The Slow March of Light

A Novel

De: Heather B. Moore

Narrado por: Stephen Graybill, Christa Lewis

A riveting and emotionally gripping novel of an American soldier working as a spy in Soviet-occupied East Germany and a West German woman secretly helping her countrymen escape from behind the Berlin Wall

In the summer of 1961, a wall of barbed wire goes up quickly in the dead of night, officially dividing Berlin. Luisa Voigt lives in West Berlin, but her grandmother lives across the border and is now trapped inside the newly isolated communist country of East Germany. Desperate to rescue her grandmother and aware of the many others whose families have been divided, Luisa joins a secret spy network, risking her life to help bring others through a makeshift underground tunnel to West Germany. Their work is dangerous, and not everyone will successfully escape or live to see freedom.

Bob Inama was an outstanding university student with plans to attend law school when he is drafted into the US Army. Stationed in West Germany, he is glad to be fluent in German, especially after meeting Luisa Voigt at a church social. As they spend time together, they form a close connection. But when Bob receives classified orders to leave for undercover work immediately, he does not get the chance to say good-bye.

With a fake identity, Bob’s special assignment is to be a spy embedded in East Germany. His undercover job will give him access to government sites to map out strategic military targets. But Soviet and East German spies, the secret police, and Stasi informants are everywhere, and eventually Bob is caught and sent to a brutal East German prison. Interrogated and tortured daily, Bob clings to any hope he can find - from the sunlight that marches across the wall of his prison, to the one guard who secretly treats him with kindness, to the thought of one day seeing Luisa again.

Author Heather B. Moore masterfully alternates the stories of Bob and Luisa, capturing the human drama unique to Cold War Germany as well as the courage and the resilience of the human spirit.

©2021 Heather B. Moore (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Amazing retelling of a heartwarming story

This book is so well written and tells a hard and beautiful story. Bob inama faced so much as his time as a spy. This book does an amazing job of capturing his love, and faith throughout his difficult journey. My heart breaks for all that occurred during the cold War, and this story does well to share the intensity, uncertainty, and terrifying times that the world faced. May we all strive to have the faith, love and compassion of these characters.

great historical novel

well written and executed. this novel shows the individual human perspective of the epicenter of the cold war. And the proper way of dealing with a systemic tragedy. No better recommendation for a strong Christian faith could be argued.

Great listen

Great story, well narrated.
Descriptions of surroundings were wonderful. I would like to read more from this author.

Opened my eyes

As someone born 10 years after this book was set, I was a teenager when the Berlin Wall came down. This is a terrific story of human courage and strength. Beyond this, I learnt a lot about the time in history. I will be buying this book as a paperback for my husband to read. Highly recommend

Endurance

A story of patriotism, endurance, faith and prayer. Wow, words cannot express the extent this story affected me. Bob is an example of what the Bible talks about agape love. This book also gave a look a glimpse of the torture that many have endured. A worthwhile read.

Inspiring story

The strength of Bob’s faith is amazing. What could have been a life of regret, pain and disappointment was a life full of love, grace and gifts from God that lead to a fulfilled life and go beyond our understanding.

Resilience and Faith

I loved this book! The clever combination of fact and fiction makes for a great story! I was moved and reassured that God is faithful in all of the brokenness of our world.

Excellent, moving story!

It is not easy to capture the experiences of people that went through prolonged isolation and torture for a good cause. Yet, this book precisely achieves that.
The fact-based story of Bob Anema, captured by the East Germans in 1961 while on a secret US Army mission, is told in an alternating fashion with that of a female character l, with which he relates. The power of optimism, fed by a deep and living faith in God, the power of forgiveness and enduring - these are at the heart of this beautiful story, which many times drove to listen to “just one more chapter”… Highly recommended!

Moving Story

I encountered a YouTube interview with Bob Inama and just had to read this book. It was well worth it. I loved the story. It was a great review of a portion of the cold war history. Bob was amazing! What an honest, hopeful, hero of a man.

Awesome!

Wow. Amazing story. The author did a fantastic job. The the narrators were perfect. Thank you, Bob for sharing! and Heather for writing it so we all could experience this book.