The Budapest Escape: A Cold War Thriller    by Bill Rapp Order:  USA  Can Epicenter Press, 2019 (2019) Paperback      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth CIA officer Karl Baier is running a highly placed source in the Communist Party and Hungarian government from his post in Vienna. When he learns that his source is in danger, Baier knows he must return to Budapest to first find his source and then rescue him. That is if the man is still alive. Budapest Escape is the third in Bill Rapp's Cold War mysteries. Baier and a colleague go against orders from CIA Headquarters in Washington as they attempt to find and rescue the source. Not an easy task for anyone. Rescuing the source from Communists when the man does not want to be rescued proves challenging. When the source is located, the trio dodge Soviet tanks, evade Red Army patrols, escape from KGB prisons, and continue to disobey orders from Washington. All this is a lot for one book. Needless to say, the plot is tightly written. The reader feels part of the action, while enjoying the author's depiction of the lovely city of Budapest. The characters could easily be those whom you know. This is a book worth reading. It incorporates an abundance of historical facts, as well as the actors who were making conditions so dangerous. I must add that the author knows of what he write,s being a 35 year veteran of the CIA. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews