Frost the Fiddler [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Janice Weber (Author), Sandra Burr (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2009

Most concert violinists wouldn't pack explosives in the case along with their Stradivarius, but Leslie Frost is no ordinary musician. When she's not performing the Kreutzer sonata, she's spying on neo-fascists and ex-communists in the emerging new East Germany. Frost, aka Smith (code names for the all-female band of American super-spies come from the Ivy League's Seven Sisters schools) witnesses a murder outside an East German church and is drawn into a mission that centers on a powerful computer and a ring of communist spies. With an array of high-tech gadgets in her purse, and a Harley motorcycle in her garage, Frost/Smith is as savvy and cool as Bond at his best. Between concerts and recording sessions, her time is filled with midnight meetings of both the romantic and the dangerous varieties, with high-speed chases and nick-of-time escapes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Most concert violinists wouldn't pack explosives in the case along with their Stradivarius. But the narrator of this high-spirited and engaging spy novel is no ordinary musician. When Leslie Frost is not performing the Kreutzer sonata, she's spying on neo-fascists in post- glasnost /pre-unification East Germany. Frost, aka Smith (code names for the agents in the all-female band of American operatives come from the Ivy League's Seven Sisters schools; only Smith and Barnard are still alive), is James Bond in black leather and lipstick. With an array of life-saving gadgets up her sleeve (and in her purse), she's as savvy and sex-driven as Ian Fleming's prototype. After witnessing a murder outside an East German church, Frost is drawn into a mission that centers on a powerful computer and a ring of communist spies. The plot gets a bit abstruse, but the hard-boiled heroine has enough panache to keep readers turning the pages. Weber's ( The Secret Life of Eva Hathaway ) flair for satire is highlighted in her hilarious portrait of a publicist who will stop at nothing to get her clients' names in print. 35,000 first printing; movie rights to MGM.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

World-renowned violinist Leslie Frost doubles as an American spy. Living in Germany as the Berlin Wall crumbles, she sees East German official Emil Flick murder a policeman. Her investigation of this incident reveals a plan to resurrect Nazi Germany with the help of computers, lasers, and armed satellites. The James Bond-like heroine finds enemy agents as attractive as they find her; she has passionate affairs, first with the dangerous Flick, then with Toby Chance, a sound engineer who may not be what he seems. Concert pianist and novelist Weber ( The Secret Life of Eva Hathaway , LJ 9/1/85) has written a fast-paced thriller that won't stimulate deep thinking but will make a good companion on a rainy day. Recommended for public libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/92.
- Roberta Pessah, St. John's Univ., Jamaica, N.Y.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD Lib Ed; Library edition (February 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423385632
• ISBN-13: 978-1423385639
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spy - concert / recording violinist!, August 6, 2006

By 

Max Stein "Novice" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frost the Fiddler (Mass Market Paperback)

Quite an unusual combination!
Janice's book is well-written, has a good pace to keep you hooked, uses a lot of technical concepts and lingo, and almost without contradictions; some concept comes from sci-fi, but is treated as a fact. The spy-line is holding all this together with some (inevitable?) exaggerations, but, that is what keeps the reader interested! I am not convinced JW had seen spying in the milieu musical... but she certainly makes an impression that she knows the subject very well! No wonder she knows the musician's lifes part of the story: everything else remains a great achivement and shows how serious an author she is...
In addition, the book is funny, has a good love-sex line, very pertinent references to east-west relations (well, east of the 20-th century: communism and unification of Germany - not our-day terrorism).
I disagree with Arno Schaefer's review - everything really ties-up well, and danger to your life is sufficient justification for a spy to eliminate the enemy... The goals of the perpetrators are pointed to in a clear couple of sentenses leaving no doubt they are "bad guys". As for Chance - he is just "collateral damage". Sorry, Arno: we do not get to vote on the fate of fictional heroes: even the author does not have too much of a say here - that's just the way the cookie crumbles! Finally, given the technology of the era, the method of data transfer is very much logical too!
Well, I liked this book and recommend it to all thrill-lovers!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lady Spy Who's Great Fun, April 13, 1999

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frost the Fiddler (Mass Market Paperback)

I think Janice Weber writes wonderfully fun novels. She gives us humor, and a bit of outrageousness. Nice change of pace to have a talented, woman musician/spy as the protagonist. JW has written other novels, all of them good. Too bad most of them are no longer in print.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The female Bond, April 28, 2006

By 

Nick Burns (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frost the Fiddler (Mass Market Paperback)

Janice Weber is one of the most inventive writers out there, and her books are astounding for their originality and their strong female voices.

"Frost the Fiddler" is one of her best; Weber manages to combine Bond-esque espionage with the world of classic music. (For those that don't know, Weber is also a world-renowned pianist.)

The book does become a bit complicated and perhaps convoluted at the end; Weber novels rarely have happy endings. It may also seem a bit dated at this juncture (most of the spyspeak is now everyday lingo, unfortunately, with our changing post-9/11 world) but it's well worth the read, and readers won't soon forget characters like Leslie Frost, or Maxine.