The dizzying cover of Dan Fesperman’s Safe Houses mirrors the exhilarating pace readers will find inside in this tale of how Cold War Berlin events reach into the present day.

The CIA’s Helen maintains a safe house in Berlin, despite yearning to be the agent she knows she can be. Male power abuse reins her in until a situation occurs that changes everything.

In the present, Anna is determined to find out who murdered her parents in their rural Maryland home, refusing to believe it could be her brother. Both are strong women; both storylines alternate in a seamless way that brings the dual mysteries to life.

There’s a spareness to Fesperman’s prose that adds to the twists and action of the book, whose themes underscore the ideas of loyalty and betrayal in mmany guises that adds to the timeliness of the storyline.

Fesperman’s background as a war correspondent adds to the thorough research he’s done to bring the Cold War to life. With realistic dialogue and believeable characters, this is one chilling novel where a Cold War mystery collides with a present day murder.