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1968: Notes of discord in Prague’s Jazz festival….
Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz
What you need to know before your trail
The year is 1968. The liberal reforms of Czechoslovakia’s new leader, Alexander Dubcek, have outraged the Kremlin and now, 250,000 Warsaw Pact forces are amassed on the borders. For American intelligence, the situation is worsened when their prime source, Josef Blaha, threatens to cut them off unless one demand is met: a totally safe contact. For CIA veteran, Alan Curtis, jazz musician Gene Williams seems the ideal choice. His invitation to the Prague Jazz festival gives him perfect cover and access to Prague. But Williams is a musician, not a spy and has other ideas that force Curtis to resort to blackmail to get the young musician to accept what Curtis calls a simple pickup and delivery. It starts to go wrong when Williams finds Blaha murdered by the KGB and he’s left to unravel the puzzle on his own. What he finds is even more than Curtis bargained for. With the help of Blaha’s beautiful granddaughter Lena, Williams races against time to warn Dubcek of the impending invasion and uncover a traitor in the US Embassy.
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Discover Prague through its jazz festival!
European history, spying, and jazz music merge in the city of Prague when an American jazz drummer is caught up in Russia’s 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. Prague is hosting its famous jazz festival and the American is there to play music. However, it’s not long before he’s asked to engage in a little spying when the CIA ‘ask’ him to work for them.
Russia is about to invade but no one knows when. The city is on edge, the tension is high, the Cold War is well underway. This is the background of political intrigue and fear in the novel.
Prague’s jazz festival shows how music reflects the times:
“Why do you think jazz is so popular here and in other countries in Eastern Europe? It is free music from a free country. Willis Conover and his late night Voice of America broadcasts made him a god here. … It was the artists who began to change things.”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz
Destination: Prague Author/Guide: Bill Moody Departure Time: 1960s
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