SAFE HOUSES is a satisfying thriller that veers between the end of the Cold War and the almost-present day, taking the reader from Berlin to Paris, to D.C. and the Eastern Shore of Maryland over a span of 35 years.

The story begins in 1979 when Helen Abell is a young CIA employee in charge of maintaining its safe houses in West Berlin. She is checking on a property when she overhears two separate but equally rattling conversations, and suddenly realizes that her job --- and her safety --- is in jeopardy. In one conversation, where she witnesses what appears to be an attempted rape, she feels compelled to confront the aggressor, a powerful operative who has lured his agent to the house under the pretense of a meeting. News of her “meddling” spreads, and before long Helen is on the run, until a seeming truce with her supervisor and the operative allows her to quietly leave the country, and the service.

"[M]uch of what Fesperman writes about is based, at least in part, on real events and accounts. Reading verifiable fiction is a particular pleasure, and SAFE HOUSES is one of the very best in its class."

Flash forward to 2014. Shortly after Helen’s mentally ill son has apparently murdered both her and her husband, daughter Anna determines to find out what might have triggered the attack. She hires Henry, a young man with investigative skills who has been living near her parents, and together they start to untangle a complex web of interwoven histories. Both conversations that Helen witnessed in Berlin play a role, as do two “sisters” who helped her along the way and have kept in touch over the years, each for her own reasons.

SAFE HOUSES is timely because so much of the plot revolves around attitudes toward women in government services, both as victims and as whistleblowers. Dan Fesperman handles this with sensitivity and compassion, drawing a number of memorable characters, especially the feisty, fearless Helen. He is a sure-handed writer, but at times the coincidences and farfetched plot are hard to justify, even with the best of explanations.  Nevertheless, by the end of the book, the reader will be impressed that so many plot lines have been resolved satisfactorily and everyone has gotten his or her just rewards.

What makes the book even more enjoyable is that much of what Fesperman writes about is based, at least in part, on real events and accounts. Reading verifiable fiction is a particular pleasure, and SAFE HOUSES is one of the very best in its class.