Freedom Bridge: A Cold War Thriller

The description of life in the former Soviet Union is bleak and scary. If it is accurate (and I have no reason to question it), it is heartwarming to see how freedom would have been valued. It is a good plot and fun to watch it develop as you read.

This had very interesting characters with plausible stories. There was a great tie-in to WWII. It was exciting and heartbreaking to see what they went through in trying to defect to the West. It was a thrilling thriller, and it got me.

This is a seat of the pants page turner that is also full of unexpected surprises. The heroes struggling for liberty succeed in winning the reader's sympathy, thus heightening the tension. There is one especially evil deed in this novel that reminds one of a similar deed perpetrated by the victors of WW2 of which they should be ashamed.

I wanted to like this book = and in the beginning I did. In the early section of the book, other than the author's obvious political, ethical and moral biases against Communism, I found that her knowledge of the history of the Soviet Union and Germany and the Berlin Wall provided a great backdrop for a potentially fascinating story. However, partway through the book, as the plot necessarily took over from actual history of the period, everything seemed to change; and not for the better.

Coincidence is a mainstay of fiction and plot development. It often works - but only when it isn't obvious as a plot contrivance. In my estimation, good fiction writing allows the readers to feel as though they are uncovering the truth, subtly conveyed by plot development. When these truths seem as though they are being conveyed not so much by the logical progression of plot, but rather by the obvious intervention of a writer wanting to get 'from here to there', the plot collapses and what is left is a story lacking in believability.

With this book I felt that although the author started with the best intentions, she more or less ran out of steam once she'd made the points that were important about her personal perceptions of history. In the end, what remains are interesting settings and potentially interesting characters - all betrayed by an unbelievable plot.

One of the best fiction books I have read lately. It combined romance and mystery, It was based on a part of our history that people are trying to forgot but is important for us to remember. The characters were realistic and "sex" was not the most important thing in the book.

This is not generally a book I would have picked to read,, but for some reason, I was intrigued by the synopsis.
WOW!Am I glad I CHOSE to read it! What a good read! You felt like you were right there. So glad I CHOSE it!

This book is about the Russian War 1940sI usually don't read war stories, but this one held my interest,
Not only is it part love story, small part, but is leads you on a trip from Russia to the Big Apple,

I like it. Pretty well written for the period, although the plot is somewhat unbelieveable. The main characters are well written. I am not privy to life behind the Iron Curtain of that time, but the pace was entertaining.

I attempted to read the book "Freedom Bridge: A Cold War Thriller" by Erika Holzer however the book was so poorly edited that I was unable to continue past the third chapter.

This is NOT the only book I had to erase from my reading list due to unacceptable English language usage. Contrary to popular opinion phrases are NOT complete sentences!! Dangling participles are distracting, negating the true meaning of a sentence or paragraph the author is attempting to espouse.

As I began perusing the opening chapters. several times I had to revert back to the book title. Instead of reading a "thriller" tome, I received the distinct impression that the story should have been entitled "The History of Communist Russia".

The author created confusion by separating background information from the plot. The story line could have been more successful by weaving the Russian History idea into the main body of Erika Holzer's work. This could be accomplished via character dialogue, enabling the author to insert the "thriller" concept earlier, allowing faster pacing and increasing reader interest.

A "Cold War Thriller"? No, Freedom Bridge is much more than a thriller. This is a novel that speaks to freedom and human rights. FB is a novel that is so woven in plot intricacies and history that the pages often have to be re-read. And yet, the characters are so compelling, I finished the novel in one, long night.

Having just finished Freedom Bridge, I find myself somewhat at a loss for words. This is a massive novel, and not only because of the topics it covers: WWII, concentration camps, the slavery of communism...to name a few, but also because of the characters at the novel's core.

Don't miss out on the journey of reading Freedom Bridge. You will root for Holzer's, Dr. Kiril Anreyev, who longs to leave behind the oppressive Soviet Union. Your stomach will drop as you read heartbreakingly realistic stories of concentration camps and life in a communist regime. You will feel there is hope when American journalist, Adrienne Brenner, voices her opinions on human rights.

Erika Holzer, I was deeply moved by this novel. So moved in fact, that I couldn't go to bed until I "worked" it out of my system. So, here I am at midnight, on the store.com. Your plot intricacies are as complex as Ayn Rand's-in my book, there's no higher compliment. Thank you, I truly enjoyed your book.

Worth about the $0 I paid for it. Occasional scenes and pages that would be fine in a story that hung together and were more humanly interesting. This one didn't and wasn't.

The main problem with ebooks is, I don't have a vetting service I know and trust that serves the filter function that a publishing company provides in their own best interest; They don't go to the expense of producing and printing a press run of paper books if they know that they will all rot in piles waiting to be recycled.

I just finished reading Erika Holzer's compelling thriller, Freedom Bridge. I could not put it down. I kept saying, "One more chapter, one more chapter-- no, just one more." I cannot remember the last time I read a book in a single sitting.

Holzer's ingenious story of man's quest for freedom is full of deviously clever twists and turns, and is told with such detailed clarity that I had the feeling that she personally witnessed the events she describes.

Her characters are drawn in such depth that I felt like she had known them since childhood. Her heroes are truly heroic and her villains are authentically despicable.

I would love to comment on her tear-inducing ending, but it would be a "spoiler," so the readers will have to experience it for themselves.

They won't be disappointed.

Stanley Gray

My first reading of this book was in the early '80s, far too long ago to pick out the revisions Ms. Holzer did for this edition, but no matter. "Freedom Bridge" will transport you to the aftermath of the U2 incident in the blink of an eye and make you forget that the Soviet Union is no more. The sense of suffocating totalitarian malice, the sense of urgency in the face of certain death, the suspense of imminent betrayal under the highest of stakes, are as palpable and immediate in this novel as this morning's headlines.

Holzer weaves a plot that becomes a kind of literary origami - I won't do spoilers, but suffice it to say that her original title "Double Crossing" is a serious understatement, a play-on-words several times over. As a reader repeatedly disappointed in spy thrillers so complex that they're nearly unreadable, "Freedom Bridge" is a refreshing surprise. Rather than miring the story in a quicksand of frustrating complexity, its multiplying plot convolutions work together so logically that they actually *clarify* rather than muddle. The analogy to an elaborate jigsaw puzzle is perhaps a cliché, but in this case it fits.

The characters in this novel could not be more different from one another - in culture, in ethics and in motives - but Holzer draws them together from those disparate points as if by a gargantuan magnet. Ground zero is the Glienecker Bridge between East and West Berlin, and the resulting multi-faction clash is at once understated and explosive. An edgy, brooding atmosphere throughout accelerates with a cinematic flow that makes me think "Freedom Bridge" would make a great movie - provided someone could be found in that industry with the integrity to do it justice. Holzer's exposition of these different personalities, particularly in context of their ethics and moral choices, does positively wonderful things to the integration of plot and theme.

That theme, the magnet that pulls everything together in Cold War Berlin, is of course: Freedom.

Holzer makes freedom not just "the moral of the story" but the motive that animates the actions - and for some, the transitions - of the characters. For Soviet defector Kiril, it's an overriding passion worth dying for; for American journalist and kindred spirit Adrienne, it's a value fully grasped and vigorously defended; for the Soviet and East German communist operatives, it's a threat to be hated, crushed and, unmistakably, feared - in much the same way that a liar fears the truth; for an underling assigned to spy on Kiril, it becomes an unbearable conflict of allegiances; for a corrupt doctor waffling between the two poles, it becomes an object of disdain to be ignored and betrayed.

All of which means that "Freedom Bridge" is a choices-driven morality play that becomes a timely meditation on something too often taken for granted in today's world. If you're looking for a read that's of significantly greater long-term value than passing entertainment, "Freedom Bridge" is an excellent choice.

Erika Holzer's new novel is a compelling read from start to finish.

The main characters, both good and bad, are multifaceted creations, beautifully described. Even the minor characters have depth. You care greatly about all of them and about what happens to them.

The plot is gripping (I stayed up all night reading the book) and, like the characters, quite complex, with a fair amount of history integrated into it. I learned, in stomach-knotting detail, what it felt like to live (read: be held captive) behind the Iron Curtain (the same in any Communist country today whose citizens aren't allowed to leave). I learned how and why Berlin was divided up among the Allied powers after World War II, and the role the Soviet Union played in that division. I learned about Freedom Bridge, the bridge from East Germany into West Berlin, and the role it played during the Cold War. (The title is absolutely perfect for this book!)

The plot twists and turns, with surprises and shocks all along the way - to the very last page. I highly recommend Freedom Bridge to any reader who enjoys reading intelligently wrought political intrigue.

The old evil empire raises its ugly head on a down and dirty personal level in this book. Let us just say that the first 100 pages are a slog. The author belabors the anti-Soviet propaganda to the extreme. True, the police state overwhelmed the people and spread its wicked tentacles deep into the hearts and minds of the population, but 20 pages of succinct, dialogue-based expository balanced with some narrative would have been enough.
From about 35% into the book, things really picked up. The story wound through a complex series of events (described enough in other reviews) and often surprised and propelled the reader forward. Character development charmed this reader. Real people started to jump off the page more and more as the story unfolded.
Give the book a chance. Get past the slow start. Even the slog has its bright side: real experience obviously decorated and built the author's enthusiasm for the subject.

I see a grammatical error in the second sentence of Chapter 1: "The next year, inspired by hatred of the Czar, grinding poverty suffered by the lower classes and the peasants, opposition to Russia's war with Germany, and influenced by communist-socialist propaganda such as 'Peace, Land, and Bread,' Yuri Glazov decided to leave medical school and join the Revolution."

A couple of fixes are possible. For example, an "and" could be inserted between "peasants" and "opposition," since "opposition to Russia's war with Germany" is third and last in a series of noun phrases governed by the participle "inspired"; after which we have a new participial phrase in which the participle "influenced" separately governs "communist-socialist propaganda." So the revised sentence could read: "The next year, inspired by hatred of the Czar, grinding poverty suffered by the lower classes and the peasants, and opposition to Russia's war with Germany, and influenced by communist-socialist propaganda such as 'Peace, Land, and Bread,' Yuri Glazov decided to leave medical school and join the Revolution."

But since the inspiration being referred is already evidently a form of influence, there is no reason to drop the "inspired by" and switch to "influenced by" to begin with. It would be better to simply include all four phrases in a single series governed by "inspired by." Then the revised sentence would be: "The next year, inspired by hatred of the Czar, grinding poverty suffered by the lower classes and the peasants, opposition to Russia's war with Germany, and communist-socialist propaganda such as 'Peace, Land, and Bread,' Yuri Glazov decided to leave medical school and join the Revolution."

Once in a very long while, a book comes along that transcends its genre, a book like "The Spy That Came In From the Cold." Such a book is Erika Holzer's new entry, "Freedom Bridge." It started out as a reworking of an earlier book, "Double Crossing," but along the way, it morphed from a Cold War thriller into a blistering historical saga, sizzling with ideas and unforgettable characters and action enough for everyone. Have at it. Pick it up; you won't be able to put it down.

-- Warren B. Murphy, two-time Edgar winner

As a Cold War enthusiast, I give this book 3 stars just for the atmosphere it creates (East and West Berlin, microfilms hidden in zippo lighters, defections by crossing bridges, etc). However, there is a disturbing tone, set from the very start, that makes it sound like an anti-Soviet propaganda. The author is making sure to show the reader who the good and bad guys are, at the beginning and periodically throughout.

In addition to being a carefully crafted, suspense driven thrill ride--with requisite unexpected twists and turns-- Freedom Bridge is a compelling portrait of life behind the Iron Curtain, and how far people may go to gain their freedom. Well researched and tightly written, this reprise of Cold War drama literally gave me chills. An enthusiastic five stars!

A must read for the high school reader! I have often said that we must talk about the horrendous life so many endured or lost during and after the war so we never forget and don't repeat.....l look forward to reading more of Holzer's work. A new favorite!

In addition to being a carefully crafted, suspense driven thrill ride--with requisite unexpected twists and turns-- Freedom Bridge is a compelling portrait of life behind the Iron Curtain, and how far people may go to gain their freedom. Well researched and tightly written, this reprise of Cold War drama literally gave me chills. An enthusiastic five stars!

A must read for the high school reader! I have often said that we must talk about the horrendous life so many endured or lost during and after the war so we never forget and don't repeat.....l look forward to reading more of Holzer's work. A new favorite!

Freedom Bridge is a truly great book. It's everything you could ask for in a cold war thriller. The characters are compelling and the plot is intriguing. The book is impossible to put down once you start reading it.

The first 15-20 percent had me wondering if the whole thing was to be a narrative historical rendering of the characters lives. As I read on, I realized that the background was necessary. The characters were believable and the story could be the story of many who lived during that time in history.