A Russian scientist, hounded by the Soviet establishment for his defense of a Jewish friend, defects to the West, bringing...

READ REVIEW

THE DEFECTOR

A Russian scientist, hounded by the Soviet establishment for his defense of a Jewish friend, defects to the West, bringing his dazzling new technology, a great thirst for affection, and the seeds of global holocaust. Dozens of subplots weave their pretty way through this most satisfying thriller, constructing a somber tapestry. Among the threads, there is the voyage of the admirable Soviet submarine skipper whose wife has become involved with the intellectual underworld. There is the KGB colonel who seeks to protect the skipper's wife as well as his own flanks from a coldblooded and predatory major who has his own political protection. There is the British scientist, a wonderfully attractive woman, who takes the defector to her heart even as she winkles out his scientific secrets. There are the intelligence types, recognizably human for once, trying to protect the scientists from the deadly KGB major. There are the petty criminals in Leningrad, trying to stay alive in the cross fire of KGB and political gunfire. There is the foolish writer, trying to stay sane in the hands of Soviet psychiatrists. And there is the defector himself, a gentle and badly damaged soul who finds out far too late that he has been manipulated by all the best people in the most evil and mindless way. Everything fits without confusion. Everything fascinates without deception. A top-notch debut.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986

Close Quickview