Nick is looking forward to seeing the sights of Berlin. The zoos, the Brandenburg Gate and the beautiful buildings all sound amazing. It’s his first time leaving his home in Auckland New Zealand and he wants to make the most of it. It’s December 1999, and talk of the Y2K bug bringing the world down is also on his mind. He’s only 15, and he worries this will be his only trip overseas.

He is accompanying his Grandpa Joe who has brought Grandma Sofie’s ashes to scatter across a nostalgic German waterfall. Nick secretly believes he is also on the trip to keep an eye on Grandpa and make sure he doesn’t get lost or disoriented.

But as soon as they book in at their West Berlin hotel, they leave it again, hop on and off trains, and veer down side streets, doubling back on themselves, all while pulling their suitcases. Nick wonders if his parents were right about Grandpa getting confused?

He quickly realises Grandpa Joe knew exactly what he was doing, and they arrive at an apartment. The very apartment Grandpa Joe lived in all those years before Nick was even thought of.

It’s only hours before Nick finds himself alone in a foreign city, wondering where his grandfather is. With the help of a girl he’s met called Rejhana, he begins to look for him, goes to the police and soon learns it was the worst thing he could do.

Suddenly he and his new friend are being pursed for no reasons he can fathom. Nick is doing things he would never have dreamed of as they flee a relentless chase through West Berlin and beyond.

All he has are intriguing items of Grandpa’s he’s found and Rejhana’s endless courage in the face of danger. Nick soon realises he is made of sterner stuff than he ever thought, and maybe even has a few of Grandpa’s old skills as a spy against Germany.

Wow! What an exhilarating read! Fans of the award winning series Katipo Joe will love this new series, introducing Nick – grandson to Katipo Joe himself.

Set in the city of West Berlin and beyond, Nick is separated from Grandpa Joe very early on in the book and must rely on his new friend and himself to survive a relentless pursuit by gun toting ex Stasi soldiers. Nick is neurodivergent and has spent his life trying to fit in and not showing his true self – but these very traits shine in Spider Games.

The plot is fast-moving, with trust constantly being stretched and shifting from beneath Nick until he realises he can only rely on himself. This ups the stakes, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat, along with kidnappings, grenades, ghost train stations, and rendezvous among a city celebrating the new millennium.

The author takes the reader to a rich and authentic real-life setting in 1999 West Berlin, from his personal experience of the city.

Spider Games not only allows Katipo Joe fans some closure as to what happened to those characters after that series was completed, but introduces new readers to a new action-packed, pulse-pounding series with a new and neurodivergent hero.

Can’t wait for the next episode. No pressure, Mr Falkner.

Author – Brian Falkner

Age – 12+

Find the Katipo Joe series here

Publisher – Bateman Books NZ

Set in – Late 1999 West Berlin

Viewpoints – 1st person

Orphan? – No

Violence – Yes

Real Life – Yes

Fantasy – No

Blend – YA / Historical / Action / Thriller

(2026, Bateman Books, NZ Author, Aotearoa New Zealand, Spies, Danger, Murder, Stasi, West Berlin, Germany, Y2K, 1999, Scattering Ashes, Arson, Ghost Train Stations, Pursuit, Survival, Action, Adventure, Life or Death, CIA, German Police, Historical, Series)