Then We Take Berlin

“A stylish spy thriller” of postwar Berlin—the first in a thrilling new series from the acclaimed author of the Inspector Troy novels (The New York Times Book Review).

John Wilfrid Holderness—aka Joe Wilderness—has gone from young Cockney cardsharp surviving the London Blitz to MI6 agent navigating war-ravaged Europe to his current career of “free-agent gumshoe” weathering Cold War fears and hard-luck times. Now he’s being drawn back into the secret ops business when an ex-CIA agent asks him to spearhead one last venture: smuggle a vulnerable woman out of East Berlin.

Arriving in Germany, it doesn’t take long for Wilderness to discover he’s become an unwitting pawn in a deadly game of atomic proportions. To survive it, Wilderness must follow a serpentine trail through his past, into the confidence of an unexpected lover, and go dangerously deep into a black market scam the likes of which Berlin has never seen.

The author of the acclaimed Inspector Troy series, “Lawton’s gift for atmosphere, memorable characters and intelligent plotting has been compared to John le Carré. . . . Never mind the comparisons—Lawton can stand up on his own, and Then We Take Berlin is a gem” (The Seattle Times).

“[The Joe Wilderness novels] are meticulously researched, tautly plotted, historical thrillers in the mold of World War II and Cold War fiction by novelists like Alan Furst, Phillip Kerr, Eric Ambler, David Downing and Joseph Kanon.” —The Wall Street Journal

“[It] will thrill readers with an interest in WWII and the early Cold War era.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A wonderfully complex and nuanced thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews