The Lisbon Crossing » (~)

Tom Gabbay is the author of The Berlin Conspiracy and The Lisbon Crossing. He previously worked for NBC Entertainment as director of children's and comedy programs, and was creative director of the production partnership between NBC and ITV Television in the United Kingdom. He lives in Europe.

Teeming with Nazis, spies, and ambiguous loyalties, the early days of World War II come alive with dark intrigue and heart-stopping action in this brilliant second tale from the author of the hit thriller The Berlin Conspiracy.

It's the summer of 1940 and Europe is in the grip of the Nazi war machine. Jack Teller arrives in neutral Lisbon on the arm of international screen legend Lili Sterne, to help her search for her childhood friend, Eva Lange. Having escaped Germany, staying one step ahead of the Nazi terror, Eva is believed to be hiding among the thousands of desperate refugees who have descended upon Lisbon. But Jack isn't the first on her trail. Top Hollywood detective Eddie Grimes had been on the case--until he turned up dead.

Instead of answers, Jack uncovers a series of lies that leads from Estoril's glittering nightclubs--rubbing elbows with the likes of Edward, Duke of Windsor, and his scheming wife, Wallis Simpson--into Lisbon's dank and dangerous backstreets. Along the way, Jack makes a shocking discovery that takes him from Portugal to the perilous boulevards of Nazi-occupied Paris, where his actions could change the course of the war.

The Lisbon Crossing brilliantly evokes a time of terror and uncertainty, and establishes Tom Gabbay's place among the best of modern suspense novelists.

Publishers Weekly

Gabbay's second historical thriller to feature Jack Teller falls short of the high standard set by his debut, The Berlin Conspiracy (2006). Teller, who in 1940 is working as a Hollywood stuntman, has to leave town fast after having an affair with the wife of studio head Charlie Wexler, who hires a hit man to deal with Teller. Lili Sterne, a German film star whose career is on the skids, asks Teller to accompany her to Lisbon, Portugal, to help her childhood friend, Eva Lange, who may be in danger from the Nazis. Teller and Sterne get into all kinds of trouble during their European travels, meeting the duke and duchess of Windsor as well as various spies and counterspies. Teller, who finds himself mixed up in a conspiracy to deliver England into Hitler's hands, must figure out how to save the British Empire while still avoiding the hit man. There's plenty of action, but a surfeit of dialogue, flat characters and skimpy geographic detail, especially given the exotic locations, undercut the energetic storytelling. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.