The devil has eyes and ears everywhere!
The Devil’s Spies
by K.C. Sivils
Genre: Historical Fiction
Needing to stop the flood of humanity fleeing communist oppression by
making it to the divided city of Berlin, the communist government of
East Germany took drastic measures. In August of 1961, construction
of the Berlin Wall began.
Two young lovers, an American
refugee worker, and an East German seminary student, find themselves
separated by the wall. Desperate to be reunited and build a life
together, Angela Wettin and Michael Dieterich, with Michael’s
brother Joseph, set in motion a dangerous plan to escape by tunneling
under the Berlin Wall.
Determined to stop any hope of
gaining freedom, the East German Stasi, the dreaded secret police of
the communist state, formed Department XX/4 to infiltrate and spy on
the Church in East Germany.
Faced with betrayal, dangerous
cave-ins, and family conflict, the trio enters a life-and-death race
against the Stasi and Department XX/4.
Can they gain their
freedom before they are caught by the Devil’s Spies from the Stasi?
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"It's after two in the afternoon," Angela
complained to the nearby soldier. The GI studiously ignored Angela. He'd
learned the hard way to ignore pretty girls when on duty. Hating the fact time
moved so slowly, Angela decided the best course of action was to get a cup of
tea before making her crossing into East Berlin. She'd expected to at least see
Michael on the other side of the checkpoint, and if not Michael, then her
fiancée's partner in crime, Werner.
Shouting, followed by the sound of gunfire, jarred
Angela out of her pique. A hundred or so yards from Check Point Charlie, a
young man appeared at the top of the wall, caught in the wire. Spellbound,
Angela watched as the man made no effort to free himself from the wire, simply
rolling off the top of the wall and falling, taking several feet of barbed wire
with him.
The bark of gunfire stopped, and a West Berlin
police officer pulled himself up to the top of the wall and peered over,
looking down. Screams from the onlookers propelled Angela forward. Sprinting
towards the chaos, she could hear the cries of a man in pain, begging for help.
Another West Berlin police officer reached the wall
as the first dropped down from it. They spoke, and the second officer climbed
the wall and shouted to the man on the other side. Angela watched in horror as
the second officer produced bandages and dropped them over the wall.
“Murderers!”
“Criminals!”
As
an angry crowd gathered, Angela took notice of the escapee who had made it over
the wall. He was cut and bleeding and clearly stunned by what had happened.
“You!
You’re an American!”
Turning
to the voice, Angela stared at the red, angry face of a young Berliner.
“Neither
side will do anything to help him! Get the American soldiers!”
The
sound of tear gas canisters being launched could be heard from somewhere on the
other side of the wall. In seconds, tendrils of the greyish-white gas and its
pungent smell began to reach across the wall.
The
Berliner covered his face and pushed Angela. Shouting, “Go! Now, while there is
still a chance to help him!” Angela nodded, relieved to suddenly find herself
useful. She turned and ran as fast as her feet would take her to Check Point
Charlie.
"Someone's
been shot trying to escape," Angela panted as the Lt. in command of the
detail came out to meet her. He said nothing, instead looking up in the sky at
the helicopters that had suddenly appeared.
“We
have our orders, Ma’am.”
“Your
orders?!”
“Yes,
Ma’am. We contacted General Watson for instructions.”
“Good,
do something.”
“Ma’am,
our orders are to stand down.”
What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?
The
Bible – it has everything: history, drama, wisdom, horror stories (read
Revelation during a wicked storm with the lights out), and just about anything
else the human race can dream up. Then there is the role model himself, Jesus.
The
Swiss Family Robinson – my favorite childhood book. I literally wore out
about five or six copies.
The
Maltese Falcon – my introduction to crime noir.
Exodus
– Great story that mixes history with drama.
Band
of Brothers – The testing of men under the worst conditions imaginable and
the bonds that shared suffering builds.
The
Hunger Games – Great story telling that has so much depth and history if
you can find what is hidden in the story. Not to mention LOTS of conflict of
every possible kind!
The
Great Locomotive Chase – I love trains and this event captured my
imagination as a young boy.
The
Great Escape – A true story with tragic consequences that somehow managed
to convey the strength of the human spirit when faced with great adversity.
Journey
to the Center of the Earth – my introduction to science fiction as a
youngster. This story was responsible for countless daydreams while I was bored
in upper elementary school.
1984
– Terrifying story. I find the fact that much of it has come to pass to be
deeply disturbing.
Lagniappe
– one more just because.
Alas,
Babylon – Required summer reading before my junior year in high school.
Given the Cold War was raging, and Vietnam had just ended, it was a sobering
read for us.
Top
Ten Movies:
Where
Eagles Dare – I can watch this over and over.
Terminator
2 – As far as I am concerned, this is one of the most philosophical films
ever made.
The
Passion of the Christ – You cannot watch this film and be unaffected.
The
Maltese Falcon – My wife hates this film. I can’t watch it enough. The
characters are all interesting and deeply flawed people, including Sam Spade.
Bladerunner
– A source of great inspiration for me when it comes to my Sullivan stories,
along with The Maltese Falcon and anything by Raymond Chandler.
Dirty
Harry – A prototypical neo-noir film. It’s set in San Francisco, Callahan
has his own code of justice, the villain is despicable, all of the characters
are morally grey, and of course, Dirty Harry has some really cool lines!
The
Green Mile – It’s just a great film that tells a thought-provoking story.
Hoosiers
– Did I mention I played basketball and spent twenty-two years of my life as a
varsity basketball coach? I get goosebumps just thinking about this film.
Sandlot
– Great coming of age story and while I didn’t play baseball, I spent many an
hour with my basketball on a court at the end of the street growing up.
All
Quiet on the Western Front – any of the three versions.
Lagniappe
– always give something extra.
Stalingrad
– horrifying account of the Battle of Stalingrad from the German
perspective.
Top
Ten Television Shows (In no particular order):
Firefly
– Brownshirts unite! I will never forgive Fox for canceling Firefly!
Terminator:
The Sarah Connor Chronicles: This was a smart show as far as I was
concerned. It had good stories, examined moral issues, and stuck to the
original intent of the Terminator concept. It’s one flaw as far as I was
concerned was the producers/writers thought Sarah Connor was the central
character. Wrong, wrong, wrong on all counts. Cameron was the key character.
The writers missed the boat on this one. The terminator IS the star of the
three Terminator stories that matter, T-1, T-2, and TSCC. The rest are garbage.
Summer Glau was magnificent in this role. She managed to convey the development
of Cameron is such subtle ways. The actress was disappointed by the cancelation
of the series. In the third season she was going to play Allison, the human template
for Cameron while telling Cameron’s story of how she dealt with developing
emotions and her attachment to John Connor. Good stuff.
New
Tricks: British cop show that not only has good mysteries but is hilarious.
Star
Trek: Next Generation: What can I say.
Mike
Hammer: I know, it was cliché and campy, but it tried to honor the classic
crime noir genre.
Magnum
P.I. – One of my wife’s favorite television shows. She has a thing for Tom
Selleck. I learned to appreciate the show because of the story arcs that played
on the back story of the four male characters. There was a bond they all shared
because of their shared suffering during military conflict. For Magnum, Rick,
and T.C. it was Vietnam. For Higgins, pick the conflict Britain was involved in
as its Empire died and the Cold War was waged. It was good fun too.
Rockford
Files – My first car was the gold Firebird Rockford drove in the final
seasons of the show. I had that car for 16 years. I also really liked the show.
Frasier
– I’m not a fan of pretentious individuals like Frasier in real life but Kelsey
Grammer and David Hyde Pierce where so funny as Frasier and Niles you couldn’t
help but like the characters.
The
X-Files – Creepy fun with a healthy dose of conspiracy theory thrown in as
a bonus!
The
Wonder Years – good stuff. I could relate to so much of what took place in
the stories the show told.
My
Ten Favorite Bands
The
Rolling Stones
The
Cars
Dire
Straights
Blondie
The
Ramones
Cheap
Trick
Prince
The
Commodores
Lynard
Skinard
J.
Geils Band
Lagniappe
– one extra
The
Kinks
U.S.A. Today and Amazon Best-Selling author is the creator of the scifi crime noir series of Inspector Thomas Sullivan novels as well as the southern noir series of stories centering around the private investigator James Benoit "Heat" Heatley.
A longtime fan of crime noir and science fiction, director Ridley Scott’s adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s sci-fi classic Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep into the masterful Harrison Ford vehicle Bladerunner encouraged Sivils to consume as much of both genres as possible in his younger years.
A fan of past noir masters such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Sivils also enjoys the current generation of storytellers like Sandra Woffington, Tom Folwer, Jeff Edwards, Renee Pawlish, and James Scott Bell.
In addition to his aforementioned series, Sivils is also the creator of the Agent Nelson Paine Historical Mystery series set during WW II and the early years of the Cold War.
In a previous life, Sivils was a varsity basketball coach and high school history teacher. He and his wife, Lisa, have three adult children, seven grandchildren, and two four legged furry children who still live at home, Bella and Mr. Darcy.
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