The Stasi Game by David Young (Gifted Book)

Hello Readers,

Today is my day on the blog tour for The Stasi Game by David Young thank you Eleanor and Zaffre Books for the book and tour invite in exchange for an honest review. As always, I will try and keep this a spoiler-free as I possibly can. Publication date: 31st December 2020,

You may have noticed my book choices seems a little all over at the minute but I am reading books that genuinely steal my interest and this is one of them books. The one line from the blurb that got me hooked is grim but… “all that is visible above ground is the man’s arm – reaching out like a grotesque statue” I mean how can that not steal your attention.  How can you not what to know what happened? Also, guys jumping in at book two is so old me this time I jumped in at book SIX!!

This is an enthralling and well-researched book that I just couldn’t put down. This book honestly installed a real fear of missing out in me and I needed to know what happened. So back to my comment of jumping in at book Six yes you read that right book SIX. 

I found for me that The Stasi Game can and does stand up by itself as a book as the case itself is interesting and grabs you in from the start, also you can see the different political and policing systems through the East and West Germany. You also as the reader can't help but ask yourself what if? Also, one thing that my true crime junkie brain found annoying about this case is that everything has to be filtered through the Stasi. Okay, that’s enough true crime grumble from me.

I love how David weaves historical fact into the story and makes you look at things in another light. The story touches on the controversial firebombing of Dresden by the Allies in February 1945 which killed and injured at least 25,000 people and destroyed 1,600 acres of the city. It's a well-woven story that pitches the Stasi against MI6 and has enough suspense and danger running throughout that it's difficult to put it down.

I think the novel is well-plotted, keeping many aspects of the motive well concealed and covering some serious historical events that some readers may not be aware of. David’s writing in this book is brilliant and you can tell he has done a huge amount of research for this book which means he can write from the heart so to speak. The characters in this book are excellent, from the Hitler-loving, Lotti, to the increasingly side-lined Stasi agent, Jager and finally detective Muller. He masterly ravelling and unravelling the tangles in his storyline and making the whole tale absorbing and convincing and don’t even try guess.

 I also appreciate the sense of dread and tension that permeates this book. You are that immersed in the world that you can’t help but feel that there could be personal, not just professional, repercussions for getting in the way of the Stasi. The predominant threat of the Stasi saturates the whole story it's always there, stifling freedom, pleasure and justice.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Stasi Game and I would recommend it to other readers. I loved this book and other books in this series have now been added to me ever-growing mountain of a TBR.

L x

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