The Stasi File

Dust from the demolished Berlin Wall has barely settled, the East German police state is teetering on the edge of collapse, and Stasi General HOLGER FRANTZ will stop at nothing to save it. Caught in his intrigue are two unlikely heroes: American lawyer ROLF KELLER, recently divorced, fresh off the bottle, and mysteriously dispatched by his senior law partner to coordinate document drops by a defecting Stasi agent, and aspiring opera diva SYLVIA MAZZONI, Rolf's former lover who has been coerced into acting as courier.

After the scheme goes fatally awry, the reluctant recruits uncover an assassination plot designed to thwart the unification of East and West Germany. In the crosshairs of rival intelligence services and with a professional Stasi killer hot on their heels, Sylvia and Rolf resist the urge to run for their lives, and risk everything to stop the assassins.

2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarterfinalist

First Place 2022 Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest

German Edition: Die Stasi-Akte – Oper und Spionage: Eine tödliche Kombination (Diva Unverzagt Buch 1)

Also by Peter Bernhardt:

Sequel: Kiss of the Shaman’s Daughter – Revolt, Lost Treasure, and Smugglers (Diva Undaunted Book 2); Second Place 2022 Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest
German Edition: Kuss der Schamanentochter – Revolte, Verlorener Schatz und Schmuggler (Diva Unverzagt Buch 2)

Red Romeo – Stasi Gigolos and the Spy Hunter of Germany (Inspired by Actual Events); First Prize 2023 Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest
German Edition: Roter Romeo – Stasi Gigolos und die Spionjägerin von Deutschland (Inspiriert durch tatsächlich zugetragene Ereignisse)

As I approached my prime, I developed the powerful urge to write thrillers. My wife harbored the absurd suspicion midlife crisis had struck, because I was bound in those days to courtroom and desk at the U.S. Attorney's Office. So my dream remained just that for a long time. As soon as I retired, though, we moved to Arizona and I took things in hand by enrolling in a workshop for wannabe authors.

The workshop was a bust, but it did push me into tackling my first book, The Stasi File - Opera and Espionage: A Deadly Combination, in which, following the age-old advice to "write what you know," I wove together the unlikely combination of a German upbringing, a lifelong love of opera and my experiences as an attorney. After a beginning that seemed to take forever, I was surprised when the challenge of creating characters and building a plot that was real and intriguing started to take over my waking hours, and a few sleeping ones too.

My skill and talent developed quickly, but there were many times they seemed almost superfluous--I was too busy holding on tight as "my" characters and their actions took over and went their own ways, leaving me to serve as their scribe and menial servant. What a journey!

"The Stasi File" was named a finalist for Book of the Year by the British Arts Council sponsored website YouWriteOn.com, and is ranked a bestseller by the site. The novel was a quarter finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. For reviews see amazon.com/Stasi-File-Peter-Bernhardt/dp/1849233845 and my website, sedonaauthor.com.

I've completed writing Kiss of the Shaman's Daughter, which pits The Stasi File protagonists, Sylvia and Rolf, against ruthless smugglers of Indian artifacts during Sylvia's engagement at the Santa Fe Opera, interweaving as subplot the story of thirteen-year old Indian girl, Teya, during the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680 that drove the Spanish from New Mexico.