The Shadowboxer

A rogue spy weaves a deadly web of intrigue in this pulse-pounding World War II espionage thriller from the bestselling author of The Kremlin Letter. A man with many names moves through the shadows of war-torn Europe. Known to most as "the Shadowboxer," he is a spy and an assassin, the scourge of the Nazi high command. Courageous and highly skilled, he sneaks in and out of the most heavily guarded concentration camps, liberating select prisoners. To those he sets free, the motives behind the Shadowboxer's actions hardly matter. But leaders of the Third Reich and Soviet Intelligence officials are desperate to determine what game the lone wolf agent is playing, and what his missions mean for the fate of postwar Germany. In the high-stakes realm of international espionage, information is the most valuable prize of all, and no secrets are bigger than those kept by this mysterious operative. But when he discovers his role in a massive conspiracy that could cost the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers, the Shadowboxer has no choice but to step into the light. A powerful tale based in the grim realities of covert operations, The Shadowboxer brims with suspense and nonstop action. Intricately plotted and disturbingly authentic, it cements Noel Behn's reputation as one of the twentieth century's most original and convincing spy novelists.

About the Author :
Noel Behn (1928-1998) was an American novelist, screenwriter, and theatrical producer. Born in Chicago and educated in California and Paris, he served in the US Army's Counterintelligence Corps before settling in New York City. As the producing director of the Cherry Lane Theatre, he played a lead role in the off-Broadway movement of the 1950s and presented the world premiere of Samuel Beckett's Endgame. Behn's debut novel, The Kremlin Letter (1966), was a New York Times bestseller and the inspiration for a John Huston film starring Orson Welles and Max von Sydow. Big Stick-Up at Brink's! (1977), the true story of the 1950 Brink's robbery in Boston, was based on nearly one thousand hours of conversations with the criminals and became an Academy Award-nominated film directed by William Friedkin. Behn also wrote for television and served as a creative consultant on the acclaimed series Homicide: Life on the Street. His other books include the thrillers The Shadowboxer (1969) and Seven Silent Men (1984), and Lindbergh: The Crime (1995), a nonfiction account of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

Review :
"Relentless . . . At the level of Adams Hall's dossiers and memos." --Kirkus Reviews Praise for The Kremlin Letter "The best contemporary spy novel by an American and as good as the work of the British elite Le Carré, Deighton, and Lyall." --The Philadelphia Inquirer "Ingenious, complicated . . . Probably the season's hottest entertainment of espionage." --San Francisco Chronicle "What makes it exceptional are Behn's gift for hair-raising realistics, his sense of place and ability to make you feel that you are dangerously, inescapably there." --Mademoiselle "Rockets along irresistibly. The reader who starts it late at night is guaranteed less than his normal quota of sleep." --Detroit Free Press "A beauty . . . Any true suspense fan who can bear to put the book down is, obviously, late for his own funeral." --Chicago Tribune