A tight, captivating story of a naïve child's encounters with a Soviet dictator, the twentieth novel by Robert Littell
After the sudden death of his nuclear physicist father and the arrest of his mother during the Stalinist purge of Jewish doctors, young Leon Rozental-intellectually precocious and possessing a disarming candor-is hiding from the NKVD in the secret rooms of the House on the Embankment, a large building in Moscow where many Soviet officials and apparatchiks live and work. One day after following a passageway, Leon meets Koba, an old man whose apartment is protected by several guards. Koba is a high-ranking Soviet officer with troubling insight into the thoughts and machinations of Comrade Stalin.
Through encounters between a naive boy and a paranoid tyrant, Robert Littell creates in Comrade Koba a nuanced portrayal of the Soviet dictator, showing his human side and his simultaneous total disregard for and ignorance of the suffering he in?icted on the Russian people. The charm and spontaneity of young Leon make him an irresistible character-and not unlike Holden Caul?eld, whom he admits to identifying with-caught in the spider's web of the story woven by this enigmatic old man.
Martin Odum is a CIA field agent turned private detective, struggling his way through a labyrinth of past identities-"legends" in CIA parlance. Is he really Martin Odum? Or is he Dante Pippen, an IRA explosives maven? Or Lincoln Dittmann, Civil War expert? These men like different foods, speak different languages, have different skills. Is he suffering from multiple personality disorder, brainwashing, or simply exhaustion? Can Odum trust the CIA psychiatrist? Or Stella Kastner, a young Russian woman who engages him to find her brother-in-law so he can give her sister a divorce? As Odum redeploys his dormant tradecraft skills to solve Stella's case, he travels the globe battling mortal danger and psychological disorientation.
"Littell provides plenty of inside intelligence info in his superb new thriller, but he adds a decidedly comic spin...Wonderful writing and a great sense of fun make this another winner."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Legendary spy novelist and bestselling author Robert Littell presents a luminous historical novel chronicling the famous Russian poet Osip Mandelstam's defiance of Stalin's regime, his subsequent exile, and his tragic death.
The global community, led by a visionary U.S. president, brokers a major compromise between Israel and the Palestinian authority in order to snuff out the violent flashpoint of global terrorism. It seems to work until a well known fundamentalist rabbi is taken hostage by a legendary Palestinian terrorist.
An elegant, twisty spy story by a true master of the craft
Bestselling novelist Robert Littell employs all his considerable skills in telling the story of Kim Philby through the eyes of more than twenty true-life characters. As each layer is revealed, the question arises: Who really was this man?
When Kim Philby fled to Moscow in 1963, he became the most infamous double agent in history. A member of Britain's intelligence service since World War II, he had risen to become their chief officer in Washington, D.C. after the war. The exposure of other members of the group of double agents known as the Cambridge Five led to the revelation that he had been working for Russia for even longer than he had been part of MI6. Yet he escaped, and spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Moscow.
In Young Philby, Robert Littell tells the story of the spy's early years. In the words of his friends, lovers, and Soviet handlers we see the development of a fascinating, flawed man who kept people guessing about his ideals and allegiances until the very end.
