Safe Houses

A Novel

By: Dan Fesperman

Narrated by: Dan Fesperman

Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

West Berlin, 1979. Helen Abell oversees the CIA's network of safe houses, rare havens for field agents and case officers amidst the dangerous milieu of a city in the grips of the Cold War. Helen's world is upended when, during her routine inspection of an agency property, she overhears a meeting between two unfamiliar people speaking a coded language that hints at shadowy realities far beyond her comprehension. 

Before the day is out, she witnesses a second unauthorized encounter, one that will place her in the sight lines of the most ruthless and powerful man at the agency. Her attempts to expose the dark truths about what she has witnessed will bring about repercussions that reach across decades and continents into the present day, when, in a farm town in Maryland, a young man is arrested for the double murder of his parents, and his sister takes it upon herself to find out why he did it.

©2018 Dan Fesperman (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Fiction from Truth

Begins in a Berlin CIA safe house in 1979. Helen, CIA agent and manager of four safe houses, overhears two separate situations. The voice activated recording system captures it all. The story switches to 2014 when Helen and her husband are murdered in their bed.

Helen's daughter Anna is drawn into both past and present solving of the crime and crimes. Narration of Anna's story in the present day is interspersed with flashbacks to Helen's days with the CIA. I like this device and find that it keeps the action going at a good pace.

I had my doubts about the author narrating his own book, but that was quickly dispelled. Fesperman did a great job...as good as any of my favorite narrators.

Unfortunately, the author's notes at the end of the book are not included in the Audible edition. I recommend finding a hard copy and checking them out. He relates the many actual facts from the history of the CIA that are included as part of the story. Some parts sound wacky but are true!

A good read, well written and with excellent character development. I highly recommend.

A Double Helix of a Story

The two strands of this story are woven so well and so tightly that it kept me guessing until the final moments of the narration. The scenes from the 1970s lose none of their tension for our knowing their outcome and the present day scenes gain immensely from what we learn of the past along with the characters. The narrator's voice felt right all through the story.

Do not allow authors to read their own works

Apart from Neil Gaiman, I have yet to hear an author who reads his own book and is good at it. This story had the added ingredients of shuffling papers and a mis-edited section that says "Go back, wrong voice." The story itself was entertaining with a few holes but overall, I enjoyed it.

My new favorite author

I heard Dan, i feel intimately enough connected to cal him Dan, interviews by Terry Gross and was intrigued with his use of female characters in a CIA type novel. I was a bit concerned when I saw he was reading it himself. I have often been disappointed by this effort. He DID NOT disappoint. His accents were wonderful and his timing impeccable. After all- he wrote the words. I loved the story, the intrigue, getting to know the CIA from a female agent's point of view. He can write about difficult material without making you want to turn off the tape. He has a sweet spot form delicate romance and a sense of human vulnerabilities. Best of all , he has a delicious sense of humor. The tale is complex enough to keep you on the edge of your seat Only criticism is the last unraveling explanation was a bit quick-. It could have been developed a tad more.

I downloaded Letter Writer without skipping a beat and i have not been disappointed.

Attention Keeper

Good story line, believable tradecraft, expert narration....all in all an enjoyable audio experience. Recommend his "The Double Game" and "Layover in Dubai". Equally, good reads....

story good - editing inconsistent

problems with editing, can hear paper rustling and narrator apologizing and re-reading in a different voice. story was good!

Great Listening

I didn’t want to put this one down. Exciting episodes made you feel you were there. The characters were well developed and believable. A sequel maybe?

Narration

Narrator did not do a good job of switching from Anna and Henry. A man doing a women’s voice needs to do a bit more falsetto. Because I am hard of hearing, I can usually hear men’s voices better than women’s. But, narrator needs to work on this.

Fascinating, Complex Ride

I read spy stories only occasionally, but this one kept me hooked. It's not unnecessarily graphic, and it unfolds the story on two tracks, years apart.

My only complaint is that the characters sometimes make choices that I know even from watching TV are dumb risks. But the plot was interesting enough that I just yelled, "Idiot!" and kept on listening.

Narrator is great, but I took away one point because he mispronounces some words, like DET-ri-tus instead of the correct de-TRI-tus.

Recommended.

Not Run-of-the-Mill Spy Story

Throughout, I was unable to anticipate any causes or results of all the twists and turns in this book. The 13 or so hours were justified to tell the 2 intertwined stories.