CHARLES BRIDGE

In this Cold War novel, an American woman, recruited to help exfiltrate a scientist’s daughter, runs into danger in Czechoslovakia.

At first, Benjamin Singer seems like an ordinary, well-heeled customer at New York City’s Gramercy Antiques. Dealer Claire Markham enjoys traveling to London on his behalf to bid on an antique clock, so when he has an unusual proposal, she listens. Singer explains that he’s with the New Exodus Project, a charity helping Soviet Jews immigrate to Israel—not easy in 1983. A Jewish scientist in the Soviet Union wants the organization’s aid in exfiltrating his daughter, Tatiana Savchenko, who’s being punished for his political sins. In her role as antiques dealer, Claire could pass necessary documents to Tatiana in Prague, where she’ll be attending a conference. Claire doesn’t hesitate to agree; “it’s the right thing to do.” But the mission isn’t as straightforward as Singer represents it, and despite careful orchestration and contingency plans by high-level operatives in several countries, things go wrong. As Claire desperately tries to cross the border with the help of an American folk singer and a Czech artist, the KGB sends one of its wiliest counterintelligence officers (nicknamed “Grandmaster”) to find her. Flanders, who has written several historical novels—including a trilogy of Cold War thrillers set in the mid-20th century—again skillfully blends compelling characters with tense, exciting intrigue. By focusing on the pawns of this chess game, such as the seemingly easygoing folk singer Summer Devine, whose appropriately sunny demeanor masks daring courage, the author brings a compassionate eye to their real sacrifices in the name of idealism. The subtle layers of truth, shades of integrity, and motivations both personal and political lend complexity to both sides of the Iron Curtain.

An absorbing, intelligent thriller that considers the human costs of clandestine operations.