Brandenburg Gate

I liked the story even though it got a little long-winded. As much as liking the story was reading the descriptions of Berlin and Leipzig, especially the area around the Berlin Wall. Having traveled to both those places in 2005 and had a young tour guide describe the Monday prayer services in St. Thomas Church, made the text seem alive. The seemingly endless droning on about the conditions of the prison did little to enhance the richness of the descriptions of the cities and the events. Read it if you've visited this part of Germany or are looking for something about the final minutes of the reign of terror by the Stasi.

A rare novel, riveting and finally true to the socialist nature of East Germany's and the Soviets' brutality. What a breath of fresh air! No whitewashing here, none.

Among the first-tier writers of spy thrillers (Furst, Steinhauer, Downing) I think that Porter, with his captivatingly complex plot, engaging characters, and portrayal of East Germany's brutally paranoid Stasi, has written probably the best book of this genre I've yet read. And I've read a lot. While a prior review characterized this book as a "potboiler," which means a formulaic reiteration, I found "Brandenburg Gate" to be anything but. It's first-class, creative entertainment.I strongly recommend it to anyone with a taste for a spy thriller that's original, intelligent, confidently stylish, and maintains firm grounding in reality.

I couldn't accept the romance between Rudi and Ulrike. They had been competitors, perhaps even enemies. Sex, yes, but love...no.

Porter writes well and has a good sense of history. My guess is that he hoped to get more from the identical twin angle that he actually did. The hero is interesting and has a nicely balanced set of virtues and vices. As the story unfolds, however, the book pretty much segued into an action drama with contrived plot twists and heroic feats designed to move things toward an acceptable resolution.

But well worth reading and a good way to recall the way the bad old cold war days ended.

Set in East Germany in September 1989, this thriller from the reliable pen of Porter, takes us behind the lives of a middle-aged academic who was an ex-Stasi spy. The story plays to the emotional beat by bringing the rescue of the brother of the protagnoist from the Stasi prisons.

The love interest is played out with a former lover and the twist in the plot is union with his love life could come at the expense of releasing his brother. Most of the characters are very well developed and are fictitious with the interesting mix of Vlaimir "you know who" as a KGB agent.

Overall a great thriller that takes focus to understand but very well worth the effort.

Reviewed by,

Fred G. Sanford