- Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; Reprint edition (1 Jan 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060787880
- ISBN-13: 978-0060787882
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.8 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,269,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
The Berlin Conspiracy is Tom Gabbay's debut Cold War thriller that takes place in Berlin in 1963 just prior to, during and shortly after JFK's historic visit at the Berlin Wall.
The Berlin Conspiracy's plot focuses on Jack Teller, an ex-CIA operative hoping to live a quiet life on a remote beach in south Florida. His peaceful life is interrupted when he is asked to come to Berlin by the CIA's station chief as a result of a mysterious message received from a Colonel in the East German Stasi. A message whose content will only be disclosed to Jack Teller. If true, the intelligence provided by the Stasi official exposes a plot originating from the higest levels of the U.S. government. From this point on, the story is a search for what is true or not; and if true, who is behind it and how it can be stopped. Without stating here what the treacherous plot is, it won't be hard for readers to figure out; and, once they do, the book's surprise factor gets somewhat watered down.
For a first-time novelist, Gabbay does a good job in creating an interesting and, for the most part, exciting story. For me, however, Gabbay spent too much time -- over one-third of the book --getting his story out of first gear. Further, although Jack Teller is a likeable and interesting enough character, Gabbay does just an acceptable job in making this reader feel that Teller is a character I'd like to see featured in future books. Further, while several of Gabbay's more secondary characters are serviceable enough to keep the story moving along at a decent pace, they are not particularly well-developed and come across as largely one-dimensional.
Despite what, to me, are the book's flaws, The Berlin Conspiracy is a fun read and Gabbay is an author with a good amount of potential.
The Berlin Conspiracy's plot focuses on Jack Teller, an ex-CIA operative hoping to live a quiet life on a remote beach in south Florida. His peaceful life is interrupted when he is asked to come to Berlin by the CIA's station chief as a result of a mysterious message received from a Colonel in the East German Stasi. A message whose content will only be disclosed to Jack Teller. If true, the intelligence provided by the Stasi official exposes a plot originating from the higest levels of the U.S. government. From this point on, the story is a search for what is true or not; and if true, who is behind it and how it can be stopped. Without stating here what the treacherous plot is, it won't be hard for readers to figure out; and, once they do, the book's surprise factor gets somewhat watered down.
For a first-time novelist, Gabbay does a good job in creating an interesting and, for the most part, exciting story. For me, however, Gabbay spent too much time -- over one-third of the book --getting his story out of first gear. Further, although Jack Teller is a likeable and interesting enough character, Gabbay does just an acceptable job in making this reader feel that Teller is a character I'd like to see featured in future books. Further, while several of Gabbay's more secondary characters are serviceable enough to keep the story moving along at a decent pace, they are not particularly well-developed and come across as largely one-dimensional.
Despite what, to me, are the book's flaws, The Berlin Conspiracy is a fun read and Gabbay is an author with a good amount of potential.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
25 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A different slant on a historical event...
4 Mar 2006
Format:Hardcover
I recently received a review copy of a Cold War espionage thriller... The Berlin Conspiracy by Tom Gabbay. For a first novel, he did an excellent job.
Take yourself back to 1963... Berlin during the Cold War. Jack Teller is a retired CIA agent who decided that life wasn't for him after what happened in Cuba and the Bay of Pigs. His disillusionment has led him to spend his days fishing in southern Florida. But all that changes when his name specifically comes up as the desired contact of an East German agent who has some important information. Nobody, not even Jack, knows why this agent wants him. But he decides to go along for the ride and see what happens. After ditching his handlers to run the contact his own way, he learns that there is a plot to assassinate President Kennedy in Berlin. The unusual twist is that the plot is being run by people in the US government, and it's up to Jack to figure out who is involved and what the motivation might be. He quickly finds out that he's become a loose end that needs to be tied up, and as a result he's being framed to take the fall for the killing. The question becomes not only can Jack stay alive, but can he keep the President from being shot...
The whole "who shot Kennedy" conspiracy obviously comes into play here, and Gabbay does a nice job in approaching that from a different angle. The plot line blends pretty seamlessly into historical fact, and it's not a stretch to imagine this particular scenario playing out. This was a recreational read that I found myself looking forward to at nights when I did some reading before falling asleep. I have no doubt that if and when Tom Gabbay writes another novel, it will be on my "to read" list.
Take yourself back to 1963... Berlin during the Cold War. Jack Teller is a retired CIA agent who decided that life wasn't for him after what happened in Cuba and the Bay of Pigs. His disillusionment has led him to spend his days fishing in southern Florida. But all that changes when his name specifically comes up as the desired contact of an East German agent who has some important information. Nobody, not even Jack, knows why this agent wants him. But he decides to go along for the ride and see what happens. After ditching his handlers to run the contact his own way, he learns that there is a plot to assassinate President Kennedy in Berlin. The unusual twist is that the plot is being run by people in the US government, and it's up to Jack to figure out who is involved and what the motivation might be. He quickly finds out that he's become a loose end that needs to be tied up, and as a result he's being framed to take the fall for the killing. The question becomes not only can Jack stay alive, but can he keep the President from being shot...
The whole "who shot Kennedy" conspiracy obviously comes into play here, and Gabbay does a nice job in approaching that from a different angle. The plot line blends pretty seamlessly into historical fact, and it's not a stretch to imagine this particular scenario playing out. This was a recreational read that I found myself looking forward to at nights when I did some reading before falling asleep. I have no doubt that if and when Tom Gabbay writes another novel, it will be on my "to read" list.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
The Espionage Novel is Alive and Well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
31 Jan 2006
Format:Hardcover
Do you like a great espionage novel? Do you like A great spy
novel?Have you been searching amazon.com for that book you
can't put down? Who is writing the great thrillers theses days?
A new author is in town and if you've come to this site its a
new day for you. His name is Tom Gabbay. and his book is The
Berlin Conspiracy. I am an avid reader of thrillers and have been looking for a new name , that would join the ranks of Robert Ludlum, Jack Higgins,Frederick Forsyth,and Craig Thomas.
Now we have him and his book.
We have Jack Teller a new cold war hero, not a card board character,but a character who brings you into the story and his mind,and gives the reader a real since of the era and Berlin in
1963. If you begin the book it will capture you from page one,
never let go untill the last word in the book.Spy fiction is Berlin. The story quickly becomes a wall of mirrors whoses reflections are not what they seem to be . With the Stasi and the Soviet Union , the President of the United States, and a plot that is as hair raising as a great spy novel should be,
the action comes fast, and the characters are unforgettable.
The Berlin Conspiracy has set a new standard and Tom Gabbay
is the next great spy [espionage] writer of our day.
novel?Have you been searching amazon.com for that book you
can't put down? Who is writing the great thrillers theses days?
A new author is in town and if you've come to this site its a
new day for you. His name is Tom Gabbay. and his book is The
Berlin Conspiracy. I am an avid reader of thrillers and have been looking for a new name , that would join the ranks of Robert Ludlum, Jack Higgins,Frederick Forsyth,and Craig Thomas.
Now we have him and his book.
We have Jack Teller a new cold war hero, not a card board character,but a character who brings you into the story and his mind,and gives the reader a real since of the era and Berlin in
1963. If you begin the book it will capture you from page one,
never let go untill the last word in the book.Spy fiction is Berlin. The story quickly becomes a wall of mirrors whoses reflections are not what they seem to be . With the Stasi and the Soviet Union , the President of the United States, and a plot that is as hair raising as a great spy novel should be,
the action comes fast, and the characters are unforgettable.
The Berlin Conspiracy has set a new standard and Tom Gabbay
is the next great spy [espionage] writer of our day.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A Grabber
20 Jan 2006
Format:Hardcover
Tom Gabbay's fertile mind has created a grabber right out of the gate. I would dare anyone to read the first few pages of this masterfully crafted spy novel and then put it aside. Compared to Le Carre by others, it does indeed have some very intriguing twists and turns, but is written in a much clearer style. And Tom's imagination might have come closer to an actual occurrence than the general public will ever know. I can see this story becoming a movie or TV special sometime in the future
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