BERLIN CONNECTION is a gripping account of three "little people" profoundly affected by the Berlin Wall and the military standoff in Europe. Their paths intersect in Berlin just prior to the partition, but powerful adversaries scatter them, shattering their hopes. In time, a changing world draws each of them back to Berlin on different paths. Their steadfast refusal to accept tyranny and strong determination to tear down the intolerable walls dividing them makes a suspenseful, sympathetic narrative. Vic Werner is a German-born American assigned to Berlin to scout Soviet military dispositions. Little does he know how much his pre-war childhood history will impact his future. He falls for Ilse Braun, a beautiful and talented actress scarred by Nazi death camps and surviving on illusions. Kurt Meyer, her manager and coach, is a double agent dedicated to preventing a world war and reunifying Germany while shuttling stolen documents across lines between his fiancé in the west and his sister in the east. A concrete curtain slams across Europe, altering history and threatening their lives. Confrontations with an East German spy-master and a mad Russian General create havoc. Oppressed Eastern-bloc people refuse to be denied freedom any longer and tear down the Berlin Wall. Vic, Ilse, and Kurt are finally reunited as the walls come down-the Berlin connection.
About the Author: Richard Taylor is a product of the Cold War, having served two years in Vietnam and over six years in Europe. From the army's operations and plans staff in Heidelberg he was first acquainted with the real threat of Soviet invasion. On NATO's International Military Staff, he was involved in plans and policies for nuclear war, conventional arms control negotiations, and confidence and security-building measures in Brussels and Vienna. He considers himself one of the multitudes of "little people" who chipped at the Berlin Wall dividing people and nations for thirty years. Taylor has published an account of his years in Vietnam in Prodigals: A Vietnam Story and a history of American veterans in his book Homeward Bound: American Veterans Return from War. He also served as an advisor in Iraq for two years and has published on Amazon a heartfelt story of two American soldiers in The Raptor and the Mourning Dove. He lives in Atlanta with his wife. Their children are grown.