There were no forms to fill out at the desk, everything having been arranged by Kurt and the manager.

This reading group guide for The Berlin Exchange includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. Steeped in atmospheric tension and dizzying layers of secrecy, The Berlin Exchange follows Martin as he finds himself more and more deeply involved in Kurt’s morally ambiguous dealings and political entanglements until finally he has to navigate a treacherous path that could put not just his own life at risk but also that of his ex-wife, Sabine, and their young son, Peter, all the while trying to find answers. Did he do the right thing during the war? How do you live day to day in a surveillance state? And, most urgently, what did all the sets of eyes watching his every move want from him?Kurt frequently brings Martin along with him when he works, allowing Martin to see the illicit dealings that make his new life in East Berlin possible. Why does Kurt want Martin to see what he does, especially given the recurring mantra, "There is no crime in the DDR"? What does it reveal about Kurt's character? Yes, I know. The SED Congress, the trade delegation. But that’s not all we are. A man shot dead in Invalidenstrasse? People want to know.” Yes. Die Familie Schmidt. A program on the DFF. He plays the son. At first, a small part. Sabine arranged it. You know, she has friends in the theater. Now television. The work is there. So why not use Peter? A little extra money. And you know, she’s drawn to that life. So maybe it’s for her a little too. And then what happens? People like him. The funny one. But a good boy. So more lines. Now he’s well-known. One of the Publikumslieblinge.”

But will the SED want them to know? Nobody dies at the wall these days. You still have your old habits, Hans.” He turned to Martin. “Hans is a refugee from the West. He used to work for Springer, so he’s a bloodhound with a crime story. Except there is no crime in the Republic.” Martin’s actions during the war landed him in English prison and would have gotten him executed in America; he feels incredible guilt for helping create weapons that would kill hundreds of thousands of people. Stefan’s decision to call for peace go against the Cold War objectives of East Germany and Russia. Discuss the role that individuals can play in global events and the idea of personal accountability. How are these themes important today? Almost a laugh, caught in time. Then, when she kept staring, “We don’t have politics. Not like here.” Even worse. State property. Stealing state property. For this foolishness. What were you thinking?”

You think that?” Digby said, pretending to be offended. “Not very nice. But I suppose you have to think like that. In your line of work.” An audience darling. He imagined holding the car door for him, his chauffeur, some absurd turnabout. But what had he thought they’d be doing? Playing catch? Going to ball games? Martin glanced out the window. Another glass high-rise, dreary in gray Berlin, designed for sun. The socialist experiment, with car and driver.

All this business, a spy for a spy. It’s valuable, yes, of course we must do it, but what we really need is hard currency.” Hans made a faint smile. “Your next spy.” He looked at Martin. “You’re the physicist, no? So here’s another. My interview today.” He tilted his head up, someone at the hotel. “A returnee. What do you ask a physicist? That a reader understands?” On second thought, maybe you’ll fit right in. With the Krauts. They say everybody’s got an ear out over there.” Not officially. But up here, yes.” She touched her head. “I used to think I was anyway.” Something people didn’t say out loud, the boldness of it another jolt.Reread the author’s note and, as a group, follow up on one of the real-life figures that inspired the characters in The Berlin Exchange. How are their lives different from those of the book’s characters? He arranged the Abel swap. And many others. Now too many. So there’s business for me,” he said, breezy, a car salesman. But she’d married him. Made him Peter’s father. Did Peter call him that? A journalist, Hans Reiger, constantly dogs Martin about a violent incident that occurred during his exchange, in an effort to answer the same questions Martin has about it. In chapter 4, Kurt insists again that “nobody wants such a story,” yet goes out of his way to throw Hans off the trail. What does this signal about the importance of Hans’s story? Who do you think could be interested after all? What’s going to happen here? A war. Things will get worse and worse. And now it’s not so easy to go. But an American. And then you looked at me like that.” The “Berlin Exchange” has some similarities to “Came In From The Cold” but is a second rate version. Let me clarify.