Books: ‘Safe Houses’ by Dan Fesperman
In another post, I mentioned that most main characters in espionage stories are either professional spies or unwitting amateurs. That article highlighted the failed professionals of Mick Herron’s Slow Horses / Slough House series, who fall somewhat in between.
In Dan Fesperman’s Safe Houses, Helen Abell falls into this gap, as well, but from a different angle. Helen works on the fringe of the espionage business, managing safe houses for the CIA in 1979 Berlin. She’s very competent at her job, but she’s an administrator, not an agent.