First published 2010
February 10, 1962. Three men stand at the center of the Cold War's most famous prisoner exchange on Berlin's Glienicke Bridge. Rudolf Abel, a Soviet master spy skilled in disguise, waits to return home after years of espionage work in America. Gary Powers, the American U2 pilot shot down over Russia, faces an uncertain future after his capture exposed American surveillance operations. Frederic Pryor, a young American doctor wrongly suspected of spying, finds himself caught in a web of international suspicion. Their stories intertwine through the most dangerous period of the Cold War, when nuclear tensions reached their peak and Khrushchev sent missiles to Cuba. Two sought weapons secrets, while the third stumbled into danger through intellectual curiosity. Their families fought against overwhelming odds to secure their freedom. The exchange that brought them together reveals the deep mistrust that would fuel the arms race for three decades. Powers would return home only to face harsh criticism from his own country. These three men embody the human cost of superpower rivalry.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-history, espionage
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: based-on-true-events, enemies-to-lovers
Setting: Berlin, Cuba, Glienicke Bridge, Russia
Period: 1962
308 pages · Kindle Edition · Broadway Books