"The Double Game", by Dan Fesperman

“The Double Game” is a thrilling old-school espionage novel with roots stemming from other authors works of art. The storyline is sprinkled with famous names such as John le Carre, William Buckley and many others. The plot is intellectual and action driven and mirrors what the layman perceives as the work of real spies such as the CIA during the Cold War Era.  It plays on the idea that a best-selling novelist was actually a CIA agent deeply embedded with the KGB of the time. With skillfully developed characters and a plot containing many twists and turns the author has adeptly switched back and forth in years and maintained an elevated sense of suspense, a real guessing game till the very last page.  

Narrated in the first person by the protagonist, this smart and suspenseful story opens in 1984 with young journalist Bill Cage interviewing American espionage agent turned novelist Edwin Lemaster. His revelations will soon prove to be the catalyst and the end of Bill’s career.

We jump in time to two decades later, when Bill is working in public relations spinning stories for his clients. One day out of the blue he receives an anonymous letter encouraging him to follow up on the 1984 allegations behind Lemaster’s disclosure. This enticing and strange note is full of cryptic references to some of Bill’s favourite spy novels and proves to be the first of many literary bread crumbs that eventually has Bill travelling to Vienna, Prague and Budapest. Deciphering each instruction is a maze of information, an adventure through spy novels that brings him closer to the truth…..

This story develops and is presented in a different manner it quickly draws you into the world of espionage by bringing back memories and the adrenaline rush created by classic spy novels.