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Safe Houses: A Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Dan Fesperman (Author, Narrator), Dreamscape Media, LLC (Publisher)

4.2 1,256 ratings

Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

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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.

Listening Length

13 hours and 33 minutes
Author

Dan Fesperman
Narrator

Dan Fesperman
Audible release date

July 3, 2018
Language

English
Publisher

Dreamscape Media, LLC
ASIN

B07DCZ9DZD
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	13 hours and 33 minutes
Author	Dan Fesperman
Narrator	Dan Fesperman
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	July 03, 2018
Publisher	Dreamscape Media, LLC
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07DCZ9DZD
Best Sellers Rank	#91,891 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #338 in Historical Thrillers (Audible Books & Originals) #3,758 in Historical Thrillers (Books) #6,684 in Suspense (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

1,256 global ratings

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MimzyCatz

Classic Noir Style Spy Novel

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

I stumbled on this book when caught by the cover. It had the feel of an old black and white film with gritty streets and furtive unsavory characters. I was immediately caught up by the description. Spies, coded messages, secretive meetings, CIA, Cold War maneuvers. True twisty espionage fiction at its best.

Helpful

Kem White

Nifty Spy Novel and Murder Mystery Combination

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

I give this book 4-stars but it's really a strong 4.5-star book. Only a few minor details kept me from giving it a full five stars. The story is first rate as Fesperman bounces you back and forth between 1979 Berlin and 2014 Maryland. A Cold War Berlin backstory unfolds as present day Anna and Henry try to unravel the horrible double murder of Anna's parents. So "Safe Houses" is a combined spy novel and murder mystery both of which are fun and exciting. I liked learning about the Pond. I had never heard of it and it's just one more interesting aspect of US IC history. I especially enjoyed learning about what it was like for women working for the CIA in the 70s and before.

The criticisms are few. I live in Maryland (one of the things that drew me to the book) so I was disappointed that the author chose to use a fictional Eastern Shore town for a setting though I can understand why he did. I also wasn't a big fan of the Willard aspect of the story. How the bad guys induced Willard to commit murder just didn't seem realistic. So because of these two points, I shave a half star off the rating. Highly recommended for fans of thrillers and spy novels. Recommended for everyone else particularly as a good airplane or beach read.

9 people found this helpful

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BookHawk

Compelling

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2018

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The author creates a world of suspense and tension. Skillful use of generational inquiry to carry the narrative. Occasionally credulous but excusable.

2 people found this helpful

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J. Grattan

Does not resonate

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2019

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How is it that a non-spy administrator of safe houses for the CIA in Berlin in 1979 could be so important as to be murdered in her long-established life in Maryland 35 years later? In one safe house Helen overhears some vague, little understood chitchat and in another she observes a key spy assaulting an agent; and she records these episodes. Higher ups in Berlin are unhappy with her and she feels compelled to disappear under a false passport.

Now, 35 years later, the past reemerges; Helen and her husband are found shot on their Maryland farm. Finally, her daughter with the help of a private investigator is able to discover her mother’s secret past and the reason(s) she was targeted.

The book really does not resonate; the plotting seems strained, implausible and the characters are not compelling.

10 people found this helpful

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Anne Mills

Brisk Spy/Mystery Thriller With Compelling Structure

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2020

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This is a combination spy thriller and mystery story that alternates between two different "time zones" - Berlin in the the late 1970's, and rural Maryland in 2014. In the Berlin part of the story a young female CIA operative learns of a couple of things she shouldn't know -- a mysterious entity called "the Pond", and a senior CIA person who is very bad indeed. What happens next, and how our heroine gets into a whole lot of trouble, comprises the spy section. In the Maryland part, many years later, the CIA operative's daughter is trying to find out what happened to her mother, and why. The novel alternates between one time zone and the other, which gives it a lot of momentum and a lot of interest. The central characters are well drawn, the sense of place is evocative, and probability is not strained too dreadfully far. A good read.

2 people found this helpful

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Bryan

Sisterhood of the traveling spies

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2018

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Dan Fesperman has come up with a terrific feminist take on the Cold War spy novel. The action toggles back and forth between 1979 Berlin and the present day on Maryland's Eastern Shore (where Fesperman has obviously spent some time). It's a more realistic look at the espionage trade; world domination is not at stake, but lives are still at risk. The tension builds as the various strands of the story come together, and the present and past meet.

4 people found this helpful

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Peter B

Well Worth Reading

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2018

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Helen, a low-level CIA employees stationed in Berlin circa 1979, is tasked with keeping the agencies safe houses clean and ready for use. While performing her duties she inadvertently overhears a conversation during a non-sanctioned visit that seems suspicious. Later, she overhears and even more disturbing conversation between an agency spy and his female agent that seems to be headed in a very bad direction. In her attempt to make him accountable for what happens she becomes persona non-grata and she decides to take matters into her own hands. Many years later, long after her CIA career ended, she and her husband are found murdered and her retarded son if thought to be guilty. When her daughter gets involved things turn out to be very different than thought. This is a very good book; well worth reading. In almost alternating chapters it tracks the mothers travails in 1979 and her daughters later efforts to solve what has become her personal mystery.

6 people found this helpful

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peter f axelrad

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2023

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Excellent service. Thank you.

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Top reviews from other countries

Heibs

His best book!

Reviewed in Canada on August 30, 2018

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I would say this this is Dan Fepserman’s best book of may excellent ones. Interesting concept taking place over a generation, but maintaining suspense & mystery like a good spy book should. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

garrisonhalibut

Excellent thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is an excellent thriller and the author manages to keep the same story told from two different times both equally thrilling

Credibility is not overly stretched and there is excitement - helped by sympathetic main characters, well drawn and an interesting plot.

Recommended

Kindle Customer

Real page turner

Reviewed in Australia on February 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book was a real page turner. I seriously could not out it down. Flicked between past and present seamlessly, plot was well thought out and characters realistic

Kindle Customer

Superb read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2023

Verified Purchase

What an excellentread this is, starting in Berlin in the1970's then moving forward to the early 21st century, we follow the career of Helen Shoat, a minor cog in the spy business in charge of managing several safe houses in Berlin. Helen witnesses a brutal rape of a young girl by a killer employed by the secret service, who considers himself untouchable because of his job and his high up contacts , and he proves to be as powerful as he thinks he is.
Leap forward to the brutal murder of Helen and her husband. Her daughter Anna returns home to try and find out what happened and to help her autistic brother who is charged with the murtder of their parents. Anna hires the mysterious Henry to help unravel the past of her mother who's remarkable past shocks Anna to her core.
But Henry is far more than he seems, and as they uncover Helen's past, and come into contact with The Sisterhood who helped Helen in Berlin, they put themselves in extreme danger.
Mr Fesperman is a hugely talented author, and he keeps up a relentless pace as the story reaches it's shocking climax. I thoroughly enjoyed every page, and and loved the twists and turns which sets this apart from other spy thrillers.
Highly recommended.

Dave the Rave

Stop killing pets

Reviewed in Canada on October 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

Damsel in distress ? Check. Enrapturing deep eyes? Check. Hero with a mild drinking problem and a soon to be dead recently acquired pet? Check. Deadly female field operative ? Check. Spy craft galore? Double check.

What's more is that it reads as long as the flights from YVR to PPS and back, although i have to admit i was flipping through the last few pages as we approached the gate.

What's not to love about it? Oh, yeah, the part where the author goes for that cheap bid for edginess by killing the pet. Old troupe, time to get rid of it.

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