The Double Agent
Alexsi Smirnoff Book 2
William Christie
Minotaur Books
Nov 15th, 2022
The Double Agent by William Christie is a spy thriller that is a sequel to The Single Spy. Both stories stand on their own and can be read out of order. This book starts right where The Single Spy left off.
Readers who did not read the first book are introduced to Alexsi Smirnoff. He is a Russian/German double agent who realizes he is trapped between two brutal dictatorships. Having betrayed both sides he decides to join the British intelligence, becoming a triple agent. He is inserted into Rome by the British as a signaler in the German Army SS headquarters. There he transmits coded messages back to England. He must balance the various forces from the Vatican, Italian nobility, the Italian resistance, and the German Army.
Because most of the Germans portrayed in this historical novel are real, readers get a glimpse into what Rome was like during 1943-1944. They also see how a spy must maneuver to save themselves. Yet, there are also moral issues that include how far must someone go to prevent the Nazi butchery that includes non-participation.
Elise Cooper: Can you tell us the background of Alexi?
William Christie: In A Single Spy the main character, Alexi, grows up on a collective farm near the Iranian border. He knows Farci along with Russian. Since he had a former friend that was from a family of German Communists Alexi is also fluent in German. As a boy he is a thief until he is arrested by the Russian secret police. He becomes a spy and is sent to Germany. After WWII broke out, he became an officer in German Army Intelligence. He finds out about a German plot to assassinate Winston Churchill. He foils the plot and defects to the British, which is where this book starts.
EC: How did you get the idea for the series?
WC: Years back I read Stalin’s War with Germany. It is two volume deep historical dive into the Eastern Front of WWII. It delves into a lot of detail regarding military operations. There are a couple of paragraphs about the Tehran Conference and how the assassination plot was foiled. This stuck with me and after I decided to write a historical novel, I used this.
EC: The German characters seemed real?
WC: I wanted to use real historical characters. I wanted the story to be real and accurate. It seemed logical to use real people. I also mention the Priest, Hugh O’Flaherty. He is a memorably vivid character. He went against many in the Catholic Church who wanted to stay neutral, but he saved many Italian Jewish lives. He took enormous risks. Another real character was the SS Chief of Police in Rome, Colonel Herbert Kappler who tried to kill the Priest many times, but never succeeded.
EC: Stalin versus Putin?
WC: Stalin went after his enemies in Russia the exact same way that Putin goes after his enemies and traitors. There is a scene in A Single Spy where Alexi, still in Russia, is shown an album of the assassination of all the betrayers. They spent large amounts of money to track down the enemies.
EC: How would you describe Alexi?
WC: His only loyalty is his own personal survival. He has the natural skills of a spy, like a con artist. He can bond with people, impersonate someone else, alert to his surroundings, able to illicit empathy, and must make moral choices. Overall, he is bold, coy, calm, a survivor, a charmer, a liar, sometimes kind, takes initiative with good judgement, and ruthless when he must be, but tries to avoid trouble.
EC: The role of Princess Abrianna Santangelo?
WC: She is part of the Papal nobility. It dates to when the Pope ruled the Papal States in Italy. Under the German occupation the Church used the Papal nobility to keep one foot in every camp without exposing themselves to one side or another. She is very much like Alexi, pragmatic and loyal to her personal survival.
EC: Next book?
WC: We are in talks with the publisher for a third book in the series. I also have another book I am working on that is not a historical novel.
THANK YOU!!
