Customer Reviews

Berlin Game

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Bernard Samson is getting older. And in his line of work that's a definite drawback. No EEOC here to preclude discrimination against the over 40 crowd. Here getting older might mean your death.

Samson worries about all of the things all of us do. His passion for his wife Fiona is often visited by equal doses of lust and insecurity. His car is shot; when is going to be able to pick up his new set of wheels? His boredom with the job and his immediate superiors are both frustrating and funny. One thing is clear, though, Bernard Samson holds loyalty above all. When he was much younger and the East German Police were closing in on him, a planted agent whom we know now only as "Brahms Four" comes back to get him, and saves Bernard's life. Now years later, that anonymous agent wants out and he wants Bernard to bring him out.

Carrying all the boredom of a careful precise job where to err is not human but terminal, Samson plots and plods to regain the mettle to cross the line into East Berlin and extract his friend. Bernard is of course in his own right, an excellent spy.

Bernard Samson is like Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File, the antithesis of the sleek, flashy James Bond. The normal man or woman caught up in the spy game, not necessarily of their own choosing, trying to get through another dreary, scary day.

The writing is excellent. Double crosses, infidelities, triple crosses, humor and lies frequent this is a trip into the past where authors like Deighton, LeCarre and DeMille cut their teeth, in the evil Russian Empire post WWII spy network.

If you liked Charm School or other works set in the shadow of the Berlin Wall when Russia was the reincarnation of the Nazi Empire, you'll thoroughly enjoy this trip back to the early '80s, and the first of Deighton's Bernard Samson trilogy.
Five stars. Larry Scantlebury

At the time of reading this book many years ago, I had no idea that this book was the first in a triple-trilogy of Bernard Samson spy novels. Actually I'm not so sure that Mr Deighton himself knew it at the time of writing. Doesn't matter if it ended up being the only one because this one is a good story on it's own and the characters are something else again. Bernard Samson the protagonist is a cynical but humorous middle aged ex-field agent for Britain's MI6. He's married to Fiona who also works in the agency. There is fidgety Dicky Cruyer, supervisor for the German Desk and Frank Harrington, of the Berlin office, preoccupied with his mistress who lives the near the 'Wall' - (ah! does this mean good old pre 'Berlin Wall collapse', Cold War, East-West spy thriller?, you may ask. Yes indeed! and one of the best of the genre in terms of a complex plot with quite a twist at the end).

'Brahms Four' wants out of Berlin, and Bernard, who grew up in Berlin and knows it like the back of his hand, is sent to get him. He takes the mission against the objection of his wife and even though he's at the age where his best field days are in the past. The real danger to him and the mission though is that someone in London is leaking information to the KGB. I'm not revealing too much in telling you that the book concludes with Bernard succeeding in getting 'Brahms Four' and his secret out and at the same time exposing who the mole in MI6 is.

Good stuff, and certainly worth a sequel.

After I read this book, I gave it four stars. After reading the whole trilogy - Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match - I upped my rating to five stars. Each book can standalone, but the full potential of the story isn't realized until the denouement of London Match. The tension ebbs and flows throughout the trilogy, but it isn't until the climax of London Match that we see the full scope. Highly recommended!

The first book of a series of three Deighton spy thrillers, Berlin Game is a gritty spy thriller. Moving between London and Berlin, the book portarays a bitter SIS agent trying to decide who is more dangerous, the KGB or the people back in London. Written in first person, with Deighton's own distinctive flair for detail and plot, Berlin Game is a must read for thriller enthusiasts.

It is impossible to truly convey the power and brilliance of this series. While a little patience is required, as with any true great literary work, the rewards are immense. I could give this book a 10 for any number of reasons such as the ingenious plot, or the unbelievable research demonstrated in the book's high level of realism. Ultimately however, it is the character development that steals the show and you'll very quickly feel as though you've actually known these people all your life. When fiction begins to take on it's own form of reality, that's when a book (or series) becomes really interesting.

After I read this book, I gave it four stars. After reading the whole trilogy - Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match - I upped my rating to five stars. Each book can standalone, but the full potential of the story isn't realized until the denouement of London Match. The tension ebbs and flows throughout the trilogy, but it isn't until the climax of London Match that we see the full scope. Highly recommended!

The first in a trilogy featuring Agent Bernard Samson, no accolades are too much for this superb specimen of that fast-disappearing genre, the spy novel set during the Cold War.

I'll not give the plot away. Suffice to say that it involves a pretty darn complicated counter-espionage plot, and that the denouement at the end is terrific. Never over-dramatizing, but always keeping the story gripping and the characters immensely believable, Deighton shows us why he's a prime exponent of the art.

In this era of political correctness and the East-West detente, Deighton's novel transports the reader to a time not so long ago, when The Wall was not just the name of a Pink Floyd album.

This is a fine book and I look forward to reading the remaining two books of the trilogy. There is a slow build-up, but this is necesssary in order to introduce the cast of characters and to set the stage for a shattering conclusion. It is hard to put the book down when you are into the last100 pages. The dialogue is crisp and interesting.

I cannot give this book five stars, though. As fine as it is, Deighton is a step below Le Carre. The central story in "Berlin Game" is outstanding, but the character development and the scene setting are a little thin. I finished "Berlin Game" not having a real good feel for who Bernard Samson is. But, then again, he's a spy...

I definitely recommend this book to spy buffs or anyone looking for a good read.

This is a particular spy novel. If you are looking for action you will be satisfied. Neverless I remeber Berlin in 1983 and later from two sides of the famous wall. Lot of those specific atmosphere of divided city can be find in the trilogy. The book is really worth reading for that reason.

Slow at first but indispensable for us who had to be introduced to the characters. This book is not about action but about intrigue, and it does it very well. It makes you feel that spies are very much by their own even if they are at home. This is a very good read.