Customer Reviews

The Vienna Assignment

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The Vienna Assignment is the third in the series of crime / espionage novels involving a group of Militiamen in an un-named Soviet bloc country. This time round Steinhauer has chosen to focus on Brano Sev, the most unattractive member of the group. In fact Sev is a security policeman and he is the archetypal secret agent - deceitful, manipulative and paranoid. The story is a very complicated one with constantly shifting allegiances and conspiracies. Everyone is spying on everyone else and no one is who they seem. As the anti-hero is such a thoroughly awful character, the most interesting parts of the book are the twisted mind games he plays as he struggles to survive a violent chain of Cold War bluff, counter-bluff, set-up and betrayal. The disturbing pictures from inside the head of this cold-blooded killer are most revealing of the constant insecurity and fear that was life for ordinary people behind the Iron Curtain. This dark reality lingers long after the plotline is forgotten.