Bear Any Burden: Review

Book Blurb: “1983: The Cold War is at its height. Sir Alex Campbell, head of an international drinks company is on a business trip to Poland, a country in the midst of political turmoil. A new “Solidarity” movement is rising on the streets, and the Communist government is cracking down mercilessly. Alex Campbell has an additional mission, a “little job” for the British Secret Intelligence Services. He will deliver an airline bag containing money and passports to a British agent who is to help the world-renowned nuclear scientist, Dr. Erik Keller, escape across the Iron Curtain to the West.
Alex meets the beautiful Anna Kaluza, the British agent, whose life, like his and that of Erik Keller, had been impacted forever by her World War II experiences. He agrees to help her complete her mission.
What begins as one of many routine “little jobs” Alex has done for the SIS, quickly turns into an increasingly dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, involving murder, bribery, and international politics. His involvement in Dr. Keller’s defection becomes a journey into his own past, as Alex has to face his family’s history and, ultimately, his own self. Faced with the specter of oppression, he has to ask himself one question: What do you do? Do you turn and run? Or do you “pay any price and bear any burden” for liberty and freedom?
“Bear Any Burden” is a gripping page-turner, full of twists and turns and surprises as much a spy story as an epic family saga, spanning decades and continents, from 19th Century Poland all the way to the height of the Cold War. A richly complex thriller in the tradition of Graham Greene and John le Carré, posing urgent and timeless questions of family, loyalty and liberty.

This story is an espionage thriller. Alex Campbell is a businessman who trades in wines and such and is a resident of the United States. He has a friend in the Secret Services and as he travels across the world for work, he does small tasks for him, tasks which did not put him in any grave danger. Until now.

As he is about to go on a business trip to Poland, his friend asks him to do something for the Secret Services. All he has to do is carry a small airline bag which has passports and some money hidden to get a nuclear scientist out of Poland and into the U.S. A woman is supposed to come to his hotel room on a certain evening and collect the bag and leave. That’s it.

But certain events leave him no choice but to get involved in a deeper mess, a mess which could take his life or could put him in prison.

The author weaves a brilliant tale full with adrenaline and tension. His writing is smooth and easy to read. The story also gives you a look into Poland’s history during the World War.

But this book is not without problems. The only problem I found is that the author went back in time to write the details about the lives of Alex’s father and grandfather or say Anna’s family. Anna is the girl he meets in Poland. Although all the stories were very good, I think they deviated attention from the main story. Imagine reading something like ‘The door slowly opened and Alex found himself facing a gun’ or something like that. And then suddenly you are introduced to Anna’s mom and her family and her childhood. That was kind of frustrating. I want to know what happened to Alex…

Anyway, it’s a good book. If you like spy thrillers, or just plain thrillers, you’ll definitely like this book.

This review is for Author Marketing. Thanks Paula for the book.