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Defectors
Defectors: A Novel | Joseph Kanon
5 posts | 7 read | 1 reading | 7 to read
From the bestselling author of Istanbul Passage and Leaving Berlin comes a riveting novel about two brothers bound by blood, divided by loyalty. With his remarkable emotional precision and mastery of tone, Kanon transcends the form. Not since le Carr's A Perfect Spy has there been a family of spooks to rival this one. Kanon reaffirms his status as one of the very best writers in the genre. Kirkus (starred review) In 1949, Frank Weeks, fair-haired boy of the newly formed CIA, was exposed as a Communist spy and fled the country to vanish behind the Iron Curtain. Now, twelve years later, he has written his memoirs, a KGB- approved project almost certain to be an international bestseller, and has asked his brother Simon, a publisher, to come to Moscow to edit the manuscript. Its a reunion Simon both dreads and longs for. The book is sure to be filled with mischief and misinformation; Franks motives suspect, the CIA hostile. But the chance to see Frank, his adored older brother, proves irresistible. And at first Frank is still Frankthe same charm, the same jokes, the same bond of affection that transcends ideology. Then Simon begins to glimpse another Frank, still capable of treachery, still actively working for the service. He finds himself dragged into the middle of Franks new scheme, caught between the KGB and the CIA in a fatal cat and mouse game that only one of the brothers is likely to survive. Defectors is the gripping story of one family torn apart by the divided loyalties of the Cold War, but it's also a revealing look at the wider community of defectors, American and British, living a twilit Moscow existence, granted privileges but never trusted, spies who have escaped one prison only to find themselves trapped in another that is even more sinister. Filled with authentic period detail and moral ambiguity, Defectors takes us to the heart of a world of secrets, where no one can be trusted and murder is just collateral damage.
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review
janerzy
Defectors: A Novel | Joseph Kanon
Mehso-so

I really enjoy a good spy story especially the ones during the Cold War era. And I expected more out of this book...Not enough strong & complex characters conflicts or tensions or unexpected twists for me.

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Susanita
Defectors: A Novel | Joseph Kanon
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I‘m not really feeling any of the books I have on hand for #24B4Monday so I went out to my car to retrieve this one which is next month‘s mystery #bookclub selection. How handy that he will be at #NationalBookFestival next week. I might try to catch the panel before I go on usher duty in the afternoon. (Yes I need to charge my phone. 😮)

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MrBook
Defectors: A Novel | Joseph Kanon
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#TBRtemptation post 5! An espionage thriller in the vein of John le Carre and Philip Kerr. It focuses on 3 weeks in the lives of American defectors in 1961 Moscow. The most notorious among them, Frank Weeks, former CIA, who sent waves through D.C. The Soviets approach Simon, Frank's old roommate & a NYC publisher, about publishing his memoirs. Which could prove highly dangerous, but irresistible. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Schlinkles I have the ARC for this, but haven't read it yet. Inspiration to pick it up. 7y
49 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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charl08
Defectors: A Novel | Joseph Kanon

He looked over at the red stars on the Kremlin towers. A great space, big enough for parades to rumble through. You could talk there without running water. Line up to see Gareth‘s “bod-y.”Watched. Listened to. In prison, some vast Victorian panopticon.

Aleida How do you like it so far? 7y
22 likes1 comment
review
awonderinglife
Defectors: A Novel | Joseph Kanon
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Pickpick

Spy novels are not usually my thing (unless it's le Carre) but this was fantastic! Fast paced and yet still subtle - great characterization and suspense.

7 likes3 stack adds