15 Mar Essex author Mark Butterworth’s second novel brings the role of female Cold War secret agents to the fore
In the perilous atmosphere of the Cold War, Adam Devon, a civilian pilot, becomes unwittingly embroiled in an MI6 covert operation to extract a Russian missile scientist from Berlin. The assignment is led by Val Hetherington-Brown, the head of station in Berlin, but there are traitors in the British Establishment passing information to the Russians. As the assignment starts to go wrong Devon becomes trapped in East Germany.
Hannah, Devon’s fiancée and one-time agent for the Israeli Secret Service, leads the mission to rescue him and the rest of the team. However, time is running out and her best chance of success lies in the hands of the unscrupulous Henry Fitzjohn, a British MP and old RAF rival of Devon’s, who had once sought a relationship with her.
In a race to unmask the traitor and rescue Devon, loyalties are tested and unexpected alliances form. In a world where secrets are currency and danger is ever-present, will love and resilience prevail against all odds?
Born in London and now living in Essex, Mark Butterworth served in the British Army and worked in the City of London before becoming a full-time writer. Mark held a private pilot’s licence for fifteen years and has made more than fifty parachute jumps. Mark enjoys running, keeping fit and travel, has two grown-up daughters and a Springer Spaniel called Arthur. The Berlin Assignment is a sequel to The Pearl River, Mark’s debut novel.
Mark explains, “The research I carried out for the book opened my eyes to the incredible work of the Kindertransport movement before the start of World War two that saved the lives of more than 10,000 Jewish children. Hannah Shaw, a Kindertransport child herself and motivated by her Jewish heritage, uses her past training as an Israeli secret agent to lead a dangerous rescue mission.
“Visiting the now disused Templehof airport (as featured in Bridge of Spies), the echoes of the Berlin Airlift are tangible. The contrasting fortunes of West and East Berlin were keenly apparent in the early 1950s and the city still carries the haunting memories of its post-war recovery and the tensions of the Cold War.”
RELEASE DATE: 28/02/2024 ISBN: 9781916668263 Price: £9.99
