Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Berlin Exchange

By: Joseph Kanon
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

'A modern master at work’ THE TIMES
‘Heart-poundingly suspenseful’ WASHINGTON POST
‘Joseph Kanon owns this corner of the literary landscape’ LEE CHILD

Berlin, 1963. The height of the Cold War and an early morning spy swap. On one side of the trade: Martin Keller, an American physicist who once made headlines, but who then disappeared into the English prison system. Keller's most critical possession: his American passport. His most ardent desire: to see his ex-wife Sabine and their young son.

But Martin has questions: who asked for him? Who negotiated the deal? Just the KGB bringing home one of its agents? Or, as he hopes, a more personal intervention? He has worked for the service long enough to know that nothing happens by chance. They want him for something. Not physics – his expertise is years out of date. Something else, which he cannot learn until he arrives in East Berlin, when suddenly the game is afoot.

From the master of suspense, this is an exhilarating return to Joseph Kanon’s heartland, the perilous backdrop of Berlin, now at the height of the Cold War.

PRAISE FOR JOSEPH KANON:


'An enjoyable blend of atmospherics, doomed love story and Cold War derring-do' Sunday Times

'Thoroughly absorbing, a thoughtful and subtle evocation of a place and era' Sunday Telegraph

'Kanon is fast approaching the complexity and relevance not just of le Carré and Greene but even of Orwell' New York Times

'Joseph Kanon continues to demonstrate that he is up there with the very best . . . of spy thriller writers . . . Kanon writes beautifully, superbly' The Times

'The critical stock of Joseph Kanon is high' Guardian
©2022 Joseph Kanon (P)2022 Simon & Schuster Audio UK
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Insider cover art
My Name Is Nobody cover art
The Lion's Den cover art
Ghost Station cover art
Agent in Berlin cover art
The Scarlet Papers cover art
The Holy Thief cover art
The American Wife cover art
The Hidden Soldier cover art
Prince of Spies cover art
The Orchid Hour cover art
Fatal Ally cover art
Red Widow cover art
The Divinities cover art
A Killing in November cover art
1979 cover art

What listeners say about The Berlin Exchange

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    38
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    38
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Had to stop what I was doing and listen to the finale. Breathtaking.
Off to buy all Joseph Kanon’s books, and every book Jonathan Davis has narrated.
Bravo!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Quite Good

Quite enjoyable this is my second book by this author and they just seem to get a bit unbelievable towards the end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

This interesting take on the spy genre sees Martin Keller, an American who spied for the Russians and who served 10 years in prison in Britain as a result, being swapped, in 1963, in Berlin, for 3 prisoners who had served time in an East Berlin prison. So, he was free at last in East Berlin ... or was he? The novel is very much in the John Le Carré or Graham Greene mould and admirers of those authors should love this book. It is well written with an intriguing story and psychological depth. There's even an exciting car chase and shooting! It's a book that seems destined to transfer to the cinema screen. It held my attention throughout and this was helped by the outstanding narration by Jonathan Davis. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent insight into 60s East Germany

Despite my initial reservations about an American narrator I greatly enjoyed this book. Well plotted, it gives good insights into the claustrophobic world of East Germany. I learned about the prisoner exchange programme of which I was previously unaware. Definitely recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Worst book ever

Thought this would be a novel on espionage but within 2 chapters there is a relationship scene. Completely regret buying this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful