Length9h 6m
About this audiobook
September 1976. In East Germany, a railway scheduler notices military trains given priority routes west. Their return journeys have vanished from the timetable.
In London and Langley, Helen Ward and David Hale sift fragments of intelligence that suggest more than another exercise, but every warning must survive the desks between analyst and decision. Across the divide, Soviet officer Natalia Belova risks passing information to the CIA while hunting whoever stands behind a protected name: Tsar.
Then Soviet forces cross into West Germany.
For German battalion commander Martin Keller, the crisis becomes roads, river crossings and orders that arrive too late. For those following the intelligence trail, the closer they get to the source, the harder it is to know whom to trust.
First Light opens The Red Crown, an alternate-history series of Cold War espionage, political intrigue and conventional war in 1976 Europe.
Audiobook details
GenreMystery and Thriller, Historical Fiction
Length9 hrs 6 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateOct 25, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Prologue
2Chapter 1 — The Missing Return
3Chapter 2 — The Guesthouse
4Chapter 3 — The Intercept
5Chapter 4 — The Amendment
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6Chapter 5 — The Home Road
7Chapter 6 — The Inspection
8Chapter 7 — The Older Sister
9Chapter 8 — Readiness Report
10Chapter 9 — The German Offer
11Chapter 10 — Terms of Consent
12Chapter 11 — The Person Left Behind
13Chapter 12 — The Last Briefing
14Chapter 13 — First Light
15Chapter 14 — Across the Line
16Chapter 15 — The First Map
17Chapter 16 — The Unfinished Timetable
18Chapter 17 — The Closed File
19Chapter 18 — The Town Behind Them
20Chapter 19 — The Objective Taken
21Chapter 20 — Two Clocks
22Chapter 21 — The Price of Progress
23Chapter 22 — The Reserve
24Chapter 23 — The Missed Meeting
25Chapter 24 — The Pocket Forming
26Chapter 25 — The Qualified Warning
27Chapter 26 — The Last Approach
28Chapter 27 — The Corridor
29Chapter 28 — The Limit
30Chapter 29 — Her Sister's File
31Chapter 30 — The Decision to Stay
32Chapter 31 — Too Late
33Chapter 32 — The Surviving Force
34Chapter 33 — An Honest Map
35Chapter 34 — The Hospital List
36Chapter 35 — The Unnamed Sponsor
37Chapter 36 — The War That Remains
38Epilogue — The Second Ledger
39About the Author
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