<DIV>This first novel by Robert Littell, bestselling author of <i>The Company, </i>immediately elevated him to the ranks of John le Carre, Len Deighton, and Graham Greene. "Eric Ambler invented the modern spy novel. Robert Littell perfected it," wrote Stephen Coonts.<br><br> A.J. LeWinter is an American scientist, for years an insignificant cog in America's complex defense machinery. While at an academic conference in Tokyo, LeWinter contacts the KGB station chief and says he wants to defect. He tantalizes the Russians with U.S. military secrets he claims to possess, but is his defection genuine? Neither the Russians nor the Americans are sure, and LeWinter is swept up in a terrifying political chess match of deceit and treachery. Deft and dazzlingly plotted, this is the book that introduced Robert Littell--the opening shot of a brilliant career.</div>