In 1986, news that East-West nuclear-arms negotiations are taking place lead many to believe the Cold War may finally be thawing.For British intelligence officer Major Tom Fox, however, it is business as usual.Ordered to arrange the smooth repatriation of a defector, Fox is smuggled into East Berlin. But it soon becomes clear that there is more to this than an old man wishing to return home to die - a fact cruelly confirmed when Fox's mission is fatally compromised.Trapped in East Berlin, hunted by an army of Stasi agents and wanted for murder by those on both sides of the Wall, Fox must somehow elude capture and get out alive.But to do so he must discover who sabotaged his mission and why...Nightfall Berlin is a tense, atmospheric and breathtaking thriller that drops you deep into the icy heard of the Cold War.
Nightfall Berlin by Jack Grimwood is published by Michael Joseph / Penguin in hardback on 17 May 2018. My thanks to the publisher who invited me to take part on this Blog Tour.
I am delighted to share an extract from Nightfall Berlin here on Random Things today:
Amelia couldn’t help herself.The crowbar used to break the front door’s lock had been used on her father’s head. In case that wasn’t enough, its hooked end was buried in his chest. He’d been hit there more than once to judge from the pulp where his ribs should be. Blood was blackening the carpet beneath him.His room was in ruins. A Chinese vase had been smashed. A leather armchair was savagely torn where someone had sunk the crowbar into its arm and ripped it free. Did that mean her father had been sitting, Amelia wondered. A collection of toy cars littered the floor like wrecks in a junkyard. Framed pictures of Premier Honecker and her father lay smashed to splinters, torn paper and shards of glass.Frau Eisen reached for the study telephone and hesitated. Shrugging, she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, wrapped it around her hand, and lifted the receiver, dialling through to her office. It was the Stasi rather than the local Volkspolizei she called. Amelia’s German was good enough to understand that. Frau Eisen was talking to her boss from the sound of it.‘No point, sir.’ Frau Eisen said.Someone on the other end spoke firmly.‘Of course, sir. I should have thought of that.’ Puttingdown the phone, she turned to Amelia. ‘I am to tell you that your father has had a heart attack.’‘He’s what!’ Amelia stared at her.‘He has had a heart attack. An ambulance will be here soon to take him to hospital. We will put a notice to that effect in the papers.’‘He’s been murdered.’‘It would be best if we agreed he’s ill.’‘Best for whom?’‘For everyone,’ Frau Eisen said firmly.Amelia shut her eyes and opened them again. Her father looked old and fragile, his cheeks sunken, his hands as liver-spotted as his face. His nose had spider veins and his eyes were cloudy. He stank of old age as well as death. She wondered what he’d hoped to gain by uprooting everybody’s life at this age.Somehow, she’d expected him to be younger. If she’d thought of him at all, it was as the age he’d been when he defected. Still handsome, his hair still thick and swept back, his face strong and without jowls. That was how he looked in the photograph the papers used. It was how he’d look in the photograph they’d use when they came to write . . .‘We must go,’ Frau Eisen said.‘I’ll just . . .Frau Eisen shook her head. ‘This a crime scene.’For a heart attack, Amelia wanted to say. She controlled herself.
Recovering journo & full time hack.This is his first straight crime novel.
Proudest boast: hasn’t worked in an office for 20 years.
Born in Malta, grew up in the Far East, Britain and Scandinavia.
Writtenfor Times, Telegraph, Independent & Guardian.
Two time winner BSFA Award for Best Novel for Felaheen and End of the World Blues. The Last Banquet shortlisted for Le Prix Montesquieu 2015.
Twitter @JonCG
Boy Oh Boy! The man can write!
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