In chapter 5, Martin is with Peter for a photoshoot for an East German television show, Die Familie Schmidt, and Peter mentions that Kurt only allows photographs of the new plazas, free of damage from the war, otherwise "everybody thinks East Berlin is all like that." How does Kurt's vision of East Berlin compare with the one you had at the beginning of the novel?

Oh, physics. I don’t even know what it means. Something they teach at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, I think. I met someone from there once. He said it was how the world works. Yes?” Her eyes moving all over his face, studying him, already familiar. Yes,” she said, crushing out the cigarette and looking at him. “It’s a good fit. And once that’s right, you always have it.” A faint nod. “Peter. He’s always known you were his father. We made sure of that. So he’s curious. He thinks you’re a socialist hero.”

It’s not a secret, is it? Of course I know. In this work you have to know everything about your clients.” Watch the documentary Behind the Wall (2011), the film The Debt (2010), or the film The Lives of Others (2006) and discuss as a group. The exchange is made with the formality characteristic of these swaps - equal paces to the concrete barrier, etc. - with each side sizing up the relative value of the other. Three for one? Small fry for a nuclear spy? But Martin has other questions: who asked for him? who negotiated the deal? Just the KGB bringing home one of its agents? Or, as he hopes, a more personal intervention? He has worked for the service long enough to know that nothing happens by chance. They want him for something. Not physics - his expertise is years out of date. Something else, which he cannot learn until he arrives in East Berlin, when suddenly the game is afoot. The escape. The barrier was raised, the ambulance is close, nobody suspecting until the last minute. A minute is all they needed. So why?” A master stylist of concise yet eloquent writing, Kanon recreates the corrupt atmosphere of East Berlin in 1963, to riveting effect… Kanon’s books are a gold mine for lovers of espionage…Fans of Alan Furst and John le Carré will include Kanon as the third member of a Cold War troika.”

There were no forms to fill out at the desk, everything having been arranged by Kurt and the manager. The Berlin Exchange, by the veteran spy-story author Joseph Kanon, expertly describes what happens when a disillusioned former agent tries to come in from the cold. . . . Kanon vividly evokes the suspicion, hypocrisy and relentless grayness of life in the East. . . . the plot shifts into high gear and turns into a complex, high-stakes operation in which Martin, thrillingly, is pulling all the strings. He’s one step ahead of his enemies, and three steps ahead of us.” — Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. The man who gave us the bomb. That’s what they used to say in Neues Deutschland. You know you’ll have to give them an interview. It’s not so usual these days, coming east.”Kurt nodded. “Well, if you call it seeing. A flash and then it’s over. You understand I had to protect Martin, get him out of there, so I wasn’t noticing much. What, in particular?” Filled with intriguing characters, atmospheric detail, and plenty of action Kanon’s latest espionage thriller is one you won’t soon forget.