It is the late 1930s in Europe and the darkness is gathering. The Nazis are marching, both inside Austria and outside. What can one man do to make a difference?Alex Kovacs can see what's coming - he can, all of his friends can, all of Vienna can. When an opportunity presents itself, a chance to thwart the Nazi invasion of Austria, he agrees to join an espionage network that will take advantage of his regular business trips to Germany to gather secret information. But a personal tragedy soon complicates Alex's mission and entangles him with a suspicious Gestapo captain in ways that he never anticipated.Vienna at Nightfall is the first book in the Alex Kovacs historical espionage thriller series. If you like to explore the world inhabited by Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther or the characters created by Alan Furst, a place and time where looming terror and moral ambiguity live side-by-side, then you'll love Richard Wake's new pre-World War II thriller.Pick up Vienna at Nightfall to discover this exciting new series today!

It is 1939 and Germany has invaded Poland. World War II has started but the main event is still being planned. Two questions hang over everyone: When will Hitler's army turn to the west, and will France be ready?After the fall of Austria and then Czechoslovakia, Alex Kovacs now lives in Zurich. He is a banker and he is in love - but he hasn't left the spy business behind, not completely. He and his contacts in the espionage community - and Switzerland is a hotbed of spies - think they know what is going to happen, how Hitler will invade and how he will help to fund the endeavor. The problem is that no one in authority seems to want to listen. Frustrated but also determined, Alex fights for a way to get someone to hear him.The Spies of Zurich is the second book in the Alex Kovacs historical espionage thriller series. If you like to explore the world inhabited by Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther or the characters created by Alan Furst, a place and time of unfathomable evil where the biggest questions sometimes are forced upon the most ordinary of people, then you'll love Richard Wake's new pre-World War II thriller.Pick up The Spies of Zurich to travel along on Alex's latest adventure!

France has been overrun and the Gestapo now controls the country with a sinister terror. The Resistance does what it can, at enormous personal risk to its members. But is it worth it?After the fall of France, Alex Kovacs and his wife, Manon, travel to her home in Lyon to continue the fight they began as espionage agents in Switzerland. Disillusioned by the leaders who ignored so many warnings and allowed France to be steamrollered by the Germans, they form a Resistance cell and sabotage the Nazis wherever they can. But the effects are fleeting even as the danger for them grows exponentially. And when that danger surrounds them, smothering them, Alex is forced to make the ultimate decision: risk everything for his family and his cause.

After Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, the Gestapo began silencing critics. Many were shipped to concentration camps; those deemed most dangerous to the Reich were executed. Yet a few slipped through the Gestapo's net and organized resistance cells. One group, codenamed CASSIA, became America's most effective spy ring in Austria during World War II. This first full-length account of CASSIA describes its contributions to the Allied war effort--including reports on the V-2 missile, Nazi death camps and advanced combat aircraft and tanks--before a catastrophic intelligence failure sent key members to the guillotine, firing squad or gas chamber.

Bree Faro learns early in life that she can only depend on herself. Due to her feisty nature and unusual ability with a sword, she is educated in every fighting style imaginable and excels at them all. When she's sent to infiltrate the city of Azriel, Bree does not expect to find her place among the Watchmen of the Keep, but they welcome her as one of their own. Little does Bree know that her new companions are in danger. An immortal creature lies in wait for any Keeper of the Flame, the city's water source has dried up, and they are under constant attack from the Yirtzi-former Watchmen reduced to vengeful spirits, who sold their souls for power only to realize the enemy of Yahweh does not translate to the friend of mankind. Not only that, but the Watchmen are fraying. Hostilities come to a head when a Watchman is murdered. Only a Watchman can kill another Watchman, and all eyes shift to Bree. Bree finds herself faced with a choice. Does she engineer the betrayal of the powerful city, or does she embrace her destiny as a true Watchman of Yahweh and find the killer before it's too late?

“Reads like a novel. A fast-paced page-turner, it has everything: sex, wit, humor, and adventures. But it is an impressively researched and important story.” —David Fromkin, author of Europe’s Last Summer Vienna, 1814 is an evocative and brilliantly researched account of the most audacious and extravagant peace conference in modern European history. With the feared Napoleon Bonaparte presumably defeated and exiled to the small island of Elba, heads of some 216 states gathered in Vienna to begin piecing together the ruins of his toppled empire. Major questions loomed: What would be done with France? How were the newly liberated territories to be divided? What type of restitution would be offered to families of the deceased? But this unprecedented gathering of kings, dignitaries, and diplomatic leaders unfurled a seemingly endless stream of personal vendettas, long-simmering feuds, and romantic entanglements that threatened to undermine the crucial work at hand, even as their hard-fought policy decisions shaped the destiny of Europe and led to the longest sustained peace the continent would ever see. Beyond the diplomatic wrangling, however, the Congress of Vienna served as a backdrop for the most spectacular Vanity Fair of its time. Highlighted by such celebrated figures as the elegant but incredibly vain Prince Metternich of Austria, the unflappable and devious Prince Talleyrand of France, and the volatile Tsar Alexander of Russia, as well as appearances by Ludwig van Beethoven and Emilia Bigottini, the sheer star power of the Vienna congress outshone nearly everything else in the public eye. An early incarnation of the cult of celebrity, the congress devolved into a series of debauched parties that continually delayed the progress of peace, until word arrived that Napoleon had escaped, abruptly halting the revelry and shrouding the continent in panic once again. Vienna, 1814 beautifully illuminates the intricate social and political intrigue of this history-defining congress–a glorified party that seemingly valued frivolity over substance but nonetheless managed to drastically reconfigure Europe’s balance of power and usher in the modern age.

Two centuries ago, Europe emerged from one of the greatest crises in its history. In September 1814, the rulers of Europe and their ministers descended upon Vienna to reconstruct Europe after two decades of revolution and war, with the major decisions made by the statesmen of the great powers. The territorial reconstruction of Europe, however, is only a part of this story. It was followed, in the years 1815 to 1822, by a bold experiment in international cooperation and counter-revolution, known as the 'Congress System'. The Congress of Vienna and subsequent Congresses constituted a major turning point - the first genuine attempt to forge an 'international order', to bring long-term peace to a troubled Europe, and to control the pace of political change through international supervision and intervention. In this book, Mark Jarrett argues that the decade of the European Congresses in fact marked the beginning of our modern era, with a profound impact upon the course of subsequent developments. Based upon extensive research, this book provides a fresh look at a pivotal but often neglected period.