Vienna at Nightfall

Alex Kovacs Thriller Series, Book 1

By: Richard Wake

Narrated by: Neill Thorne

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

It is the late 1930s in Europe and the darkness is gathering. The Nazis are marching, both inside Austria and outside. What can one man do to make a difference?

Alex Kovacs can see what’s coming – he can, all of his friends can, all of Vienna can. When an opportunity presents itself, a chance to thwart the Nazi invasion of Austria, he agrees to join an espionage network that will take advantage of his regular business trips to Germany to gather secret information. But a personal tragedy soon complicates Alex’s mission and entangles him with a suspicious Gestapo captain in ways that he never anticipated.

Vienna at Nightfall is the first book in the Alex Kovacs historical espionage thriller series. If you like to explore the world inhabited by Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther or the characters created by Alan Furst, a place and time where looming terror and moral ambiguity live side-by-side, then you’ll love Richard Wake’s new pre-World War II thriller.

Pick up Vienna at Nightfall to discover this exciting new series today!

©2018 Manor and State, LLC (P)2020 Manor and State, LLC

Good story!

After having lived in Vienna in my college years… I love listening to stories where I can picture places I’ve been… Streets down which I’ve walked. I love historical fiction… And this is a good story… No, make that a great story! Yes, the narrator sometimes mispronounces the German… But in reality… So do the Austrians! ❤️🤍❤️
I wish more of this authors books were on audio as I have more time to listen and less time to sit and read these days.

Fascinating

The author has created characters of depth, examining the ambiguities of choosing to act with courage at a a tipping point. The rich historical details and insights into class, ethnicity, and groupthink kept me reading. The mischievous magnesite salesman protagonist is the coyote of the story, opening a window into the shattering of Viennese culture.

German words

I wish the Austrian places, streets, museums, buildings, shops etc were spoken in the German language

Tense Thriller

Well read, good characterization and plausible story line. looking forward to next installment! A+ thriller.

A great historical setting. You felt like you were there in 1938 Vienna

The small touches that lent so much realism. The antics of soccer fans, the bars and the trains. And of course the espionage intrigue

excellent

wish they had more of his books on Audible. thriller from beginning to end. Leaves you wanting some more.

Good Story - Weak Narration

The story provided an interesting take on Germany and Austria before the 1938 "anschluss" of Austria by the Nazis. However, the narrator's constant mispronunciation of German names and places was quite annoying. Besides this issue, the narration was good.

Setup for the rest of the series?

I really wanted to like this book. It started off with something I thought was going to be a mystery, it wasn't. Just kind of something that happened in the background. This was just about a low level courier, and we never know what spy info he has or how his couple of spy trips actually helped or did anything. And then the book just ended. I assume this book is just a set up for the rest of the series where he moves up in the spy chain and becomes more involved.
The reading performance was good, and I was interested in the story of the Austrians situation prior to Germany's takover.

Slow to agent Started

I like WW2 spy thrillers which is what this book tries to be. My criticism is it takes way too long for something to actually happen. When it does, it’s not particularly fast paced. Overall, it’s a plausible story with all of the Nazi villains, but it takes to long to develop. The narrator could have helped, but the performance was limited in some ways. Another narrator may have helped it. I give it a solid three with the hopes the author makes some changes in future installments.