• The Swiss Spy

  • Spy Masters, Book 2
  • By: Alex Gerlis
  • Narrated by: Derek Perkins
  • Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (562 ratings)

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The Swiss Spy

By: Alex Gerlis
Narrated by: Derek Perkins
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Publisher's summary

It's not unusual for spies to have secrets, but Henry Hunter has more than most, and after he is stopped by British Intelligence at Croydon airport on the eve of the Second World War, he finds that he has even more. From Switzerland he embarks on a series of increasingly perilous missions into Nazi Germany, all while having to cope with different identities and competing spymasters. In March 1941 in Berlin, haunted by a dark episode from his past, he makes a fateful decision, resulting in a dramatic journey to the Swiss frontier with a shocking outcome. The Swiss Spy is set against the real-life backdrop of the top-secret Nazi plans to invade the Soviet Union. The story paints an authentic picture of life inside wartime Europe: the menacing atmosphere, the ever-present danger, and the constant intrigue of the world of espionage.

©2015 Alex Gerlis (P)2015 Tantor

What listeners say about The Swiss Spy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    248
  • 4 Stars
    216
  • 3 Stars
    71
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
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  • 4 Stars
    144
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    5
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    6
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    216
  • 4 Stars
    190
  • 3 Stars
    69
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    10

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great WWII spy fiction

the author goes through great pains to make this book as historically accurate as possible

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

I like a good spy vs spy...especially one set in War 2. This was nicely written and narrated.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Old Fashioned Spy Novel

It kept me going, with some surprises. Great book for this genre around Nazi Germany.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Solid read

What did you love best about The Swiss Spy?

Always nice to have new additions to the WWII spy genre, I believe.

What did you like best about this story?

Fairly unique story.

Have you listened to any of Derek Perkins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Alex Gerlis has the great talent of creating unlikeable characters whom I root for. This was an excellent mix of history and fiction, a spy story and a story of atonement (almost). I enjoyed every moment.

Mr. Perkins' narration was equally superb. He didn't just read the book, he performed it. I will make sure to look for more of his work.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another learning experience

I have enjoyed two books by this author. I am a person who does not deem it necessary to have detailed romance scenes or bad language. The later of taking the Lords name in vain occurred repeatably towards the end of the book...not necessary to understand the intensity of the moments described. Why do people do this? Ever hear anyone say for example "George Washington" as an expletive?

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Same fate for all Spies

well, I was certainly entertained and found the story exciting. I have to give the author credit for amazing historical research. However, SPOILER ALERT, don't get too emotionally invested with the characters, they all end up dead as in his previous book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Reveals the Germans Mindset

I think this may be the first WWII novel that I have read that reveals the every day life of average Germans in the early days of the war. It certainly doesn't pull any punches. Most citizens were complicit, according to Gerlis, in the evil reign of the Nazi party.

Gerlis does a wonderful job recreating the oppressing and fearful atmosphere of living in In Nazi Germany. It's why I gave it 4 stars. But it is also why it is so tragic to read.

You should not read this if you are simply wanting an escape. Because in Nazi Germany there was no escape.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A well written reminder of the brutality of the nazis

Sadly, we don't learn from history, judging from the current rise of white nationalism around the world and in our own country. This book provides a vivid look at the degeneration of a society caught in its grips and the heroism and difficult choices of those attempting to loosen it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not quite Alan Furst, but good

This is a spy story, set right at the outset of WW2, very much in the line of the magnificent Alan Furst novels, although not as carefully and movingly done as Furst's. It's an absorbing story of a reluctant double agent, well read by Perkins, and I recommend it.

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