28 Days in Berlin by Joan Strobel

A new job, a new city, a new romance … but murder and espionage hang in the air in Joan Strobel’s 28 Days in Berlin.

Iza Carter flies across the Atlantic for a new job at Consular Affairs in the US Embassy in Berlin, but things turn out far from what she had expected. Upon arriving at the airport, Iza catches a guy going through her one piece of checked luggage, which contains her life’s possessions. She finds nothing missing or added to her suitcase and decides not to report the incident to the airport authorities.

Later at an Embassy event, she meets Volodya Korsun, a Ukrainian national working in Berlin as an AI programmer. Iza likes his mysterious aura and sexy accent.

They say it is sometimes easier to confide in strangers with your problems, probably because there is lesser risk of being judged, and that is precisely what initiates the relation between Iza and Volodya.

A Whirlwind Berlin Romance

Iza has a problem she really doesn’t have anybody to turn to for help. Sure, she has her father’s friend Tony, a well-connected guy in the government who also happens to come to Berlin very often — but when he’s not taking Iza’s calls, she gets desperate. In a moment of true serendipity, Volodya is there when she needs somebody to trust with her growing suspicions, not to mention Volodya’s willingness to help and support Iza. He can’t resist helping the damsel in distress he sees in his new American friend. Soon after, the two lonely people find comfort and friendship — perhaps even romance — in each other as more strange events keep happening to or around the two of them, from break-ins to a murder just outside Iza’s building.

Volodya’s limited grasp of the English language lends to some humor, as meanings get lost in translation. Iza, for her part, is presented as both bold enough to travel around the world for a new job, but unaccustomed to dangerous situations that lurk around her. They make for a good team of sleuths as they investigate the events that keep piling up.

The inventive manner of making each chapter one day of the purported 28 days from the title also lends the feeling that the book is happening in real-time, like the famed TV series 24. The book is told in both Iza and Volodya’s points of view, in close third-person interlaced with glimpses of their inner thoughts.

Love Amidst War

Borrowing elements of the fish out of water and the rookie way over their head tropes, this story is a thrilling mix of romance, espionage and, why not, even an author-guided tour of certain areas of Berlin. Joan Strobel has certainly done her research about Germany’s capital city, the inner workings of the consular offices and services abroad, as well as the current headlines. Set in recent times, from Wednesday, October 12 to Monday, November 7 of 2022, the book uses, to good effect, the invasion of Russia against Ukraine to raise the stakes of the story. 28 Days in Berlin is a good summer read that will keep you entertained and wondering how the pair will get out of the rabbit hole they have fallen into.