This suspenseful sequel to “The Bucharest Dossier” is an engaging and exciting cold-war thriller on its own, no need to read the previous book in order to enjoy this one. The story sheds light on the unbelievable corruption of both the West and the East. The narrative over 400 pages covers basically the Bucharest of the 1993 and takes place three years after the revolution against the Communist regime.

The protagonist is Romanian born Bill Hefflin who finds himself entangled with the CIA handling a mysterious Russian asset, Boris, a double agent maybe even a triple agent...how convoluted can this become. Wait to see what Mr. Maz has in mind in his book. When a rumor flies that he is the top Russian mole in the CIA, he definitely knows he is being set up and sets out to get to the bottom of things. After ensuring that his son and wife’s are safe, he sets off to Romania where immediately things go haywire. And the bodies start to mount...while the crooks get richer and half the population are starving.

You need to stay alert reading this book so much goes on back and forth and many characters are added to the action and the suspense gets even more intense. Hefflin and his wife Catherine, who plays a huge role, are well-drawn and complex characters. As for Boris, he is a shadow hanging over the spy hunts. I may have found the story to be way longer than it should have been with the repetition of information we have already been told but delving deeper into the gripping action scenes I discovered how crafty Mr. Maz’s writing style is. His research, techniques and action sequences only can keep us on the edge of our seats till the very end. The language is easy and engaging what is not to like. Well said, well-done

I was hooked on to the story from start to finish and couldn't put it down until the end. The Bucharest Legacy is a new favorite in the series. I absolutely LOVED every bit of this explosive, fantabulous and totally engrossing spy thriller.

Bill Hefflin is going to give Jack Ryan a run for his money. Bye, Ryan. Hello, Hefflin!

As I started reading this book, it was like a movie playing in my head. This is truly one of the best spy thriller series I have ever read and fingers crossed that they make this into a TV or Movie series (or both) soon.

Reading this book was a wholesome experience. From characterization to twists to suspense, I was spellbound. Excellent storytelling. Well-researched and good grasp of historical events and spy craft.

The Bucharest Legacy by William Maz is a mind-blowing, spell-binding, engrossing, captivating, edge-of-your-seat spy thriller. Highly recommended!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

I read this book, unaware it was the second book in the Bill Hefflin spy series. While I found this book interesting, I felt that reading the first book would have given me a better connection to the characters. Regardless of this, this was still a good read.

Excellent spy novel. CIA agent is sent to his birthplace, Bucharest, to investigate accusations made by his contact, KGB double agent (or is he a triple agent?). Who is the mole? Well written and very entertaining. My thanks to the author and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book.

Fabulous!! This was a great story which I could not put down. Would recommend this to everyone who loves this genre.

A thriller espionage book like some of the old spy books. Here Heflen who has retired from the CIA is asked to do a simple pick up in Romina since he grew up there and worked there. The pick-up is not as easy as they said and after spending time with his wife he is called back in the man he brought in from Russia through Romania says that there is a mole in the CIA he then gives a name and it is the one the Helflen was the handler for yet no one knows other than him who the man actually is and also that he has passed. This is a fine thriller in the old sense that will keep you gripped to the pages to find out just what is going on. A really good book with excellent characters and a very good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for providing me with a free ARC in return for my honest review.
Book 2 of this espionage series begins 3-years after the Romanian overthrow of Nicolai Ceaucescu, and my have things changed, and yet not really over in Romania despite everyone's thoughts of instant democracy and booming capitalism. Our protagonist, Bill Hefflin, has left his job at the CIA after having inherited a substantial sum of money from his former KGB friend/asset, Boris. But one day during a walk he sees a sign that there is a drop for him, and the message indicates that it is from Boris, but Boris is dead and nobody knows that but Bill, so who is behind this. Thus begins a top flight espionage thriller that certainly has elevated William Maz to a premier espionage writers. There is a mole in the CIA and many consider Bill to be that person, but despite that he is sent back to Romania to both find Boris and prove he is not the mole. What he finds is a new Romania that has been taken over by the Oligarchs, be they former members of the dread Securitate, former Communist politicians, gangs of gypsies, or others propped up by either the USA or Russia. An intricately detailed and plotted book that is refreshing in that it is not the usual US/UK/Russia thriller but instead Maz deals with Romania and the forces that are trying to control the country. Businesses and land has been privatized, and all the wealth has been transferred from the Communist government to this small handful of individuals. It is place of continues corruption ahd lost hopes and dreams, a place where weapon sales and smuggling rampant and Hefflin is confronted by innumerable obstacles. Filled with real individuals, along with true descriptions of the people and conditions in Romania, it is a bleak world that existed there in 1993 and it appears that there will happily be at least one more book in this series.
On a personal note, my wife is Romanian (escaping in 1984), and I have personally been back there numerous on numerous occasions and can vouch for the realistic conditions set forth by the author. It will take generations for Romania to overcome its past, and so William Maz has a fertile location for many more great espionage books! Kudos on a great book!!!

Wow! This gripping spy thriller finds ex-CIA agent Bill Hefflin returning to hunt out a KGB mole. Impactful as a standalone, The Bucharest Legacy will grab you from page one as you hang on for a wild ride in Romania after the collapse of communism. Atmospheric, compulsively readable, and highly recommended for lovers of historical spy thrillers. Will make you circle back to Book 1, The Bucharest Dossier, for extra reading delight.

Happy Thriller Thursday🖤 This week I finished reading the spy thriller, The Bucharest Legacy and it was a page turner! While is is the second book in a series, it can definitely be read as a stand alone novel as well. My attention was grabbed from the beginning and the many twists and secrets held on to my attention till the end. I highly recommend checking out this read to see how CIA agent Bill Hefflin investigates if and who was a KGB mole within the CIA!

Thank you @oceanviewpub and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

The second book in this series, but works perfectly as a stand alone.
I found the set up very complicated at first, there were so many characters, dates and locations, never mind the past and present political history. Once this was all explained, the story started to flow, and we were introduced to the crux of the matter.
Both the CIA and the KGB know they have a mole in their respective departments. Bill Hefflin is brought out of retirement to find the mole, in order to clear suspicion against both himself and his previous work in the CIA. Hefflin ran several sources, and one could have been the mole, but now the mole is suspected of being a double or triple agent.
What makes a person betray his family and country? Is it to make the world a safer place for those very people, or to get revenge upon and destroy a political system that has caused so much harm to a country? Hefflin wants answers to both those questions, for personal reasons. He and his family came from the region, and had to make a hurried and secretive exit, when his father was arrested. He wants to know what happened to his childhood sweetheart, the answers are surprising and shocking.
So much research went into triggering emotions of exile and abandonment, the great love a parent can have for that child, and the lengths they will willingly go to to keep them safe and free. Not all history is in the past, and not all countries benefit when political leaders are overthrown, sometimes, it is better the devil you know.
Fast action and pace throughout this novel, you get caught up with the thrills and tension of not knowing who to trust and who is on the winning side. Hefflin seems a really decent person, full of guilt over events he had no control over in the past, and a sense of urgency to find out who betrayed him, who is the mole. At times he really wears his heart on his sleeve, a spy made human.
I enjoyed this novel, it grabbed my attention and made better sense of past political decisions that the TV news ever did. A five star read.
My thanks to Netgalley and Oceanview publishers for my advanced digital copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review.
I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK.

When there are rumours of a mole inside the CIA, who has ties to Boris, Bill Hefflin is asked to come out of retirement and is sent back to Bucharest. The problem is, that Boris is dead but noone besides Bill knows that. Bucharest has changed since the revolution and this time Bill has to fight oligarchs.
Lots of twists and turns in this very entertaining spy novel and I'm looking forward to more adventures with Bill Hefflin. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.

1993 and Bill Heflin is back in Bucharest. Spies from all sides are trying to find Boris but Bill knows that will never happen.
CIA fear they have a KGB mole within the Agency and Bill must find out who it is. Lots of action and killing. Complex characters in this fast paced novel, enjoy reading.

The second book in the Bill Hefflin spy series, The Bucharest Legacy by William Maz is subtitled The Rise of the Oligarchs. Set three years later, the discovery of a KGB mole within the CIA, implicates Bill and his former handler, Boris. So, begins a race to locate Boris as a number of spies, crooked politicians, and even the country’s new oligarchs all want him found. Having not read the first book of the series makes this a standalone review of an interesting spy tale that has plenty of action and secrets. An engaging spy story that captures the atmosphere and era in a three and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Oceanview Publishing and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, William Maz, and Oceanview Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

A great fan of historical fiction and coming to enjoy the world of Cold War espionage, I was drawn to this second book by William Maz. Following up on the powerful debut piece, this one continues the action, with fallout in Romania after communism disintegrates across the region. Full of wonderful Cold War era espionage and double agent informing, Maz portrays a world where nothing is quite as it seems and duplicity is rife within the CIA. Could the KGB have planted a mole deep within the Agency, leaving Bill Hefflin to discover us who might be try to drive America into the ground? William Maz does a wonderful job here, not only with the story, but depicting a time when no one knew who they could trust or for how long.

As the fallout of communism’s failure continues to rock the world, news emerges that the CIA may have a high-ranking mole in its midst. The mole’s handler is none other than KGB informant Boris, known to one member of the Agency quite well. While Bill Hefflin left the CIA after witnessing the fall of Romania’s communist dictatorship, his connection to Boris leaves him in a vulnerable situation. When former colleagues come calling, seeking to bring him back into the fold, if only to get to the bottom of it all, he is forced to make a tough decision.

With Boris’ known connection to all of this, Hefflin becomes the prime suspect in the mole investigation, something he adamantly denies. Hefflin must put his family in jeopardy to prove himself and find the actual mole, worried that turning over any rock could lead him to dangerous truths.

Returning to Bucharest, Hefflin begins scouring the area to locate intel, as well as dredge up old memories from his past. It will be a painful hunt, but one that is necessary, if Hefflin does not want to be painted as a traitor, which comes its punishments like no other. Romania is still rife with corruption and duplicity, but Hefflin will have to soldier on if he hopes to reveal the truth and be able to put this all to bed once and for all. However, Hefflin has a significant piece of intel that could rock things to the core and open up new avenues of suspicion! William Maz delivers another knockout punch with this stellar piece of writing, sure to impress those who love a strong novel about Cold War era spy craft.

While I had never heard of William Maz before reading the debut novel, I am pleased this ARC forced me to discover his writing. Maz develops some stellar storytelling and great characters to capture the tensions of the time period. A strong narrative flow kept me wanting to learn more, as did some of the well-placed plots. While there were some amazing characters, as with the first book, many shone in their darkness, if that makes any sense. Strong plots emerge throughout, building on threads from the debut novel and development allows Maz to bandy things about. The reader finds themselves down many a rabbit hole before arriving at the end result, which is never quite as it seems. This is a wonderful novel that kept me wanting more, which I hope William Maz will present in the years to come.

Kudos, Mr. Maz, for showing me how much fun Cold War era espionage can be.

Bill Hefflin was last in Bucharest at the time of the fall off the old regime. Now he's asked to go back by the CIA - they know they have a mole, and that somehow he's connected to Boris - former KJB agent who talked to the CIA via Bill.. Bill also knows that he's being set up so that he looks like prime suspect so part of the act is to clear his name. In Bucharest the former heads of the Securitate are now wealthy oligarchs and the corruption is as bad as ever. He's not in town for long before the hornet's nest explodes. He's finding out who runs Boris' old line of information but multiple agencies want to kill him to prevent that. It's a thoroughly fast paced, violent action packed thriller with a dramatic conclusion. At some stage you might think -Is any of this remotely credible? Maybe that doesn't matter.

Set three years after the events of The Bucharest Dossier, Bill Heflin has now left the employ of the CIA and married Catherine. Romania has become a free, democratic state of a sort and his former boss needs temporary assistance exfiltrating a defector. When the mission goes South, Bill is drawn into a quest for a mole within the CIA with links to his old asset, Boris, whose death is known only to Bill and Catherine. As vents spiral through the still corrupt Bucharest, Bill seeks his own past as well as evidence to clear his own name. Fast paced and twisty, it is a worthy follow up to the first book.

Set in a Romania that has already seen the fall of Chaušescu but has barely begun its process of democratisation and detachment from the embrace of the Russian bear, the novel stars Heffin, a Romanian expatriate of Greek descent turned CIA agent - but now ex-agent - tasked with retrieving a defector from the former KGB. Many things go wrong and Heffin finds himself suspected of being a double agent. He is not, but virtually everyone around him is, or at least, has secrets they are keeping from him, including his beloved wife. If you forget the fact that it is not clear why the CIA should entrust the extraction of a defector to one of its former members, as well as a few other inconsistencies probably explainable by the fact that this is the second volume of a series of which I have not read the first volume, this is a truly intriguing narrative, which balances fairly well-researched historical facts and fictional fiction in an enjoyable way.

Interesting novel set in post-communist Romania. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Twisty spy thriller. Well written, good action. Thing is... it´s nothing new in terms of the story. I felt as if I was reading Ludlum, Clancy, and Forsyth again. Don´t get me wrong these guys are amazing writers and Maz is near them. I´m just being grumpy, demanding this tiny bit more.

Bill Heflin, effectively ex-CIA is called back after a KGB defector identifies a KGB mole in the agency. Post the collapse of communist Romania we are drawn back to a world of spies, where no-one who is certain who to trust and different people seem to be tracking Bill. Ultimately this becomes a race to clear his name, and protect his family. Plenty of intrigue and a worthy spy thriller.