Could not put it down.

Grabbed me after a few chapters and kept me absorbed and on the edge until the very end.

Communist dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu has been ruling Romania for 24 years. The Communist Party spied on everyone and had a right to see and hear everything at all times. Romanians lived in constant fear, stood in line all day for just a can of dented beans, had their tiny apartments bugged, weren’t allowed to interact with “foreigners”, everyone had to report anything they saw.

Told from Christians POV, he is a high schooler who is tricked by the secret police to become an informer, a “rat”. He believes he can outwit them…

Short pacy chapters, breath holding/head spinning moments, my nerves were on edge. I’d call this one a historical thriller!

I learned so much about the history and culture of Romania, though this was a work of historical fiction, the dictatorship and suffering was real and heavily researched.

Owned copy/ read in Feb 2022