THE ARMS MAKER OF BERLIN

Near the end of WWII, as the German war machine is unraveling, young, naïve Kurt Bauer, scion of a German munitions family, becomes involved with White Rose, a resistance movement. Eventually, he betrays them, hoping to save his family from the death camps. With flashbacks that alternate between the present and WWII, Dan Fesperman (THE PRISONER OF GUANTÁNAMO, THE AMATEUR SPY) draws complex characters with credible motives and understandable behaviors. Narrator Dick Hill offers impeccable timing as the FBI asks Nat Turnbull, a specialist in the German resistance, to examine the files of his onetime mentor. As Turnbull unravels the puzzle, people who know about the files begin dying. Hill's superb accents and intense yet understated performance make this an above-average espionage thriller. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2009]