were well aware of the risks. It was probably also one of the reasons Robinson was considering them. Their experience could be useful in a place like East Germany. Charlie said, “And do what?” Robinson apparently considered the fact that they hadn’t declined the assignment yet as a signal to tell them more. He pulled another document out of his attaché case and slid it across the table to Charlie. “What do you make of this?” Charlie glanced at the typed columns of figures with explanations in German. “It appears to be some sort of a financial statement, or perhaps an addendum to a financial statement, because I don’t think the figures represent money. I think the currency in East Germany is the Deutsch Mark?” “That’s correct.” The numbers are clear enough, except they apparently use periods instead of commas. And they reverse the days and months in their dates. I can’t read the German.” He slid the document over so that Liz could see it. She made a quick appraisal. “It’s a list showing quantities of an item, apparently stored in different locations. I recognize a couple of city names, such as Leipzig and Dresden. Kind of an inventory list.” Robinson nodded his approval. “Just to ease your minds, this is not a classified document. It was sort of a test. I just wanted to make sure you two are as quick and as sharp as people say you are. What people? Charlie wondered. Apparently, the people who had been answering security-type questions about them. Their co-workers and friends. You never knew what people were saying behind your back.

A Cold War Novel that Speaks to Us Today
by Michael Hartnett
In his gripping and richly satisfying new novel East of the Wall, Alan Cook gives the reader a fascinating window into an extraordinary time in history – of a Germany carved up, its eastern regions downtrodden and on edge … an embroiled hotspot. The second installment of Cook’s Charlie and Liz series, East of the Wall continues to explore regions in turmoil during the early ‘60s, regions that are situated behind the lines of the Cold War. The opening novel Trust Me If You Dare was set in Cuba while East of the Wall dives deeply into East Germany.
The reader travels along on this journey with the likable securities analyst Charlie Ebersole and the beautiful, resourceful Elizabeth Reid. These two American civilians have been recruited for some spying based on their previous exploits in Cuba. The presence of Charlie and Liz gives the novel less of the aura of one of dark, cynical spycraft. Instead, the approaches and decisions by the duo are more of wit and clever improvisation than gadgetry and gunplay. Two East Germans, Liz’s cousin Fritz, and Charlie’s burgeoning love interest Ida, are similarly civilians, but do not lack for ingenuity. All of those skills will be brought to bear as the quartet will have to find a way out of the country even as they confront weapons of the Nazi past and the ruthless pursuit by the Stasi (the East German security service). Through the older World War II era characters of Lena and General Schmidt, Cook gives the reader a broader and deeper perspective of the country and the era.
One of the many pleasures of the novel is Cook’s wry comments throughout. Asides like, “The Stasi were not known for their empathy or light touch” imbue the work with subtle levity that nicely serves as a counterweight to the suspense. And indeed that intrigue builds nicely throughout the novel with some truly riveting scenes, including one involving the proprietor Adolf, and another in Berlin that serves as an exciting climax. Ultimately, East of Wall develops into as an extraordinary tale of determination and resiliency, of breaking codes and overcoming obstacles.
The novel is life-affirming at a time the reader could really use such a narrative. I look forward to Cook’s next Charlie and Liz novel, since these first two installments have managed to speak in compelling ways to us to today even though the stories are set in other lands more than a half century ago.


Thrilling and Educational
by William Whittenbury
“East of the Wall” paints a detailed picture of life in 1960s East Germany while taking the reader along for a thrilling adventure. Charlie and Liz, the main characters, aren’t professional spies, but they are recruited to infiltrate the GDR to find out information about the secret weapons project the father of Liz’s cousin, Fritz, was working on during the war. The pair soon find themselves in over their head as they desperately try to evade the Stasi, the GDR’s legendary secret police, with the help of some local friends they make along the way. While this is the second book in the series, the characters are painted well enough that you can know them without having read the first book, although, after reading this one, the reader will want to explore their other adventures. This book’s greatest strength is the detail with which it describes the GDR, particularly the chillingly-effective tactics of the Stasi. The reader truly feels transported to this unique and repressive era of world history, and can identify with the constant looking over one’s shoulder of the characters in the book. Without giving too much away, the characters even get to interact with some major real-world events and historical figures by the time the adventure is over. There are a few adult situations that may not be suitable for children, but these are handled tastefully and are important to advance the plot. All-in-all, this is an educational, entertaining, thrilling adventure rich with historical details and exciting intrigue. I’m excited to see what Charlie and Liz pull off next!