Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap (USA 2010)

From the Publisher:
At the height of the Cold War, two Americans are runnng a bar in the West German capital, called Mac's place. One of the pair, Michael Padillo, isn't around a lot; he keeps disappearing on "business trips." McCorkle, his partner, wisely doesn't ask questions; he knows Padillo has a second job -- he's a (reluctant) US agent. But McCorkle is ready to answer a call for help from Padillo, and he joins his friend in a blind journey with no inkling of what they will encounter at the turn of each dark and dangerous corner.

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap. Introduction by Stuart Kaminsky. St. Martin's eBook, ISBN: 9781429981668 (April, 2010), 506 KB (ca. 226 p.), $7.99.

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
At the height of the Cold War, two Americans are runnng a bar in the West German capital, called Mac's place. One of the pair, Michael Padillo, isn't around a lot; he keeps disappearing on "business trips." McCorkle, his partner, wisely doesn't ask questions; he knows Padillo has a second job -- he's a (reluctant) US agent. But McCorkle is ready to answer a call for help from Padillo, and he joins his friend in a blind journey with no inkling of what they will encounter at the turn of each dark and dangerous corner.

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap. Introduction by Stuart Kaminsky. St. Martin's Press, ISBN: 0312315813 (May, 2003), 208 p., $13.95.

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap (USA 1970)

From the Publisher:
Double crosses and double agents in a deadly game of wits on both sides of the Berlin wall...
MURDER AT MACS
McCORKLE - enjoyed good living and the best women, and ran the greatest bar In West Berlin until Mike Padillo walked in and became his partner.

PADILLO - was a likable guy, even if he was a U.S. undercover agent with the habit of disappearing for weeks at a time. But when he vanished on the heels of a killing in the bar, Mac McCorkle knew that something was wrong -- something that would plunge both of them into an East-West death game where even the winners might not get out alive...

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap. New York: Avon Books, 1970, Avon V2383 (December, 1970), 176 p., 75¢.

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap (USA 1967)

From the Publisher:
BLINDMAN'S BLUFF
Easy-going. Mac McCorkle knew only that his partner, Mike Padillo, had a mysterious other life and that it was wise not to ask questions about his occasional long absences from their bar in West Germany.

But when Padillo vanished following a fatal shooting in 'Mac's Place,' McCorkle found himself thrust blindly into a desperate and cynical game of wits, guns, women, spies, double spies, and triple spies on both sides of the berlin wall.

"Wonderful! Superb! Add your own superlatives... Enough suspense is engendered to riddle your nerves, all handled with the couldn't-care-less cool of today's operators." -- Los Angeles Times

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap. New York: Avon Books, 1967, Avon S302 (August, 1967), 176 p., 60¢.

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap (USA 1966)

From the Publisher:
The day Mike Padillo walks into Mac's Place in West Germany, everything changes. A customer is assassinated in the bar and owner Mac McCorkle discovers that Padillo, whom he has taken on as a business partner, is a spy for the U. S. Government.

From a rather complex past, Mac has managed to establish himself in a simple, uncomplicated present. He likes his life -- from the cheerful ringing of the cash register to the equally cheerful response of women to his charm and affluence. Now overnight, thanks to Padillo, he is thrust into a world more likely to end with a bang than a whimper.

For what appears to be a routine assignment turns out to be a deadly game of espionage -- a game in which the dealing is always double and the cards are often slipped from the bottom of the deck.

Writing with polish and wit Ross Thomas weaves his story with ingenuity and steadily mounting suspense to a chiling climax. His men are cool and intelligent, his women delightful, his plot full of umexpected twists. The Cold War Swap is a brilliant debut into the genre of espionage novels.

Ross Thomas: The Cold War Swap. A novel of espionage. New York: William Morrow & Co, 1966, 222 p., $3.95.