THE KENNEDY IMPERATIVE

While the construction of the Berlin Wall challenges JFK with the first major crisis of his presidency, young CIA agent Philip Marsden is sent on his first mission across into East Berlin. Here he becomes a fugitive as he tries to discover the truth about his Russian-born mother who was once a double agent.

The opening describes the beginnings of the Berlin Wall and its devastating effect on both the city and the world. At this time, Philip Marsden – recruited from Harvard and fresh out of CIA training – is sent on his first ever mission, where he's due to act as translator at a low-level conference in East Berlin. Inexplicably, he's arrested at the checkpoint, taken to the notorious KGB headquarters at Karlshorst and locked in a cell. Against the tensions of the new Wall, this seizure becomes a geo-political incident, yet another setback for the new Kennedy administration. With his natural fluency in Russian, Philip devises an ingenious plan to escape from his cell and almost succeeds but is foiled at the last minute. Meanwhile, the Soviets are demanding an exchange for Philip's release. They want his mother back, a refugee from Stalin's purges and a former double agent. After much discussion, the White House agrees and the exchange is made – but Philip is outraged and immediately demands to go back across the Wall to find his mother.

As West Berlin is encircled and threatened, the political crisis escalates but within the Kennedy cabinet there are deep divisions: between those wanting an aggressive response and those, including the Kennedys, who advise caution. The catalyst is General Clay, a controversial figure who sets out to challenge the Soviet stance by pushing the limits of his own authority.
LEON BERGER is the author of two literary fiction novels in hard cover and 3 commercial fiction, including 2 recent thrillers, in trade paperback. All were distributed in Canada, three in the US and rights were also sold in Europe. He was reviewed in Globe & Mail, La Presse and Time and featured on Book TV.