ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
An exciting espionage thriller set in post-WWII Poland.
Operation Nightfall: The Web of Spies is the second of Karl Wegener’s riveting post-WWII spy thrillers featuring Major Casper Lehman and Luba Haas. In this adventure, the focus is on Poland and the underdog national resistance fighting the Soviet takeover in the aftermath of the war. When the British intelligence service wireless monitors pick up a transmission from a dormant undercover operative they’d long thought as lost, it opens doors for Lehman and Haas to assist the Polish Home Army, who are hiding in the forests and hills fighting a clandestine, guerilla war against their brutal Soviet oppressors. Meanwhile, a skilled Soviet military investigator is on the trail of the resurrected in-country operative, and it is a race to see which side will get to them first.
This story hits the ground running with a surprise ambush of a Soviet military convoy, and it never lets up. The plot is tense as Ada Bialik, the embedded operative, comes out of obscurity to bolster the efforts of the hidden Home Army insurgents. To cover her intentions, she takes a position as the new kindergarten teacher in the small town of Puck, and, naturally, she is under constant scrutiny. With only her instincts to guide her on who she can trust, she successfully connects with the leader of the local cell of resistance and contacts her handlers on the outside. Back in Bremen, Casper Lehman and Luda Haas scramble to authenticate Bialik’s identity as she was one of Luda’s assets recruited during the war.
What a satisfying and surprising story! I was immersed in the tale from the very start, courtesy of the author’s absolutely cinematic descriptions and suspenseful action sequences. The danger felt ever-present and was hammered home with graphic but believably realistic scenes of warfare carnage and personal violence. The details of the spycraft involved were mesmerizing and gave the entire story a robust realism and weight. The characters are well-drawn, and I quickly became engaged in their situations and invested in the successful completion of their missions. I am sadly ignorant of Poland’s history, so this story was an emotional surprise and covered new ground for me.
As mentioned, this is the second book about some of these characters, but readers should be able to easily read and enjoy this book on its own as I did. I look forward to reading the previous novel and more of this author’s work.
I recommend OPERATION NIGHTFALL: THE WEB OF SPIES to readers
of historical fiction, especially those interested in stories about the
aftermath of World War II and Poland.
