The Defector

Soviet physicist Piotr Asanov, harboring the secret of his own theoretical design for a sonar surveillance device that will neutralize the threat of the nuclear submarine, is eased back into his work, after the trauma of defection, at a military research center in California

The Western intelligence community arranges for the defection of Russian scientist Piotr Asanov because he has a unique device the West needs and wants. In alternating chapters, Reynolds brilliantly captures the helplessness, fear, frustration, and anger that pervade the lives of the people Asanov leaves behind in the Soviet Union and juxtaposes that scene with the gentle and romantic atmosphere Asanov encounters in the West. Journalist/first novelist Reynolds has coupled an emphasis on believable characters with a creative, cynical plot, and has added complex images, eerily accurate description, and realistic dialogue, to create a first-class thriller that builds to a truly shocking conclusion. The Defector is as good as Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising or The Hunt for Red October and Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park. Jean B. Palmer, formerly with Phillips Acad. Lib., Andover, Mass.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.