"Certain things are constants and Ted Allbeury is one. In book after book the prolific British writer of espionage tales has maintained a superior level." — New York Times Book Review
"The most consistently inventive of our novelists of espionage, the one that other thriller writers point to as the finest craftsman among them." — Guardian, U.K.
"No one picks through the intelligence maze with more authority or humanity than Allbeury." — Sunday (London) Times
Andrei Aarons cherished the noble ideals of Communism from his earliest childhood. Recognizing his devotion to the Party and his remarkable powers of persuasion, the Soviets dispatch Aarons to Paris in 1930 and eight years later to the United States. In New York City, Aarons poses as a middle-class bookseller, all the while establishing a flourishing espionage network.
But Aarons grows disenchanted over the years, between the reports from Moscow of corruption, greed, and murder and his own increasing concern about the possibility of war between the superpowers. Hoping to keep tensions from bubbling over, Aarons turns double agent, maintaining his Soviet contacts but all the while conducting secret meetings with American presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. Based on a real-life story, this suspenseful novel by a former British Intelligence officer offers a captivating tale of Cold War espionage.