Stasi 77

by David Young

  The inspiration for this novel came after I visited the site of the Gardelegen massacre in 2016. It was a very moving experience, and I was struck by the fact that a) I was the only visitor b) there were no obvious signposts to the memorial from the main road and c) instead of genuine floral tributes, there were plastic ones (perhaps this is understandable as wilted, old flowers would look even worse). The memorial stands towards the end of a country lane on the edge of Gardelegen, and one young woman seemed to be intent on destroying the sense of remembrance by sitting in her car at the entrance presumably in ignorance of where she was, playing deafeningly loud rock music. I glared at her, she got the message, and turned it down or off.

  But it felt like a forgotten piece of history. Something that should be respected better, and visited more. When my children were at school, ‘educational visits’ were often to exotic places like China – which seemed somewhat inappropriate and expensive for state schoolchildren. Surely sites like the remains of the Isenschnibbe barn would be cheaper and more relevant, to learn what the politics of hate can bring about at their worst excess?

  Thankfully, by the time you read this, things will have changed. The foundation stone for a new visitor centre at the memorial was laid on 4 June 2018 and building work is already well underway. So if nothing else, if you’ve enjoyed this novel – despite its sometimes grim contents – I’d encourage you to make a detour there and pay your respects to the more than a thousand slave labourers who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis at Isenschnibbe on 13 April 1945.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First off, huge thanks to my beta-readers from what was the GDR. Once again, former BBC News colleague Oliver Berlau did an invaluable job by reading an early draft of this manuscript and picking up on several things I’d got wrong. This time Oliver was joined by pianist Andreas Boyde, who also grew up in East Germany – and who showed me extracts from his Stasi file. Thanks so much to both of you, and it goes without saying that any remaining mistakes are solely down to me.

  I’d also like to thank my wife, Stephanie, for providing invaluable help and for finding the time to read and comment on my manuscript while writing a novel of her own.

  Thanks to everyone who turned up to my book events at libraries, festivals and bookshops over the last year and who said nice things about the books on Twitter and Facebook. Particular thanks to fellow author Jane Thynne who did a double act with me at several venues, despite me mucking up the technology on more than one occasion.

  Former BBC colleague Jat Dhillon is owed special thanks for helping spread the word via my promotional postcards.

  Above all, writing this novel wouldn’t have been possible without the excellent support and editorial skills of my editor Sophie Orme and the team at Bonnier Zaffre, and as always I’m hugely indebted to my agent, Adam Gauntlett, and his colleagues at Peters, Fraser & Dunlop literary agents.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  East Yorkshire-born David Young began his East German-set crime series on a creative writing MA at London’s City University when Stasi Child – his debut – won the course prize. The novel went on to win the 2016 CWA Historical Dagger, and both it and the 2017 follow-up, Stasi Wolf, were longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. His novels have been sold in eleven territories round the world. Before becoming a full-time author, David was a senior journalist with the BBC’s international radio and TV newsrooms for more than 25 years. He writes in his Twickenham garden shed and in a caravan on the Isle of Wight.

  Also by David Young

  Stasi Child

  Stasi Wolf

  A Darker State

  First published in Great Britain in 2019 by Zaffre

  This ebook edition published in 2019 by

  ZAFFRE

  80-81 Wimpole St, London, W1G 9RE

  Copyright © David Young, 2019

  Cover design by Lewis Csizmazia

  Cover photographs © Shutterstock

  The moral right of David Young to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978–1–78576–715–9

  Paperback ISBN: 978–1–78576–714–2

  This ebook was produced by IDSUK (Data Connection) Ltd

  Zaffre is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK

  www.bonnierbooks.co.uk