Rebecca Cantrell

Rebecca Cantrell dejó su empleo, vendió su casa y se mudó a Hawai junto con su familia para escribir. Tuvo claro que sería novelista a los siete años, del mismo modo en que supo en su adolescencia que debía dejar su aldea en Alaska y conocer Europa. Los tres años que pasó en Alemania, dos de ellos en Berlín, la inspiraron para crear a la periodista Hannah Vogel, protagonista de una serie de novela negra que arranca con Un rastro de humo y continua con La noche de los cuchillos largos que Duomo ediciones acaba de publicar el 10 de Octubre. Pueden leer AQUÍ mi entrada sobre el tercer libro de la serie, A Game of Lies, que completa su trilogía de la pre-guerra. Tiene intención de continuar con otra trilogía de la guerra a partir de su próximo libro, A City of Broken Glass, para finalizar con otra trilogía situada en la posguerra.

Información tomada de Duomo ediciones

Rebecca Cantrell official webpage (en inglés)

Twitter: @rebeccacantrell

A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell

Esta entrada es bilingüe, para ver la versión en castellano desplazarse por esta ventana hacia abajo.

Tor Forge Books, July 2011. 320 pages. ISBN: 978-0-7653-2733-8.

A Game of Lies is the third book in the mystery series featuring journalist Hannah Vogel. The action takes place in Berlin during the 1936 Summer Olympics. Hannah Vogel travels in and out Germany posing as Adelheid Zinsli a Swiss reporter and lover of an SS officer Lars Lang, while working as a courier for the British intelligence. Her mission is to smuggle to Switzerland two rolls of film that Lars will give her. But these are hard times and no one knows who to trust.

“Lars and I pretend to be lovers, a fiction he enjoyed, and every few moths, we switched off weekends, in our home cities of Berlin and Zurich. But instead of a few days, my editor has insisted that this time I stay in Berlin for a full two weeks to cover the Olympic Games.”

“… the original plan, stay in Berlin, cover the Games for the paper, pick up the film Lars had secreted in a locker somewhere, and then go back to Switzerland and meet my British contact”.

While attending the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium together with Lars and Lars’s best friend Andreas Huber, Hannah slips away to meet her mentor Peter Weil.

“Peter claimed to have uncovered something that would change the course of the war we were both certain would come. Thousands of lives were at stake, he said.”

But shortly after asking her to bring out of the country a certain package, Peter collapses in front of her. Hannah suspects he’s been poisoned. Now she must find the package and leave Germany before the Olympics end and her true identity is revealed. Surrounded by colleagues who can identify her, she has to keep a low profile while her relationship with Lars becomes more complicated as he sinks into alcoholism.

“The Games lasted only two more weeks, and I might be able to keep him sober until the end of it. But if I could not, how much was I at risk from him? If he chose to, he could hurt me quite badly, or kill me, without having to fear the consequences.”

A Game of Lies provides a vivid description of the time period in which the action unfolds. The story is well documented and keeps the reader attention. I found the book quite entertaining, a compelling read.

I’ve read an ARC that was sent to me by Norman at Crime Scraps. You can read the whole story HERE andHERE. I’m most grateful Norman, thanks. I’ll count this book as the second leg for The Seventh Continent (history) in Dorte’s 2011 Global Reading Challenge.

Rebecca Cantrell’s debut novel and her first book in the series, A Trace of Smoke, was the winner of the 2010 Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award and of the 2010 Sue Federer Historical Mystery Award (Macavity), and it was nominated for the 2010 Barry Award. Her second book,A Night of Long Knives, was nominated for the 2011 Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award. A Game of Lies completes her pre-war trilogy. She is planning to follow up with a war trilogy starting with her fourth book A City of Broken Glass, to be completed with a post-war trilogy.

A Game of Lies has been reviewed by Norman at Crime Scraps, and you can also check for some customer reviews and search inside the book at Amazon.com.

• Forge Books Macmillan
• Rebecca Cantrell website
• Rebecca Cantrell’s Hannah Vogel Series: An interview at Scene of the Crime

A Game of Lies (Un juego de mentiras) de Rebecca Cantrell

A Game of Lies es el tercer libro de la serie de misterio protagonizado por la periodista Hannah Vogel. La acción se desarrolla en Berlín durante los Juegos Olímpicos de 1936. Hannah Vogel entra y sale de Alemania haciéndose pasar por Adelheid Zinsli una periodista suiza y amante de un oficial de las SS Lars Lang, mientras trabaja como mensajera para la inteligencia británica. Su misión es la de pasar de contrabando a Suiza dos rollos de película que Lars le dará. Pero estos son tiempos difíciles y nadie sabe en quién confiar.

Cuando asiste a la ceremonia de inauguración en el Estadio Olímpico junto con Lars y el mejor amigo de Lars Andreas Huber, Hannah se escabulle para reunirse con su mentor Peter Weil. Pero poco después de pedirle que saque del país cierto paquete, Peter se desploma delante de ella. Hannah sospecha que ha sido envenenado. Y ahora debe encontrar el paquete y salir de Alemania antes de que termine la Olimpíada y su verdadera identidad sea descubierta. Rodeada de compañeros que pueden identificarla, ella tiene que mantener un perfil bajo, mientras que su relación con Lars se complica a medida que éste se sumerge en el alcohol.

A Game of Lies proporciona una viva descripción del período de tiempo en el que se desarrolla la acción. La historia está bien documentado y mantiene la atención del lector. He encontrado el libro muy entretenido, una lectura convincente.

Rebecca Cantrell hizo su debut con A Trace of Smoke (Un rastro de humo, Duomo ediciones 2010), el primero de la serie, que obtuvo el Premio  Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery en el 2010 y el Premio Sue Federer Historical Mystery Award (Macavity) del mismo año. Además fue nominado para el Premio Barry. Su segundo libro, A Night of Long Knives, fue nominado para el Premio Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery en el 2011. A Game of Lies completa su trilogía de la pre-guerra. Tiene intención de continuar con otra trilogía de la guerra a partir de su próximo libro, A City of Broken Glass, que se completará con una trilogía de la posguerra.

• Duomo ediciones
• Ver reseña de Un rastro de humo en Periodistas en Español

Currently Reading

For this weekend I’ve pick from my bookshelf A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell. This book was sent to me by Norman at Crime Scraps, you can find HERE the reason. Thank you Mr and Mrs Crime Scraps. It was just luck but I appreciate it.

From the Publisher:

“Journalist Hannah Vogel returns in A Game of Lies by award-winning author Rebecca Cantrell

In preparation for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Nazis have rid the streets of anti-Semitic material and other propaganda, and present a peace-seeking face to the world. Journalist and part-time spy for the British, Hannah Vogel, shudders to think of what lies under the temporary coat of gloss.

Posing as travel reporter Adelheid Zinsli and lover of SS officer Lars Lang, Hannah has been collecting Nazi secrets from Lang and smuggling them back to Switzerland. Wanted by the SS, her travel in and out of Germany has always been fraught with danger, but this trip is especially treacherous.

Surrounded by former colleagues who could identify her, Hannah tries to keep a low profile while reporting on the Games as Adelheid. Her relationship with Lang gets more complicated as he sinks into alcoholism; the whispers she hears about his work in the SS give her chills. Whose side is he on?

Hannah agrees to meet her mentor, Peter Weill, at the Stadium, but before he can reveal information that will expose the Nazis, he dies in front of her. Hannah suspects poison.

Hannah must discover who killed Weill and get his secret package out of the country before the Olympics end and the Nazis tighten their noose…and before her true identity is revealed. And her partner may be the very one about to expose her…”

About the Author

“Award-winning author Rebecca Cantrell majored in German, Creative Writing, and History at the Freie Universitaet of Berlin and Carnegie Mellon University. She currently lives in Hawaii with her husband and son.”

Visit Rebecca Cantrell’s Website