Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke with Vivien Jennings of 

Vivien Jennings of Rainy Day Books says that this new spy thriller "grabs you from the very first scene and never lets go."

It opens in 1936, when the Russian secret police catch a 16-year-old boy who escaped from an orphanage. They've been watching him for months: He's been living on the street as a thief, but he shows impressive language skills and ingenuity under fire.

They make him a deal: Spy for Russia and take on a mission in Nazi Germany, or spend the rest of your life in prison.

Christie is a history buff, Jennings said, and he "decided to write the novel after discovering in declassified documents an account of a German plan to assassinate Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt at the Tehran Conference of 1943."

"The plan was defeated by a Soviet intelligence officer who had infiltrated German military intelligence. What a possibility that one well-placed agent — a single spy — might be able to affect the course of world history." 

Jennings added: "These days, if you're curious at all in how Russian intelligence works, Christie's history and tradecraft are very well-researched — and very scary." 

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Ask a bookseller

Tracy Mumford

Author

Bookseller Vivien Jennings raves about a World War II-era thriller that 'grabs you from the very first scene and never lets go.'

Vivien Jennings raves about a new spy thriller that she says is both fascinating and timely.

A new spy thriller that's 'very well-researched -- and very scary'

Go Deeper.

Like this?