Voices Under Berlin: The Tale of a Monterey Mary by T.H.E. Hill Search Amazon for other books by or about T.H.E. Hill. Rating: Reviewed by: Po Wong

Berlin is arguably the most famous city in the world of spy fiction, thanks to a good number of best-selling Cold War novels. Voices under Berlin uses that same setting, but it definitely is not -- nor does it strive to be -- the kind of high-tension, action-packed spy story that typically makes its way to Hollywood. Rather, this novel derives its charm and appeal from a mixture of humor and reality (more mundane than fiction, most of the time -- but not always).

The voices of the title refer to telephone conversations between Russian military personnel in Berlin in the 1950s, as recorded in wiretaps by American intelligence forces. The voices are under Berlin because the wiretaps were done from a clandestine underground tunnel crossing from Allied-occupied West Berlin into Russian-occupied Berlin. The "Monterey Mary" of the subtitle refers to an interpreter trained at the Defense Language Institute West Coast in Monterey. The hero of the novel, albeit a low-key one, is Kevin, a Monterey Mary whose job it is to listen in on and interpret the tapped Russian conversations in hopes on discovering Russian plans and secrets. The cast of characters also includes the enigmatic and unnamed Chief of Base, whose concern for secrecy is such that he shows up in disguise every time he visits the tunnel operations. Then there are the veteran Sergeant Lauflaecker, the suspected black-marketer Blackie, and the by-the-book but clueless Lieutenant Sheerluck.

In this setting, Kevin is a hero in the mold of McMurphy, the rebellious asylum inmate who is the protagonist in Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Kevin manages to do his job despite the blind obedience to stringent regulations that frequently overrides common sense and intelligence in large military operations, and despite the widespread ineptness around him. He proves to be not just an excellent interpreter but a masterful political analyst as well. Where lesser listeners misread the subtext of a Russian conversation, Kevin expertly deduces the true significance of the "voices". His expertise even results, at one point, to saving the life of a West German intelligence officer targeted for assassination by the Russians.

The other members of the cast of characters appear only in the transcripts: the various Russians that Kevin and company listen in on. The transcripts of their conversations actually make up a good part of the book's appeal. They have the ring of authenticity and show the human face of the enemy. For example, two key Russians in the transcripts are brothers-in-law and discuss family affairs. In another conversation, one speaker provides tips on where to find the best fish and chips in London if one were assigned there.

The human face of the Allied side is shown, too, in the love stories of Kevin and his fellow tunnel rats and in constant pranks they play on one another. The love stories turn out to be more than just romantic interest, as it turns out that one of the girl friends involved is a Russian "honey-trap" planted to ferret out Allied secrets.

Actually, the honey trap angle provides the only actual tension or suspense in the book. The rest of the book seems less of a novel than a collection of episodes depicting the adventures and misadventures of the "tunnel rats involved in this secret operation. Nonetheless, Voices under Berlin is a coherent, funny, and often sardonic look at real espionage work. The detail is so realistic that you may find yourself wondering, as I did, whether this is a novel or the memoirs of an actual intelligence agent. Of course, if you're looking for James Bond, you won't find him here. What you will find is a fascinating account of what it must have been like to be toiling away at an important but often dreary job underneath the streets of Berlin during the Cold War years.