If you’re looking for a book which is not only gripping and complicated with a rich story, look no futher. Safe Houses by Dan Fesperman is the book for you.
The plot:
West Berlin, 1979: Helen Abell oversees the CIA’s network of safe houses, rare havens for field agents and case officers amid the dangerous milieu of a city in the grips of the Cold War. Helen witnesses two encounters, one putting her in danger of one of the most ruthless and powerful men at the agency.
Maryland, 2014: Two people are gruesomely murdered, and now Helen’s daughter, Anna, must chase down the truth about her mother’s past, and face the chilling fact that old secrets never die…
Honestly full praise for Fesperman for pulling this off. I definitely had to re-read a few paragraphs and flick back through pages because my head was so scrambled (in a good way). This book is so rich with detail, it was a real treat to read the whole way through.
Safe Houses is written so impeccably well – not only in the sense that you can imagine being in the book as a bystander, but also just due to the book’s enormity with characters and the story. I cannot stress this enough – for me, even simple things like a room were just effortlessly put into my mind through Fesperman‘s writing. I felt like I could close my eyes and be there.
I will 10/10 be recommending this forever.
I adored how this book jumped from 1979, following Helen’s story, to 2014, following Anna’s journey; it just made the book so exciting and flowed so very, very well. There were a few times when I was unsure how this book would turn around, and it is quite a long book (416 pages), but lo and behold, the next page would present new information which meant you had to carry on. Like. Right that second.
There were times my heart was RACING. It definitely had a thrillery type of feel, and was very gripping. I will 10/10 be recommending this forever. If you love a good book that keeps you questioning everything you know right until the end, this is the book for you.
Safe Houses has also really made me want to become a spy. Yo, MI5, if you’re out there, hit a gal up. Fesperman has taught me what I need to know.
Safe Houses, Dan Fesperman, RRP $26.95 (hardback); Book Depository
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Publication date: 3 July 2018
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Pages: 416
