Review of SAFE HOUSES by Dan Fesperman

Dan Fesperman is no stranger to thrill and intrigue. A long-time war correspondent with tours in Baghdad, Sarajevo, Berlin, and Kabul, his work is layered with the particular hues of darkness that can only be found in the shadowy gray line between good and evil. He came late to fiction but is no stranger to success, having won the John Creasy Memorial Dagger Award for Best First Novel, The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Best Thriller, and The Hammett Prize. Safe Houses showcases a lean muscular prose that is able to deliver plot points as cleanly and quickly as a switchblade’s twist.

The success of Fesperman’s novel depends on our understanding of what a safe house is both in real life and in metaphor. A safe house can be found operated by a friendly government in an unfriendly place and is often, as its namesake indicates, a safe place to hole up or do business. These are usually places that blend into the neighborhood and could easily be the home of a model neighbor who doesn’t make noise or cause any problems. A safe house remains safe as long as the enemy doesn’t know where it is.

Helen Abell is a young agent working for the CIA in the 1970s. The Cold War is on and nowhere is the dark spotlight of intrigue brighter than in Berlin. But young women in the 1970s were supposed to know their place in the world’s intelligence community hierarchy. You could be a secretary or an archivist or even a safe house keeper, but you could never be an actual agent who deals with the supposed masculine business of intrigue. Unless of course the intrigue is thrust upon you when during your boring job of maintaining a safe house, you have two unplanned encounters: one that clues you into a global mystery and another that makes you an accessory to the murder of a young woman. For Helen Abell both of these are true and she soon finds herself at odds with an agency who would rather her sit behind a desk than solve one mystery, much less two.
Fesperman’s safe house is also a rural home in Maryland where a family of four grew up, with a mother, father and son still living there. It’s not merely a house, but a home, and a place where violence should only be visited by television or movie stars. But when the mother and father are brutally murdered and it’s believed that it is the son who is the murderer, the house no longer can be categorized as safe.

This is where Safe Houses gathers steam. It’s not one story, but two stories, interwoven through time. Not only is it Helen’s story and how she must unravel her own clues, becoming the agent she was trained to become while dodging those who would bureaucratically stop her; but it is also the story of her daughter, who must find the true murderer of the couple in the rural Maryland home, all the while gaining the attention of the same people who had been after Helen all of these years.

The strength of Safe Houses relies on the authors deft handling of spyjinx. The story isn’t bogged down with tradecraft or explanations of how things work. This isn’t to say that one is left wanting more either. Fesperman uses just enough to progress the plot and keep us wondering what he’s going to do to our two heroines next.
The novel’s strength is also in its historical and cultural context. His plot is awash with the grit and desperate grime of Soviet East Germany, the free-for-all that was West Germany, and the constant cat and mouse spyjinx perpetrated by both the East and the West. Each dive into the old Cold War culture is fresh with enough description and realism to enthrall me with the historically fascinating past while avoiding the bogging of encyclopedic descriptions.

Fesperman’s exhaustive research shines through with crisp dialogue and believable characters. In order to depict what being a woman in the CIA was like in the 1970s, he not only conducted multiple interviews, but dove unto the musty CIA archives to decode what the working life was of a woman in an agency at the forefront of the democratic battle against communism.

Although initially concerned with his split narrative between past and present, his jumps were so clean, and I was so intrigued by the linked plot of both of his strong heroines that I didn’t mind at all his dual narrative and found myself eager to return to each of their dovetailing stories. He kept me guessing all the way to the end and finished with another nice twist of his narrative switchblade. I’m definitely a new fan. Read Safe Houses and you will be too. (If you aren’t already.)

Weston Ochse is the author of a bunch of sci fi, military, and horror fiction books. He’s especially proud of his work in Soldier of Fortune Magazine and DC Comics. He loves to read about the darkness of the human soul and intrigues of the heart. You can find him at www.westonochse.com or in a dark alley somewhere pretending to be a superhero.

There are two apparently separate stories being told. One takes place in 1979 as Helen, a low-level CIA agent, is in charge of keeping up with several safe houses located in Berlin. While she was upstairs checking out the recording device, she overhears a rape taking place downstairs and intervenes. The agent, who was raping the young girl is found to be dangerous and is actually beyond reproach as Helen learns when she reports him to her supervisor. Helen eventually bonds with other female agents in an effort to bring him down. In a separate story that takes place in the current time frame, in the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland, Helen and her husband are killed in their bed by their mentally impaired son. Their daughter, with the help of a local PI, investigates the murder which does not appear to be so clear cut. The implications are the crime has much to do with Helen’s past life that has finally caught up with her.
Dan Fesperman is one of my favorite writers in the crime fiction genre. He is very much underappreciated and deserves a wider audience. His books are extremely diverse. They could be foreign or historical and usually both. In any event, the reader will be left both entertained and educated. They are all compelling tales. This book is no exception. It is intriguing and complex. The characters are realistic. The plot generally moves quickly and the book is hard to put down. My only problem is the length. It is simply too long and could have been cut by a hundred pages- too many dead ends. Yet, there is so much good in this book that it is highly recommended.
Larry Gandle
Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

An uneven story about a CIA safe house keeper who stumbles across a cryptic recording of an unauthorized visitor regarding early days of intelligence operations. She then interrupts a rape and the story's subplot takes off from there. The quest for answers is reborn when a present day murder takes place and the daughter seeks answers. Too much going on to lead to a satisfying connection or conclusion.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

I love fiction that includes some political intrigue/espionage, and if it is a mystery/thriller that’s all the better! Cold War timeframe is great if done well (I loved Jake Tapper’s Hellfire Club, for example). So Dan Fesperman’s Safe Houses seemed right up my alley, especially as it was praised by Lee Child as being "One of the great espionage novels of our time," so I was happy to write an honest review in exchange for a copy of this book from Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley.

TBH, at first I had a bit of a hard time getting excited about the story. Set in Berlin in 1979, the story involves a young woman named Helen Abell, who works for the CIA a network of safe houses. She is upstairs at one of the houses, having just checked the audio equipment to be sure it is working, when she begins to overhear conversation between two unexpected visitors to the safe house. The story rolls along through four chapters, when WHAM! we get one of those bombshells that makes you HAVE to read on. But as chapter 5 begins, it is 2014 and there is a man named Henry Mattick in Poston, MD, doing – well, we aren’t sure quite what, and despite some tantalizing clues, his purpose isn’t clarified for quite a while (to say the least). Henry is there at the time of a horrible double murder, and then the story just explodes.

The book moves the two stories along, back and forth between locations and timeframes, and Henry becomes immersed in the double murder, when the daughter of the victims (her parents) hires him to find our why her brother was driven to shoot their parents in their bed.

It’s impossible to discuss it further, either in terms of plot or structure, without committing the sin of spoilers, but I will say that -- similar to Jake Tapper’s Hellfire Club -- the afterword for Safe Houses KNOCKED ME OUT.

What a great story. I look forward to reading more of Fesperman’s books (how have I never heard of this guy??), and heartily recommend Safe Houses – Five Stars.

When I imagine "spy" thrillers, I think of books like this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The dual storylines were great. They intertwined nicely to lead into one another without overpowering one another. Although, I have to admit that for a while in the beginning, it was the past with Helen that had captured more of my love and attention. Helen was one tough but good agent. It is because of her honesty and stubbornness that lead to her death.

In the present there is Anna and her brother, Willard. Willard has been accused of murdering their parents. Anna wants the truth. She hire Henry. Together they go down a path that is full of twists. There was a bit of a spark between Henry and Anna but nothing that became a main focal point of the story.

As the story progressed the two storylines got more involved with one another. This is such an easy book to read as the story lines and characters are written nicely. This is my first time reading a book from Mr. Fesperman and it won't be my last. You will be "hiding" but that is only because you will want to hide from the rest of the world to read this book.

What an interesting book. This is a combination historical fiction, mystery/thriller and this was one of those books that you had to read closely for many reasons. For one there is a large cast of characters and some of them have two names as they are spys, field agents or have identities for one reason another. You also have to read closely to make sure you know who works for whom and what side they are on.

One thing that made me realize that I was really into this book and loving it, was my wonderment if any of this was based in truth. I love when I go into a book with little back story and wonder the whole time if there is any truth behind the book - such a good feeling! I wondered if the Sisterhood and almost hoped that there was some truth for these women in this moment in time had each other as a support system in this crazy male centric job field.

After reading this, I decided that I really want to see this as a movie. I don't think that often and don't care for my books to have a life outside of the book form, but this one really struck me as a great book to adapt and for it to hold up to the transfer from one art form to another.

This was my first introduction to Dan Fesperman. I was so excited to see quite the backlist when I finished this book. I don't even know where to go next! Where should I go if I liked this one a lot?

Safe Houses by Dan Fesperman Book Review
Safe Houses contains storylines between past and present & Dan Fesperman writes them in a way that they play into one another perfectly. While reading, questions start fluttering around in your mind about the future storyline. As the book goes on, the two stories become more tightly wound. For me, the 1970’s Berlin portion was the more fascinating of the two - I loved reading about the politics of Europe at that time.

Suspense & a Badass Woman Named Helen
The suspense and adventure in Safe Houses are right up my alley. Descriptions of places bring me right into the moment with the characters. I want to go back in time and be a woman like Helen!  She’s in a position meant to keep her out of the major action but she ends up being the most badass women in the Berlin station.  She is a principled woman who is willing to risk it all.  I really admire this character.

THE VERDICT
I am Really Into This book! Safe Houses is a very thrilling & compelling read that got my heart racing.

Special thanks to Dan Fesperman, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group & NetGalley for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. This novel takes place in Germany and France in 1979 and Maryland in 2014. In 1979 Helen is working for the CIA. It was a time when women were considered not suitable to work in the field and were only there to do desk duties and menial work. Helen was responsible for the safe houses in the city and had to put up with constant put downs from her superiors and harassment from some of the men who she had to deal with. There was one conversation that had me muttering under my breath, even more so because I could imagine it being said. I did enjoy the reply though. What I noticed,a lot, was that many of the women who did feature had a bigger influence on the novel than most of the men. Even though they worked behind the scenes. The part of the book set in 1979 was the part that I preferred, Germany separated by the Berlin Wall and its inhabitants living in very different circumstances than they do in modern day Germany.
In 2014, Helen’s daughter Anna wants answers to the murders that her brother has been accused of. She had no idea of her mother’s past and asks Henry to help her. But Henry has a motive of his own.
I get confused by all the different agencies, even more so when they are not UK-based. But that didn’t stop me getting caught up in this novel. The narrative switches often and at first it was at point when it wasn’t at an important time in the story. But as it progressed and the danger levels increased I ached to know what would happen next. Especially with Helen.
It is a long time since I had to put a book down because it made me feel so tense. Only to pick it up again because I couldn’t get to sleep wondering what would happen next. Especially in the final six chapters. I have never read a novel like this before, or one by this author. I will definitely be reading more.

Espionage stories have never really been of interest to me, aside from James Bond and the recent film of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy but this book, with its mystery and secrecy and a double murder, may have changed that.

I’m not old enough to remember the Cold War but I felt I got a good sense of the bleakness and constant suspicion from the authors descriptions of Berlin and the experiences of Helen. Naturally, having discovered things she shouldn’t have done, she becomes agitated and fearful and that came off the pages in waves. The story moves between Helen in 1979 and the double murder in 2014. The 2014 scenes were like a patch of blue sky after the grey, claustrophobia of 1979. Although there is a lot of intrigue and wariness in 2014 it does feel like I had more room to breathe when reading those scenes.

I’ve realised recently that I enjoy much more those books where the descriptions are such that I have a movie running in my head as I read. It’s an entirely subconscious thing that I can’t control but makes a huge difference to my enjoyment of a book. In this case, the descriptions were perfect, not too wordy but also crisp and clear. At one point Helen jumps somewhere and not only could I see that happening but I was also holding my breath in case she didn’t land safely. Writing like that is what I love and why I kept reading.

The characters were equally well written. I kept willing Helen to succeed and feeling frustrated with her when she was annoyed or things didn’t quite work as she’d hoped. In the 2014 scenes, the daughter hires an investigator whose life we know a reasonable amount about (given his chosen profession) and I appreciated and shared some of his emotions too, the daughter not so much for some reason. I think I was more interested in the investigator’s story than the daughters but I can’t figure out why that is.

I’ve not said a lot about the story but that’s because it would be tricky to do so without spoilers and I don’t do spoilers but believe me it is a book well worth reading.

Because the double murder and investigation of it is a big piece of the story I think this book would appeal to many crime fiction fans. This book would appeal to obviously, fans of espionage stories, but equally those who like psychological thrillers but that is what this book is, it plays with your brain so you view everything with suspicion, even banal, everday occurrences.

Given what I’ve said I’m going to leave you with a few tips: when you are reading, always make sure you’re facing the door, you don’t want people walking in behind you particularly during some scenes. Also you might want to have a stiff drink to hand, this is something that crops up a few times in the story and having read it I can certainly understand why!

Published by Knopf on July 3, 2018

Safe Houses draws some of its background from a government spy agency called the Pond that was in a rivalry with the OSS (and later the CIA) before the government disbanded it in 1955. The Pond then continued its existence as a private organization because people who like to think they are doing important work sometimes have difficulty admitting that they are no longer the center of the universe.

Safe Houses is told in two alternating time frames. Part of the story takes place in 1979, when Helen Abell, new to her CIA posting in Berlin, is placed in charge of safe houses, an administrative duty deemed suitable for a woman. While making an unscheduled inspection of a safe house, visitors arrive and she overhears (and accidentally records) part of their conversation. She doesn’t know who they are or how one of them got a key; neither man is one of the six people who are authorized to have one. They seem to be talking in a sort of code. Later, she tells Clark Baucom about it. Baucom is her lover and a much older field agent. He tells her to burn the tape and never disclose what she heard to anyone. Of course, the obscure references on the tape to “the Pond” eventually gain clarity.

When she returns to the safe house to retrieve the tape, another visitor shows up (an agent she knows) and she overhears a sexual assault in progress. Helen intervenes, but her intervention puts her career is in jeopardy. Her life is also in jeopardy after it becomes clear that she intends to expose a CIA assassin who is also a serial rapist. That part of the story has Helen fleeing Berlin and making contact with a couple of female CIA employees who may or may not be on her side.

The other part of the story begins in 2014, when a Maryland woman and her husband are shot dead in their bed by their developmentally disabled son, Willard. Henry Mattick is in town when it happens, conducting a clandestine investigation into the family for a reason he doesn’t understand. When the son’s sister Anna wants to hire Henry to find the reason for the murders, Henry’s employer tells him to accept the assignment, to get inside the house, and to make copies of any documents he can find. It won’t be surprising to the reader that the 2014 story quickly links to the 1979 story.

Despite its lurid subject matter, Safe Houses is told in a measured style that lends credibility to the narrative. The plot blends suspense with enough action to keep the story moving at a good pace, but Dan Fesperman doesn’t short-change characterization. The novel is a bit short of atmosphere (other than place names, it doesn’t convey much sense of being in Berlin or any of the novel’s other locations), although Fesperman does an excellent job of conveying the limitations that were placed on women in society (and particularly in male-dominated organizations like the CIA) in 1979. In a time when the #MeToo movement is focusing attention on how powerful men feel empowered to abuse women, Safe Houses shines a spotlight on the importance of standing up for what’s right, and on the risks that people take when they decide to do the right thing.

RECOMMENDED

SAFE HOUSES by Dan Fesperman is an intense, captivating, and gripping novel that will keep you hooked from beginning to end, and keep you guessing every step of the way.

In 1979, Helen Abell works for the CIA and oversees their safe houses but when she records something that she was never supposed to hear, will she get rid of it like she is advised? And when she encounters another shady meeting, this will place her in the path of the most powerful man in their world.
Fast forward over thirty years and Helen and her husband are found murdered and all clues seem to point to their disabled son. But their daughter knows that her brother has never been violent and is determined to uncover the truth, even if it means digging into her parents past.

Compelling from the first page, I was immediately sucked into the murky world of espionage and double-crossing.
With plenty of danger, secrets, lies, and subterfuge, SAFE HOUSES by Dan Fesperman is a cracking story that is perfect for those who love a fast-paced, energetic thriller. Definitely a must-read for fans of Robert Ludlum and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an action-packed, thrilling story.

This was a fantastic spy thriller that I really enjoyed.  The story is told in two parts one based in cold war Berlin and one in 2014.  The Cold War has always held a lot of intrigue for me, not least because my dad was posted to Germany when the wall was still present.  The tension is created naturally in this timeline as the there is a general feeling of mistrust and fear amoung the residents.

My favourite character was Helen who is the only women in an all male team.  She’s struggling to do her job properly or get noticed.  Her boss I very sexist and doesn’t believe woman are capable of doing agent work, an opinion that is echoed by a lot of her colleagues.  I really admired her determination to try to make a difference and make the best of the situation.  I did also feel sorry for her as the lack of confidence her colleagues had in her must have been hard to handle.

This was quite a fast paced book for me and I really enjoyed watching the story unravel. I was pleased that Helen decided to try and solve the case and really wanted her to succeed.  I kept reading, turning the pages faster and faster as the mystery was solved.

This is the first book by this author I have read and I really look forward to reading more from him in the future.  If you like fast paced crime thrillers that have a bit of a classic feel to them you’ll like this book.

Huge thanks to Abby and Knoff publishers for my copy of this book via Netgalley and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

Espionage and Murder Follow a CIA agent for Thirty-five years

Helen Abell is a junior CIA agent in Berlin in 1979. She joined the agency thinking of adventure. Instead, she’s given the job of overseeing the safe houses. These are the places where agents and their sources can meet to exchange information.

Helen hates the fact that she’s been given a job deemed suitable for a woman, but things change one day while inspecting her houses. Helen is upstairs checking out the recording equipment when someone, unknown to her, enters. A meeting ensues and Helen never shuts off the recorder. Her much older lover, Baucom, tells her that she must get rid of the recording. She returns to the safe house late at night and witnesses another encounter between an agent and his source. This one spells present danger.

Thirty-five years later, Helen and her husband are murdered by her son. He’s slow, but has always been gentle. Anna, Helen’s daughter, returns for the funeral. She’s unable to believe her brother committed the murder without a reason. She enlists a neighbor, Henry Mattick, as a sounding board and to find out what happened. Was this crime related to Helen’s past?

If you enjoy espionage thrillers, this is a good one. Helen is a sympathetic character, particularly the way she chafes against her proscribed role in 1979. Anna, her daughter is another strong character. In spite of what she might find, she wants to know what happened to her mother.

I enjoyed the scenes of Berlin in 1979. For me it was the best description in the book. The other areas were more briefly described. The forte of this book is the characterization and dialog. Both are very well done. The story is told between two time periods, Helen’s in 1979 and Anna’s in 2014. Both are realistic. The plot is filled with twists that will keep you guessing.

I received this book from Knopf for this review.

“Safe Houses” by Dan Fesperman is a captivating, intense and intriguing novel. The Genres for this novel are Mystery, Suspense, Thriller and Fiction. The timelines for the story starts is West Berlin in 1974, and through different narration, continues to the present. The story takes place in many countries.

The author describes the characters as complicated and conflicted. Some are courageous, and some are calculating. There is a trace of a theme of good and evil. There is corruption, betrayals, twists and turns and adventure.

Helen Abell’s job in 1979 in West Berlin, is to oversee the CIA Safe Houses that field agents go to. One evening, when Helen is in one of the safe houses, two unexpected people arrive and have a conversation in code. Helen is hiding, but is secretly taping this. Another night Helen is witness to something else she shouldn’t see, or hear. Helen also has a tape of this, and now finds that she is in danger, and learns to escape and seek the information she needs and wants that has put her in this position.Little does Helen know that those tapes she has with her will be extremely significant for years to come.

Thirty years later, Helen and her husband are murdered by their disabled son. Her daughter comes back to finalize arrangements, and wants to seek the truth. There are deep secrets and Helen’s past causes great danger to her daughter.

I recommend this novel to those readers that enjoy a face-paced novel packed full of suspense. Happy Reading !!!

Where do I even begin to review this brilliant book?! I was drawn to it first by the Berlin strand of the story, I admit I know very little about Germany and Berlin after the Second World War and before the wall came down. I’ve been to Berlin and seen the remnants of the wall so I was intrigued how Berlin was coping many years after the wall had gone up. I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much I did!

Helen is an American in her twenties living and working in Berlin for the CIA. Her job is to look after the safe houses which is very much a mans world. Her co-workers don’t seem happy that there’s a woman working with them and when Helen stumbles upon secrets she shouldn’t know, the pace really picks up.

Fast forward to 2014 and we meet Anna, her brother has murdered their parents and she’s enlists the help of Henry to find out what really happened. Soon Anna discovers more about her parents than she knew about and her whole world is completely different.

I loved both the characters of Helen and Anna, they were extremely well-written and I loved reading about both of them. They’re both determined to figure out what’s going on in their own timelines. There are of course some unlikable characters but all of them are well-written with many layers to them which I loved.

I loved the dual timeline running through, I did prefer reading the 1979 sections more but I think that’s because that time period in Berlin just intrigues me. The wall came down the year after I was born so I never knew what Berlin was like with it up.

Dan’s writing is brilliant, he drew me into the pages and I was quickly hooked. I wasn’t sure what I was going into as I haven’t really read any CIA based books but my word I was thoroughly impressed. I’m intrigued to read more spy/CIA books in the future!

Safe Houses is a gripping, fast-paced espionage thriller that is incredibly well-written with a plot to hook you in.

Safe Houses is a fairly long read and could almost be described as two stories in one. The first follows Helen Abell, a CIA field agent working in Berlin in 1979 during the Cold War. There are still plenty of men in the CIA of the '70s who believe women are a liability to the Agency and Helen's boss is no exception. When she arrived in Berlin she was handed a position which was once a clerical role but despite the obvious snub, Helen is determined to do the best job possible and soon the provision of safe houses in the city becomes more efficient, secure and cleaner. It is this drive to provide the highest quality places for agency operatives which means Helen is upstairs in one such house when she inadvertently becomes privy to a secret conversation. Later that evening she witnesses the supposedly safe house being used again and realises she needs to act on the information she has learned. The second part of the story covers Anna's investigation into the shocking murder of her parents in 2014. Her brother may have been the perpetrator of this seemingly senseless act of violence but Anna is convinced there is more to the story and hires an investigator, Henry to help her uncover the truth. As they delve deeper into the past, they learn some shocking secrets about Anna's family history which results in them facing their own moments of peril.
The narrative switches between 1979 and 2014 with the first plot line being a complex and gripping spy thriller, and the second a riveting murder mystery. The two stories are obviously connected, with the events of the past having long term repercussions even though the Cold War is long over. The espionage scenes in the chapters set in 1979 evoke all the suspense of an era where the cities of Europe housed undercover agents known only by their cryptonyms, where information was passed through a complicated series of channels and those involved spent their days checking over their shoulders, wondering who they could really trust. The modern day mystery is also an entertaining read, with little titbits gradually revealed and some surprising twists before Anna and Henry finally discover the truth. Both the young women in the novel are richly imagined characters; their dogged determination to see justice prevail and to uncover the truth may lead them both into terrible danger but nevertheless they persist. The various settings of the book are rendered superbly too, giving a truly immersive feeling of time and depth to the proceedings.
Safe Houses has a complex plot which includes real life figures and events from history. It demands full concentration from its readers but rewards them with a pacy and engrossing story. For me, the real strength of the novel lies in the wonderfully vivid scenes in Cold War Europe but the intriguing links between the acts of the past and present also add to the terrific sense of tension in what is an exciting and intelligent thriller. Recommended.

Thank you to Abby and Knopf Books for inviting me on to this blog tour and providing me with a free book. All opinions are my own.

I rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.



I normally do not read a lot of spy/espionage thrillers, it's never been a type of book that caught my attention. But when Abby Endler brings a book to your attention, and invites you on to a Blog Tour, I don't care who you are, you do it. And because of that, I feel like I got to read and enjoy a book I normally never would pick for myself.

I really enjoyed the alternating, time jumping chapters. I think Esperman depicted the good ole boy aspect of the CIA perfectly, and when I think of how it must have been back in the 70's I'm betting it's dead on. Helen was a great character, she knew right from wrong, and she wasn't afraid to fight for it, even if it ended her life.

Not a lot of books can tackle alternating, time jumping chapters, without causing some slight confusion, but I feel Esperman executed it well, and I appreciate that he added in Anna, Willard, and Henry. This side of the story gave an added depth to the book. Which was very appreciated. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I am glad I joined in on this Blog Tour.

Helen Abell heard something she wasn’t supposed to hear at the beginning of Dan Fesperman’s Safe Houses. In fact, she hears two things she wasn’t supposed to hear. Also, she was taping the people speaking in one of the Berlin safe houses she monitors for the CIA. Even worse: some of the people who were saying things they shouldn’t know she has incriminating tapes. This is the set up for a thrilling mystery that spans almost four decades and two continents.

Helen’s half of Safe Houses follows her as she pisses off the wrong people trying to right a wrong and root out some possible treasons in 1979. Thirty-five years later, Henry Mattick helps Helen’s daughter, Anne, solve the mystery of Helen’s 2014 murder. (This isn’t a spoiler. The murders happen very early in the book.) Henry also works for the government and has special skills, though he’s not as official as Helen was. He’s already in the small Virginia town where Helen lived for decades, keeping track of her visitors, when she and her husband are suddenly and brutally murdered. Anne does not believe the official narrative, that her developmentally disabled brother murdered their parents with a rifle. Someone gives her Henry’s name and she hires him to basically double-down on the job he was already doing.

Once all of this is set up, we’re off to the races with Helen, Henry, and Anne. I loved all the twists on the standard spy and mystery plots. Helen isn’t fighting the Russians or the East Germans; she’s up against the good old boy network of American intelligence. Henry isn’t sure which agency he actually reports to, but it’s clear there are factions and rot. Anne is not as strong a character, but that may be because she’s not a point-of-view character. (There is also a shoe-horned-in romance plot that was unnecessary and kind of irritated me.) I had a great time keeping track of all the double-crosses and sinister henchmen.

Aside from the romance subplot, I liked Safe Houses. It’s got gripping action scenes and original conflicts. Fesperman did a great job creating two settings in which the characters feel like they have no where to turn. Because Helen, Henry, and Anne are pretty much completely on their own, we have to wait and hope that they will find a way to survive with only the slimmest chance of rescue. I’d recommend this for thriller readers who’d like something other than the usual spy v. spy or spy v. terrorist fare.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, fore review consideration. It will be released 3 July 2018.

Fesperman is a really fine writer who should have a giant audience. In this book, he revives the espionage genre by bringing a man in a small town face to face with a completely puzzling murder: why did a seemingly happy adult with cognitive impairments murder his loving family - all but a daughter who wants answers. They seem to lie in the past, The murderer's mother, it seems, served in Berlin maintaining safe houses for spies. And even though she left that life behind, there's so such thing as safety. Moving between past and present and adding a wrinkle that one of the present-day protagonists is also engaged in surveillance, it's a barn-burner of a story, though I felt a bit let down by the stretch required to believe the conclusion. Then I read the afterword and learned it was based on something outlandish but true. Good book, as one would expect from a very fine writer.

Helen Abell a young lady on her first job joins the CIA in a period when the agency was basically a men's club and women were relegated to either secretarial situationd or other low end positions. She is stationed in West Berlin in 1979 and assigned to oversee the agency's network of four safe houses in that city. These are rare havens of safety and security for agents in the midst of an area seething with the dangers of conflicts between the U.S and Russia.
Helen's job is just to make sure the houses are clean and have all the correct material for the comfort of those agents using them. Her normal work is interrupted when she overhears a conversation between two men entering the house she is busy inspecting. Their conversation is replete with strange wording and references unfamiliar to Helen. Later in the same day she overhears a second dialog between a man and woman in which the woman is literally forced to accede to sexual demands she does not welcome.
Dutifully reporting the two incidents Helen unexpectedly finds herself on the outside of the agency she works for and ordered out and home to Virginia, the home of the CIA. Her real adventures start when she deserts the job going rogue in Europe rather than letting herself be manipulated and sent home in disgrace. She eventually gets into contact with two other women working for the CIA that have had run ins with the agency and are willing to join into a small group in order to expose the apparently countenanced sexual harassments silently going on.

The women stay in touch for years attempting to right the wrongs and find themselves involved both with the harassment and something even larger affecting the entire government of the United States. Mr. Fesperman moves into a second segment of the story which involves Helen's daughter Anna and the murder of both Helen and her than husband by their son. The book's description of the second factor in the story will leave the reader aghast especially after reading an afterward by the author attesting to the validity of this issue as part of recent history. Needless to say it is not possible to put the book down before finishing it and getting the fullest satisfaction in reading an awesome novel.