The Story of My Disappearance : A Novel

Although Paul Wedekind has created a new life for himself as a fisherman on the coast of Rhode Island, he is haunted by his violent past. As a patriotic young man, he enlisted in the East German Stasi and was sent to Afghanistan, where he and a friend were taken prisoner by the Mujahadin. Years later Paul is sent to America as a contact for the KGB, where his life is changed forever by one woman. Together, these two exiles must find the strength to resist demands of the men who claim to own them.

“Watkins writes fiction as thoughtful as it is stirring. His clean, Hemingwayesque prose speaks with urgency and beauty.” —Dan Cryer, Newsday

“Rich in detail, chokingly tense and gorgeously romantic . . . hoists its author to the top of his class.” —The San Francisco Chronicle

“From the first sentence, Paul Watkins' book grabs the reader and doesn't let go . . . As changeable as the sea: beautiful and romantic and brutal and ugly, but always fascinating.” —Chicago Tribune

“Subtly evocative . . . Ingenious.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)