The Bucharest Dossier is a classic espionage thriller set in 1989 against the back drop of the Romanian Revolution and the fall of communism. The protagonist, Bill Heflin, is a double refugee. As a child, he moved from Romania to Greece then on to America, resulting in a classic fish-out-of-water hero who never fits in. He attempts to establish a new identity in college by changing his name to Heflin and creating a new background for himself. While at Harvard, he is approached and recruited by the CIA. He ends up joining as an economic analyst. He is sent to Romania and, while carrying out his clandestine activities, searches for Pusha, his long-lost childhood love.
This book has tons of twists and turns and shifting, shifty personalities. The characters are well-developed. The setting in Romania has a special verisimilitude I found particularly appealing. On reading the author’s notes, I learned that he had been born in Romania, and like his main character and spent two years in a Greek refugee camp before moving to the U.S.
The Bucharest Dossier provides a realistic portrayal of the CIA and spycraft during the fall of communism. My main criticism is that the romance aspect is the least successful of the interwoven lines of this book, and I had a hard time figuring out why Bill would fall for such a marginally likable character as Catherine. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book.
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