I thought it would be interesting to discuss books, which are either about, set in or partly set in Switzerland.
I'll kick-off this irregular series with a book, which I've just finished, namely Burner, the 12th book in the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney. Spoiler alert: I will mention some of the plot, which could spoil the story for you if you'd like to read it. I will however only mention the parts of the book related to or set in Switzerland, adding some of my own personal context
Quick note about the Gray Man series in case you're not familiar with it. Maybe you've heard of or seen the Gray Man movie starring Ryan Gosling on Netflix released in 2022? I enjoyed the movie and read in the press at the time, that it was loosely based on a book. A short time later I got the first book of the series on Audible and I enjoyed it so much that I've been working my way through the series ever since. There are currently 15 books in the series and Mark Greaney publishes a new one approximately every year. The main protagonist of the books is Courtland Gentry aka Violator aka Sierra Six aka The Gray Man, a former CIA assassin who completes various dangerous missions throughout the world. Each book can be read as a stand alone story, but each book does continue the larger story and some of the characters reappear in several books. I mentioned the first book in the series The Gray Man above. I'll definately come back to it in a future post, as it's also partly set in Switzerland, but I thought I'd start with the most recent book I've read, as it's fresh in my mind.
Burner starts in Zurich where Ukranian banker Alex Velesky, who works for a dodgy Swiss bank (cliché alert), receives information detailing financial transactions of Russian money moving into the west to pay intelligence sources. The Ukrainian banker turns whistle blower, stealing further information from his employer, sending some of it to an anti-Russian lawyer in New York. Soon Velesky is being chased on foot through Zurich's old town by goons working for Russian intelligance. Following his capture he is rescued by freelance mercenary Zoya Zakharova, who is working for a competing Swiss bank who also wants Velesky's information. Zakharova is a recurring character in the books and the former lover of Court Gentry. Zakharova takes Velesky to a safe house in the town of Wengen in the Bernese Oberland to await hand over to the other Swiss bank.
Wengen is probably best known for hosting the Lauberhorn downhill ski race. Wengen is car free and located on the mountain railway line between Lauterbrunnen and Kleine Scheidegg. We visited the town in June 2020, just after the mountain railways, cablecars and so on started opening up again after the Covid lockdown. The Lauterbrunnen valley is a very beautiful area, which incidentally also features briefly at the end of the earlier Gray Man novel Agent in Place. The evil Swiss fixer Sebastian Drexler is introduced in Agent in Place and he reemerges in Burner, working for Russian intelligence.
Back to Burner, following a shoot out at the safe house in Wengen Zakharova and Velesky escape to Milan, Italy, where Zakharova was living in a small flat. From there they take the Intercity train towards Geneva, from where they plan to get a flight to the USA to meet the lawyer to whom Velesky sent the incriminating information. Meantime Gentry has also arrived in Milan and is also after Velesky, having been on a related mission in the Caribbean. Having received intelligence that Velesky is on the train to Geneva, which has already left, he races on a motorbike to the picturesque Italian town of Domodossola to get on the train before it enters the Simplon tunnel into Switzerland.
I've visited Domodossola myself on a driving trip from central Switzerland over the Brünig Pass, the Grimsel Pass and finally the Simplon Pass from Brig to Domodossola. The following day we drove the narrow, twisty road through the Centovalli Region from Domodossola to Locarno in the Swiss canton of Ticino. Finally, we returned to central Switzerland via the Gotthard Pass.
Returning to the story, a gun battle between the Russian assets, Gentry and Zakharova erupts on the train as it's passing through the Simplon tunnel. By the time the train reaches Brig in Switzerland several people have been killed or injured and even Gentry is presumed dead, having been pushed out of the moving train.
I'll leave you on that cliffhanger, as the story then moves on from Switzerland to the USA, where there is plenty more action.
If you like fast-paced thrillers with lots of action then I'd definately recommend the Gray Man series. I like that the books are based in lots of different international locations and it's especially interesting if you've personally visited some of the locations, as I have. According to interviews with the author Mark Greaney that I've heard or read, he thoroughly reasearches his books including visiting the locations and I think that comes across. I'm planning to read The Chaos Agent, the next installment in the Grey Man series, later this year and I'm already wondering where in the world it'll take the globetrotting assassin Court Gentry.