Defectors
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3.7 • 18 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of Leaving Berlin comes an explosive and richly imagined thriller set in the early days of the Cold War.
SOME SECRETS SHOULD NEVER BE TOLD
Moscow, 1961: With the launch of Sputnik, the Soviet Union's international prestige is at an all-time high. And the most notorious of the defectors to the Soviet Union, former CIA agent Frank Weeks, is about to publish his memoir. What he reveals will send shock waves through the West. Weeks' defection in the early 1950s shook Washington to its core – and forced the resignation of his brother, Simon, from the State Department.
Simon, now a publisher in New York, is given the opportunity to read and publish his brother’s memoir. He knows the US government will never approve the publication of what is clearly intended as KGB propaganda. Yet the offer is irresistible: it will finally give him the chance to learn why his brother chose to betray his country.
But what he discovers in Moscow is far more shocking than he ever imagined . . .
PRAISE FOR JOSEPH KANON:
'Joseph Kanon continues to demonstrate that he is up there with the very best of the current crop of spy thriller writers . . . he is the master of the shadows of the era . . . a frightening, convincing portrait of the state's capacity to control every aspect of the lives of its subjects and even its visitors. Kanon writes beautifully, superbly conveying human sadness and regret' The Times on Defectors
'The critical stock of Joseph Kanon will add further lustre to his reputation . . . There are pleasing echoes here of the "entertainments" of Graham Greene' Guardian on Defectors
'Defectors [is] as readable and suspenseful as the fine espionage novels of Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, Charles McCarry, Robert Littell, Alan Furst and John Le Carré — and its roller-coaster plot will keep you guessing until the final page' Washington Post
'An excellent tale about secrets, loyalty and betrayal' Sun
'One of the most exciting books I've read in years' Alexander McCall Smith on Leaving Berlin
'Spectacular in every way' Lee Child on Stardust
'Tense and atmospheric, with sinister intrigue' Wall Street Journal on Istanbul Passage
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edgar-winner Kanon's fast-moving, well-written espionage thriller offers few surprises for genre devotees. In 1949, after Frank Weeks, who worked for the Central Intelligence Group's Office of Policy Coordination, was unmasked as a Soviet spy, his brother and confidante, Simon, was forced to resign from the State Department. Simon landed on his feet when he was hired by M. Keating & Sons, a publishing company he ends up running. In 1961, the brothers reunite in Moscow. Frank is writing his memoirs, which are to be published by M. Keating, and he's asked his sibling to help him complete the book. Given that Frank cost Simon his career, the reunion is awkward, and their interactions are roiled further by Simon's renewed connection with Frank's wife, an old flame of his. Things get messier when Frank seeks to use Simon again, involving him in a complex scheme that leads to violence. As always, Kanon (Los Alamos) gets his period detail right and conveys the setting vividly, even if the characters' depth isn't at the same level as in his better outings.
