My version: Paperback
Genre: Fiction, thriller
Publisher: Harper Collins
First published: 2005
ISBN: 978-0-00-721088-6
Bought
From the cover:
“Vienna, 1966.
To be wrongly accused of murder once is a misfortune. Twice – and it’s a conspiracy.
It is the height of the Cold War. When a defector from Eastern Europe mysteriously returns to the village of his birth, it’s a chance for disgraced detective Brano Sev to redeem himself. Being framed for a murder should just be part of his cover story.
Or is it? Exiled suddenlt to Vienna, treacherous city of spies, Sev finds himself caught up in a cat-and-mouse game where survival is the only prize. But in a world where no good deed goes unpunished, loyalty can be the biggest crime of all…“
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I’ve previously read The Tourist, which was also excellent, though probably more of a mainstream spy novel.
The Vienna Assignment is particularly good because it doesn’t do, as in the main character doesn’t do, what you probably expect it/him to. At least, that’s how I felt anyway.
It’s set in Eastern Europe – and, as Vienna and Austria are in Western Europe – Western Europe, in the mid-sixties. It’s about spies, about Socialism about suspicion and trust, betrayal and idealism when all the evidence points against it.
Atmospheric, intriguing and thought-provoking. Read it, you won’t be disappointed.
Couldn't I Just Tell You 