"Marc Perlman’s taut, intricate and engaging work demands our engagement. With precision, clarity and occasional lyricism, The Riddle of the Trees blends the elements of international intrigue into a very human story, carried by characters who are three-dimensional, complex and, in their struggles to identify what’s real and what’s right, become universal. This is not a predictable novel, nor is it one to be taken lightly. It merits a careful read, perhaps more than one, and careful thought, with the reward being a memorable exploration of a distinctive time and a distinctive place. Perlman has scored a major win with this work."

- Greg Fields
Author, The Bright Freight of Memory
Winner, American Writing Award for Literary Fiction
Southern California Book Festival Book of the Year

"With The Riddle of the Trees, Marc Perlman has given us an unconventional spy story that is both engrossing and timely, given the specter of spreading conflict in Eastern Europe. Perlman’s book is a joy to read and difficult to put down."

- Jason Sokol
Author of All Eyes Are Upon Us: Race and Politics from Boston to Brooklyn, History Professor at the University of New Hampshire

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading Marc Perlman's, The Riddle Of The Trees. As an ex-Air Force pilot who has travelled all over the world, I’ve become a student of history as Marc shows us he is too. More than that, Marc shows us that we often take for granted the freedoms we enjoy as he reminds us about the sadistic and frightening treatment citizens suffer under the brutal dictatorships that still plague this world. Follow along as Marc’s hero and heroine struggle desperately to stay one step ahead of the KGB. I promise, you won’t want to put down The Riddle of the Trees until the very last page."

- Richard Hess, USAF Lt Col (ret)
Author of Night of the Bear and High Flight, A Pilot’s Journey Through Life

" The Riddle of the Trees is a suspenseful tale of international espionage and conflict. It's also a poignant personal story of memory, inheritance, and trauma. It's also a wonderfully breezy primer on the history and present of the former Soviet bloc. Above all, The Riddle of the Trees is a genuine pleasure to read. Perlman is an impressively assured writer, all the more impressive for the fact that this is his first novel."

- Daniel Oppenheimer
Author of Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Century and host of the Eminent Americans podcast

Reviews

"The Riddle of the Trees draws on the serious tradition of literary espionage while ultimately charting its own course—less concerned with spycraft for its own sake than with history, memory, and the quiet moral costs borne by ordinary people. Marc Perlman has a distinctive voice, and its value shows."

- Lawrence Cunningham
Author of No. 1 International Bestseller, The Essays of Warren Buffett, Professor Emeritus, George Washington University Law School

"A page turner with a deep understanding of history, and the deeply human yearning for healing and redemption."

-Phil Graubart
Author of Here There Is No Why and Women and God

"An outstanding thriller that puts you at the heart of the action!"

"The plot is expertly crafted, with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat."

"An engaging, cinematic read that mixes history, suspense, and emotion."

- Netgalley.com reviews

"Perlman’s debut novel is a wonderfully entertaining and timely thriller, rich with detail and emotional depth. What begins as an intimate personal journey expands into something far larger, weaving a tender love story with the volatile realities of Eastern European geopolitics and a vividly rendered historical past. The result is an engrossing, layered novel that balances suspense with genuine heart."

— Marc Meyers, Filmmaker of My Friend Dahmer, Human Capital, All My Life

"The balance the author found between action-packed spy thrillers and espionage narratives with deeper, more personal and emotional character depth was top-notch, allowing the reader to feel perfectly immersed in this international setting. . . Memorable, entertaining, and thrilling."

-Anthony Avina
Author and Blogger

"American lawyer Perlman has a love of Eastern Europe and a knowledge drawn from travelling the region that infuses this spy thriller. After the fall of the Soviet Empire, a Belarusian physicist, troubled by the dictatorship, believes in a better world for his family. He has joined the resistance and is on his first mission, sadly it and he are doomed as the security forces, still known as the KGB, are watching every move. The courier winds up dead in a forest. Meanwhile, Jack Miller is heading to Eastern Europe to explore the place his family’s past, he needs to understand the rift that developed between his grandfather and father, Holocaust survivors. In Minsk Jack falls for tour guide Anna. Their journey into the past together, which takes them to the Belavezskaya Forest, will lead them to secrets that have dire consequences for the future of the world. With the KGB on their tail, Jack must survive to tell the west what is going on, it will test his love for Anna.
This is complex, the threads of the story build steadily toward a twisty and satisfying denouement. It’s a story of post Soviet collapse that has roots deep in WWII. It’s about reconnecting with family Cold War roots and the generations that lived through unimaginable times and had to make difficult choices.

-Paul Burke
Aspects of Crime

"Perlman’s debut novel is a character-driven thriller whose plot traffics in state secrets and clandestine organizations but remains grounded by focusing not on trained operatives, but on ordinary people. Jack’s story serves as the reader’s window into this world, but several other characters are also civilians trying to do the right thing. The novel often jumps among their perspectives—and occasionally those of actual spies—but it stays rooted in intimate, believable character work throughout. The thriller plot unfolds slowly, with tension interrupted by thrills at well-spaced intervals. Perlman displays a level of confidence and craft that’s rare in first novels; the structure and pacing are near-perfect, and the prose adjusts to quiet character moments and slow-burn suspense with equal skill. The payoffs are well worth the price of admission, whether they involve haunting revelations about Jack’s family or the terrifying implications of Cold War–style statecraft in the 21st century.

An intimate, emotionally rich debut novel with a high-stakes espionage plot."

- Kirkus Reviews (Recommended review)