A Train to Potevka

Mike couldn't tell his own family what he was doing for his country. You see he was an intelligence officer in deep cover inside the Soviet Union. Now he's written a can't-put-it-down page-turner that he calls a spy novel. I was a CID agent in Saigon, worked for many years as an intelligence agent and supervisor for the Secret Service. For several years I supervised a task force at the CIA's Counter Terrorist Center. My jobs took me to war, to the White House, behind the Iron Curtain, and to former Warsaw Pact countries. Because I know intelligence work I think there's more truth than fiction in Mike's book. Being a bit of a romantic, I also find it an incredible love story. Could civil servants really be as religiously bigoted as Mike describes? I've seen it myself, and it's not just Mormons that feel it. A little clique of "hard-drinking, hard-loving, two-fisted, real men," which is to say lushes and cheaters put it to a young Baptist Agent because he refused to live down to their low standards. Could an intelligence agency be so inept and calloused as to leave a colleague behind in the middle of nowhere? Could,would,and have! A physician's assistant I worked with rescued a retired agent from just such a situation. He had gone to work as a covert contract employee for another agency. On assignment in one of the most backward countries in the world,he became deathly ill. Old friends found him and evacuated him back to the states, saving his life, no thanks to his new employer. Thank you Mike & Bon, for your service to our GREAT country!

A Train To Potevka; what an absolutely wonderful book! You might not see this book currently on the N.Y. Times Best Seller List, or Oprah's Book Club List, (yet) but give it time.... This is a book that once you open and start reading it is difficult to put down. Mr. Ramsdell's compassion for his country, and family is so uniquely put into words, that you feel it within your soul, as you read about this adventure, that tears at your heart, as he struggles to stay alive and hidden from the enemy. Most of all, it is a wonderful love story about country, faith, family, and his new bride Bonnie. This is one book that you don't want to miss reading, and you will be recommending to your friends.

Americans love spy stories. From James Bond to Jason Bourne, we enjoy watching and reading about them escaping with their lives with a beautiful woman at their side. Real spy work, however, isn't quite as wild as the movies or works of fiction would portray. Even though real spy work isn't glamorous as many of us believe, that doesn't mean it's boring. A Train to Potevka is a story about a real spy during the cold war. The story takes place as the Soviet Union is beginning to crumble. The author, Mike Ramsdell, is on an undercover mission in Siberia to extract a Russian criminal. Posed as a German oil investor, his cover gets blown and he's forced to flee to a safe house in the small city of Potevka - a slow, long train ride from his current location. During his train ride and subsequent stay in Potevka we are treated to flashbacks of Ramsdell's life from growing up in Bear River, Utah to his training to become a spy. Ramsdell's flashbacks are somewhat reminiscent of flashbacks from the television series Lost. And like Lost they serve as a useful way to get to know Ramsdell better. Each memory is specifically linked to the inner change that Ramsdell is slowly experiencing. Though there are some harrowing and exciting moments, the real story in this book is the author's inner transformation during his stay in Potevka and decisions he makes at the end of the book. The person we meet at the beginning of the book and the one at the end are two different people. This is rarely something we see in fictional spies such as James Bond who tends to have the same persona and character no matter what happens to him. Intermingled with Ramsdell's memories and adventures is a surprise love story that not only has a happy ending but helps show just what a powerful transformation Ramsdell experienced during that train ride to and short stay in Potevka. A Train to Potevka has no fancy gadgets, car chases, or explosions ala James Bond. But it does contain a page-turning, character-driven story that is powerful and memorable. It's a great, fast read and a must for those who want to see what the life of a spy is really entails.

I just finish rereading A Train To Potevka, enjoying it as much as the first time. My husband and I are from Idaho and now living in Siberia for 18 months. His descriptions of the train, the country-side, the villages, babushkas, and even McDonalds ring true today, many years after the story takes place. It is easy to love the people and land of Russia despite the years of communist rule that smothered the soul and exploited the resources of this great land. Ramsdell's narative speaks to both the tragedy and the triumph of a country just beginning to find itself.