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Cold War suspense set 1989 BERLIN
10th August 2026
The Fifteenth Man by William Cook, Cold War suspense set in 1989 Berlin
The Wall has recently fallen and the atmosphere is edgy, the history of WW2 is tangible and the East / West divide still very much colours the city.
The story harks back to the Wannsee conference of 20 January 1942, when the final solution was authorised. There were fifteen attendees and the focus is on Heinrich Müller (Head of the Gestapo) – the fifteenth man of the eponymous title – who was the only man never to have been apprehended. He was last seen the day after Hitler shot himself in his Bunker in 1945. The author builds a story around his disappearance and re-emergence, and simultaneously incorporates, as another dimension, the fate of one of his own family members.
The whole story is told from the perspective of Michael Braun, a fairly experienced journalist who has settled in West Berlin. He is pretty destitute, he is recently divorced and he is hungry for a new story. He is encouraged to pick up the story of Müller, now thought to be masquerading as Martin Augsburger, a German Jew. Müller has covered his tracks well, but regular correspondence with one man on a regular basis has thrown up a few clues, and Martin is lured into tracking down this venal character. He has experience in exposing other fairly notable Nazis but interest generally in their fate has dwindled, readers are now interested in the story of reunification and the future. However, Müller’s story – given he was such a Nazi heavyweight – would be an absolute scoop. Of course, Braun finds himself out of his depth, as he uses every skill he possesses to hunt the man down, and therein lies the trajectory of this adventure.
The author captures the feel of the times very well as he navigates his way around Berlin and beyond. The pronounced dividing scar is still as raw as it ever was, although passage between the sectors has been opened up. He describes the contrasts and ambivalence, and a feel of anticipatory positivity tempered with gloom. He paints the time with authority and acuity, incorporating informative elements of history, useful for those who have little knowledge of the city after the fall of the Wall. There are elements of humour as Braun stumbles through events that are often beyond his control.
I found the novel entertaining, very readable and was appreciative of having an early copy. It bowls along well, although some instances, it would seem, have been created as a device to move the narrative along, which felt a little forced (for example when Braun bumps into an ex lover). Hopefully before publication, a native German speaker will correct the errors in the German that appear in the ARC copy.
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