The Web of Spies
Espionage / Thriller
Date Published: 9/17/24
Publisher: FJK-KW Press
Former SOE operative Luba Haas and MI6 agent Natalie Jenkins secretly enter Poland in 1948 to meet with a sleeper agent and anti-communist insurgents, not realizing their mission has been compromised by a mole deep inside British intelligence. Hunted by both Soviet and Polish security services, they attempt a harrowing escape, not knowing whom they can trust as they try to outrun their pursuers.
Inspired by the true events of Poland's anti-communist insurgency, the Cambridge Five spy scandal, and a covert British operation to roll back communism to the borders of the USSR, Operation Nightfall: The Web of Spies sheds light on a lesser known story of the Cold War and immerses readers into the shadowy world of spy-versus-spy operations.
Interview with Karl Wegener
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
I write spy novels inspired by actual historical events. I’m not a historian, but there is power in historical fiction because it has the power to shed light on important historical events in an entertaining way. Historians such as Stephen Ambrose have brought us BAND OF BROTHERS. British historian Clare Mulley has focused on the impact of women during World War II, and her biography, THE SPY WHO LOVED, which is the story of Christine Granville, the UK’s greatest female spy during the war inspired me to base a character on her. So, I am indebted to historians who have taken the time to document these events in detail because they provide the foundation for my work.
How do you select the names of your characters?
My novels are set in Europe, during the Cold War era and I am of German descent. I’ve done the genealogical research and have traced my family back to mid-16th century Germany. As a result, many of the characters are names I have plucked from my family tree.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
There are no secrets, per se, but my books are inspired by true events from Cold-War era history. But, those events are lesser known, or perhaps forgotten. For example, my second novel, Operation Nightfall: The Web of Spies, was inspired by the Polish anti-communist insurrection which took place from 1945 – 1953. Many people don’t know that when WWII ended in 1945, fighting continued in Poland. Additionally, most people didn’t know the British mounted an aggressive campaign to overthrow communist governments in Poland and throughout the Baltic and attempted to roll back communism to the borders of the Soviet Union. Keen students of history may be aware of the history that inspired the story. But for the average person, it is probably new information.
What was your hardest scene to write?
As I mentioned, Operation Nightfall: The Web of Spies takes place during the anti-communist insurrection in Poland. This was a time when the Soviet Union occupied Poland with more than 300,000 troops. It was a time of extreme violence and combat between the insurgent forces and the Soviet Red Army and the Polish People’s Army. There are a number of scenes which depict combat, and the brutality and violence associated with combat, but I didn’t want to be overly graphic. So, I tried to write those scenes with restraint and leave it to the imagination of the reader to fill in the details. It’s a fine line to navigate, but I think leaving it up to the reader makes the scene even more powerful.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I have written two novels, Grown Men Cry Out at Night and Operation Nightfall: The Web of Spies, and they are part of a trilogy. However, I have written them as standalone novels. They do not necessarily need to be read in order, or even together. But doing so will give the reader a deeper understanding of the two main characters, Caspar Lehman and Luba Haas, who appear in these novels and will appear in the final novel in the trilogy.
What inspired you to write Operation Nightfall: The Web of Spies?
I like to focus on forgotten events. So, with Operation Nightfall, I wanted to shed light on a lesser-known story of the Cold War, specifically the Polish anti-communist insurrection. I wanted to help modern readers understand the brutality that occurred during the Soviet occupation of Poland. During WW2, Poland lost between 4 million – 6 million people, including more than 3 million Jews. From 1945 – 1953, hundreds of thousands of Poles died or disappeared, shipped off to concentration camps in Siberia, never to return. This is a story worthy of mention.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
I want to inspire readers to learn more about the events of the Cold War, but I also want to entertain them with a compelling story. I am very pleased that independent, editorial reviewers have picked up on that calling the book, “A classic, spy-versus-spy thrill,” and go on to say, “While many pulp 20th-century spy thrillers rely on a mixture of brawn, bravado, and luck, Operation Nightfall is a uniquely personal and provocative thriller that unveils the political machinations of the time period alongside the intricacy and suspense of real-world espionage.”
Can you tell us a little bit about what you have planned for the future?
I’m in the very early stages of writing the third leg of the trilogy. What I can tell you is that it is also based on a virtually unknown story of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was very well documented, and that event brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. But what people do not know is the Soviets had based the same missiles in East German and in the Baltic states as early as 1959. They went largely undetected, and that is what my next novel will be about.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Operation Nightfall: The Web of Spies?
Almost all of the main characters in my books are inspired by the lives of real people. I’ve changed their names of course and have taken literary license to invent a story around them, dialogue, and so on.
As I mentioned, Luba Haas was inspired by the real-life exploits of Krystyna Skarbek or Christine Granville. I’m not the first writer to do so. Both Ian Flemming and John Le Carre based characters on her and there are stories that they both knew her during the war. But I am not sure that is true.
The character Caspar Lehman, who is Luba’s partner in the series, is inspired by the war time experiences of a U.S. Army counterintelligence agent who would later go on to become one of America’s greatest writers, a fellow by the name of J.D. Salinger.
And finally, I should mention the main antagonist in the book, Russian Lt. Colonel Yuri Sokolov is based on a man by the name of Vasili Blokhin. As evil as Sokolov is in my book, Blokhin was far worse. He was Stalin’s hand-picked, personal executioner. It is said he killed more than 10,000 people by his own hand, making him quite possibly the greatest assassin of all time. It’s not a record to be proud of, of course.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Finishing it. I don’t know who originated the quote, but I definitely agree with the sentiment: I hate to write, but I love having written!
Karl Wegener is an American author who served as a Russian linguist in the United States Army Security Agency and with the Intelligence & Security Command during the Cold War. He also served as a combat interrogator in the United States Air Force Intelligence Service Reserve.
Upon leaving active duty, he served as an intelligence and targeting analyst and worked on issues that included Soviet and Warsaw Pact force readiness, Soviet tactical and strategic missile system deployment and doctrine, and nuclear weapons logistics.
With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, he began a nearly 30-year career in marketing and advertising,. He was a vice president of marketing and product planning for a large Japanese consumer electronics company. He also worked as a freelance content strategist, copywriter, and editor for more than 15 years until he gave it up for the good life. He retired and moved to be near the ocean.
Nowadays when he is not writing, he enjoys cooking for friends and family. Sunday night dinner is his favorite event of the week. He currently resides on the East Coast of the United States with his wife and two dogs.
About the Author
Karl Wegener is a former Russian linguist, intelligence analyst, and combat interrogator who served in the U.S. Army and within the Intelligence Community during the Cold War.
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