Here is a spy story in the grand tradition

by a masterful new storyteller-a taut,

ironic, flawlessly choreographed Cold

War thriller that penetrates the ambig-

uous world of international intrigue with

deadly accuracy.

British naval officer Peter Dravin was

born in Russia. Despite his impeccably

British bearing, Lieutenant Dravin is

haunted by half-remembered images of

his homeland and his emigr6 father s

shadowy past. On assignment as aide to

the British Admiral during Krushchev s

historic state visit to Britain in 1956, he

meets Alexey Yanov, aide to the Soviet

Admiral and his Russian opposite num-

ber. The chance encounter ripens into a

warm friendship. The Russian is as expan-

sive as the Englishman is reserved. The

attraction is irresistible and inevitable:

each sees in the other the man he might

have been. But Yanov is Krushehev s cou-

sin, and such connections have their price.

The strange alliance between these two

ostensible enemies does not escape the

watchful eyes of the spy masters. At

Whitehall and the Kremlin, defection is

the name of the game. The Russians want

Dravin back. The British want Yanov.

The CIA wants in. Fierce loyalty to their

respective countries draws the two men

into the highest-and most dangerous-

echelons of espionage. Their orders are

identical: bring the other over. When

their curious relationship widens to in-

clude the beautiful American woman