Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant debut- Want more like this great thriller
Review: V.1353 is Katarina Heinrich, a German spy trained to be the best at infiltrating American society. Her job is to gather information to enable the Fatherland to win the upcoming war. In December 1933, Katarina kills Catherine Danielson and assumes the dead woman's identity. She moves to Princeton where she becomes a housekeeper for Richard Carter. Soon, Richard and "Catherine" marry. Katarina the spy becomes dormant. In 1942, her spouse obtains a top-secret job working on a weapon of mass destruction at Los Alamos.Katarina kills someone else to use her identity to bring information on the project to Germany. Andrew Taylor recruits Harris Winterbotham to serve as a double agent, spying for the Germans. Harris knows the Germans have his wife incarcerated at the Dachau concentration camp and plans a triple cross to free his spouse. His actions lead him to a confrontation with the efficient and effective Katarina. A GATHERING OF SPIES, John Altman's debut novel, is one of the year's best espionage thrillers. The action-packed tale dramatizes life in Germany, Britain, and the United States at the early part of World War II. The realistic characters include heroes and villains ordering innocent people to perform abominable tasks or else. Mr. Altman opens with a triumph that hopefully will be accompanied by more WW II spy stories. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating thriller
Review: I picked this book up after reading Mr. Gingrich's review and then reading the sample pages on Amazon. While I can't give it the same glowing review that Mr. Gingrich did, I can say that it's a very enjoyable book for its genre and well worth reading. This is a great World War II spy novel that is only let down by the unbelievability of the main protagonist. Winterbotham is an aging academic, and yet we are supposed to believe he suddenly develops spy skills good enough to join in a manhunt for a German spy who could be anywhere in the British countryside? I found my suspension of disbelief wearing a bit thin once that happened, and it stretched further after some of his other deeds. That being said, the book is a very enjoyable read, especially if you like spy novels like I do. Katarina is an intriguing character: a spy and killer who comes in from the cold when she finds a secret too big for her to keep quiet. I didn't quite buy her transformation, but everything that led up to it was good. She's good at what she does, but she's very rusty after ten long years of neglect. She relatively emotionless (or would like to be, at least) and kills without compunction. Usually it's a male character who is like this, so it is a refreshing change. Winterbotham too is interesting, once you get past his believability. He's a man more driven my emotion than duty. His devotion to his wife is his utmost driving force. He's willing to risk everything to find her. We never really find out why this woman deserves such devotion, as Altman never really tells us much about their relationship. He does mention a few details, but they show more why she would be difficult to live with. Winterbotham obviously loves her very much, but we don't see why. Despite all this, Altman writes the character so well that you tend to disregard all this when you read about him. He gives him some academic mannerisms (constantly smoking his pipe), and a cold personality. While you don't get a good illustration of the love for his wife, you do get to see how it motivates him to do what he does throughout this book. He's very single-minded and willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve his goal. Altman interweaves real people with his characters to show exactly what's at stake in this game of cat and mouse. Most of them use the reader's basic knowledge of history to characterize them. Hitler is a ranting lunatic, Himmler is a visciously thorough man, Goring is a fat ex-soldier who only cares about his artwork, etc. Still, they establish the setting well enough and do point out just how big this secret is. The best thing about this book, and the reason for the 4 stars, is how engaging it is. It's a real page-turner that you won't be able to put down. The action grips you, the characters (with the caveats above) make you care what happens to them, and there's a sense of unpredictability about everything. You're not really sure how it's going to end until it actually happens. I like that in a book, and I would certainly recommend reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Stole the plot from Le Carre
Review: Are you kidding me with this book? In the course of the first few chapters I caught on immediately. The plot and construct of the main character are largely stolen from John LeCarre's "The Spy who came in from the Cold." Same deal: an aging protagonist, inserted into an espionage plot so deeply under cover, with loyalites to his country and the woman he loves so conflicted that we, the readers, are left to wonder which way he will turn. Here's what's very telling. Altman gets glowing reviews on the book jacket form other spy writers. But if you read his bio, Altman's only credentials are that he comes from a family of writers. Thhe bio also promises that Altman is busy on his second book. I can hardly wait.
Rating:
Summary: A solid thriller
Review: Katarina Heinrich is a German spy in America. Winterbotham is an English professor in England ... but his wife is a prisoner in Poland. Katarina has hit upon an American secret she is afraid may win the war, and she will do anything to get it back to her homeland -- or will she? And Winterbotham has been asked by his government to participate in Operation Doublecross, by pretending to be a traitor to his country and infiltrating Germany, offering up carefully orchestrated information in return for everything his eyes and ears can find. He agrees, but for only one reason. He will do anything to get his wife back. Or will he? A Gathering of Spies is a first novel, and as such it's brilliant. Yet, while there's certainly no lack of action or bloodshed -- too much bloodshed sometimes, it seems -- and while the stakes seem high, I did not find this book overly gripping. I enjoyed it, but I never really felt the lead characters were in danger. I had a comfortable feeling. In a way it was nice, because so many thrillers flog their leads most thoroughly, sometimes ad nauseum. And I did care about both Heinrich and Winterbotham, an accomplishment on Altman's part since the two are so much at odds. The details about Germany were very interesting and the 1945's setting had me convinced. I could taste, smell, and see the setting, and I did not hit any of those long and eye blurring paragraphs that some novelists love and which belong in travelogues, not novels of intrigue. In summary, A Gathering of Spies is well written, fast paced, clearly plotted, and well peopled. And while it may not be a nail biter, it is still an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: What a great read!
Review: I bought this a few months ago but only got around to reading it yesterday. Luckily the few whiny reviews didn't yet exist! I have no idea what book they were reading - maybe they're the people whose only remaining impression of Die Hard 2 was the Pacific Bell telephone in 'Dulles' Airport. Or maybe they're just the Comic Book Store Guy. I started the book at 10pm - expected to read 50 or so pages to get into it. Fortunately, or unfortunately today, I didn't put it down until finished. First time I've done that in a while! The dialogue is crisp and pretty well-done, especially compared to the best-selling hacks out there who always throw in a poorly-written sex scene and some awkward combat. The plot twists drew me further into the book - I really wasn't sure how it would end even when only a few pages remained. It's not perfect - the deus ex machina is used a little too often. I can't speak for the historical accuracy, but it's a freakin' spy novel! A work of fiction! A huge plus is the totally likeable protagonist. Or heroine. For some reason I kept rooting for her on her Natural Born Killers trail across the US! Eventually I started rooting for the British. Always root for the winner.
Rating:
Summary: Stole the plot from Le Carre
Review: Are you kidding me with this book? In the course of the first few chapters I caught on immediately. The plot and construct of the main character are largely stolen from John LeCarre's "The Spy who came in from the Cold." Same deal: an aging protagonist, inserted into an espionage plot so deeply under cover, with loyalites to his country and the woman he loves so conflicted that we, the readers, are left to wonder which way he will turn. Here's what's very telling. Altman gets glowing reviews on the book jacket form other spy writers. But if you read his bio, Altman's only credentials are that he comes from a family of writers. Thhe bio also promises that Altman is busy on his second book. I can hardly wait.
Rating:
Summary: a fine thriller!
Review: spies, violence, nazis, and intrigue!
who could ask for anything more?
Rating:
Summary: Wow! A third time!
Review: Like his later books, this debut was a corker! As always, stories and characters are immensely alive, well-plotted, and consistently engaging; John Altman is simply very, very good at what he does, and, selfishly, I'm very grateful....
Rating:
Summary: So much potential
Review: This was a great book...up until about page 230. John Altman is a masterful storyteller, but the ending of this book was just terrible. The story revolves around Katarina Heinrich, a beautiful Nazi super spy inserted into the US by the Nazis in the decade preceding the war. Her talents were largely unused while spying in a small plant until she found her big break: Her scientist husband was being transferred to Los Alamos. It is there she learned the horrifying secret that the US was developing the atomic bomb. Once discovered, she knew she had to let her supervisor know in Germany. A simple enough idea if she weren't out in the desert in the middle of nowhere. Even if she could contact Germany, it is likely they wouldn't listen to her as she had been hard undercover for eight years. Still, she must try to contact the Nazis! For the Homeland! Meanwhile, in England, Professor Winterbotham, an outspoken pacifist and Churchill critic, is approached by the MI5, the British spy agency, with an unusual request. A request so secret they will not present it too him unless he agrees to do it first. It seems as if all the Nazi agents in England had been captured. Given the choice of turning or the gallows, many became double agents. MI5, seeking to further their deception regarding the upcoming invasion of France, try to present Winterbotham to the Germans as a double agent. Little do they know "the wildcat," whose wife was captured in Germany, has plans of his own. All of World War II hangs in the balance as the fates of Katarina and Winterbotham play out together. As previously stated, this book started great. It had so much promise. I could hardly put it down. If he could have changed the ending, or stopped it about page 230, it would have been wonderful. I did have some problems with the character of Katarina. I think he did a great job of portraying her as a lethal, well-trained Nazi agent. Think Artemis Entreri from Salvatore with no conscious. In other words, it was a little over the top. She must have killed about thirty innocent people. After about fifteen, I got the point: she was willing to do whatever it takes for Germany. At first I liked the character, but by the end I sincerely wanted her to die a slow painful death. I think Altman did a poor job of presenting consequences for actions, unlike his second book "A Game of Spies." Beyond those two minor complaints, it was still a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Very Scary Girl Spy!
Review: John Altman launches into the WW2 spy game with this rather cold and brutal story of a Nazi spy who is sent to America in the 1930s. Katarina Heinrich is told to await further instructions and is eventually told to spy on that country's Atomic energy program. Katarina is soon on it and starts to leave a trail of blood which is picked up by an English professor who has a wife in one of the Poland death camps, and will do anything to get her back. His Government soon gives him the job of chasing this woman in exchange for the freedom of his wife. A very good storyline involving the Atomic bomb project and the race between Germany and the USA to see who will win. It also plays on the fact that the Allies and Axis still had communication with each other underground while the fighting continued above. Although a great spy capiable of taking on James Bond, Katarina isn't successful in delivering her orders but the ride to the ending is exciting and very messy, well done John. A little too violent in some respects but very highly recommended as it is a hard book to put down. No doubt a potential movie here. Five Stars!
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