During World War II, two Soviet illegals hike into snowy Montana, and, posing as Americans, they sign up to serve in the military and disappear into the chaos of war. Nearly fifty years later, it's the Cold War and a new, burn-before-reading initiative is underway to remake CIA into a hard-hitting organization. It's slow but promising, albeit murderous. Then in 1991, an ancient KGB officer, Yuri Rostov, long thought dead, shows up in Mexico City and approaches a first-tour CIA case officer, Delaney Sharpton. If a deal can be struck to resettle him comfortably, Yuri claims he has, among other things, a story to tell about long-term Soviet infiltration into America.
Alarm bells ring at CIA headquarters, but improbably, a washed-up CIA officer, Thomas "Tomcat" Downer, is sent down to Mexico City to lend a hand with Yuri's recruitment. Seriously? Is CIA that short-handed? No one is happy to have Tomcat there-particularly not Delaney, who, after a previous passionate weekend with Tomcat, has moved on...even though he still creeps into her thoughts now and then. Tomcat isn't happy either. The events with Yuri are, however, intriguing, and he's curious to uncover what is really going on. For instance, Yuri clearly knows about Delaney's true affiliation-even though an officer's well-backstopped cover should absolutely remain intact for a couple of years. And why did the chief of Soviet East European Division put a burned-out case officer like Tomcat into a high-profile, clandestine operation?
This gritty and realistic spy thriller reaches across a half century of intrigue to deliver a page-turning, tightly plotted suspense novel that also explores fundamental notions about what it means to be American, the essence of freedom, the human condition, and proposes that, despite our freewill, we may unwittingly be part of a larger unfolding story.
Fans of John Le Carre, Brad Thor, Scott Turow, and David Baldacci are sure to enjoy this complex read.
