Brothers [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael Hastings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1995

"All the action one could desire...A tightly organized look back at the cold war and the chilling amorality of two of its leading players--the KGB and the CIA...A deft piece of work."
--The New York Times Book Review
"SPELLBINDING...Fast-paced and intricate, BROTHERS is full of suspense."
--The Indianapolis Star
Family tragedy exiles one brother to America and holds one in Russia. Alexander is raised Jewish and becomes a distinguished scholar of Russian studies. Dimitri grows up in a Soviet orphanage, where, trained to be the perfect communist, he strives to become a high-level KGB operative. It is only a matter of time before he draws the brother he never knew, the brother he hates more than anyone on earth, into the dangerous game of espionage.
Through the height of the cold war, Dimitri and Alex fight on opposite sides. Their hatred for each other explodes into acts of terrorism, assassination, and betrayal. From Afghanistan to Rome, in Moscow, Paris, Washington, and New York, with boundless will and ruthless determination, the two brothers battle to destroy each other, until a shocking revelation changes their lives forever....
"AN EXCELLENT NOVEL OF EPIC PROPORTION."
--Houston Chronicle
"A TANTALIZING SETUP...A STUNNING FINALE."
--Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite a tantalizing setup, this Cold War thriller quickly descends to the level of soap opera. Bar-Zohar, whose previous espionage fiction ( The Devil's Spy ) has appeared under the pseudonym Michael Hastings, opens on a scene from the Stalinist purges--the trial and execution of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Writers Committee. Tonya Gordon, a poet whose husband has been sentenced to death, escapes the same fate by marrying NKVD officer Boris Morozov in order to save her son, Alex. Boris and Tonya have another son, but eventually the purges catch up to Tonya. Boris avoids his own fall long enough to smuggle Alex to Tonya's sister in Brooklyn and to stash his own son, Dimitri, in a harsh military orphanage. Later, Alex embarks on an academic career in Russian studies while Dimitri ends up as a top international killer for the KGB. A CIA agent, planning to get at Dimitri through Alex, engineers a reunion in Paris. The brothers fall for the same woman (a Romanov, no less) and straight into espionage stereotypes. Exposed to Dimitri's evil nature, Alex joins the CIA to wage lifelong war against his KGB brother; each rises to head his organization. The early Soviet history and the stunning finale aren't enough to salvage the cliched characterizations and plot.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In Moscow during the last bloody days of Stalin's regime, two half-brothers are separated. One is sent to America to be raised as a Jew, the other to a state orphanage. Quickly, each comes to represent an archetype. The American is educated, free-thinking, trusting and trustworthy, loving and loved; the Russian is a KGB killer, virulently anti-Semitic, secretive, and deceitful. The Cold War brings them into conflict. Their stories, intertwined and opposed, mirror the author's view of the situations of their two nations. Veteran writer Bar-Zohar ( Facing a Cruel Mirror: Israel's Moment of Truth , LJ 6/1/90) is sentimental and homiletic, mixing Cold War lore and history. There may be some interest in this book among diehard fans of such thrillers, but it's not a high priority for most libraries.
- Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army TRALINET Ctr., Fort Monroe, Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449146782
• ISBN-13: 978-0449146781
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,597,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Bulgaria, grew up in Israel, studied in Jerusalem and in France (Ph.D. in Political Science), fought in four Israeli-Arab wars (1956, 1967, 1973, 1982), spent nine years beside David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founder, became a fervent supporter of peace between Israel and her neighbors, served two terms in Parliament, Professor at Haifa University then at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, represented Israel at the Council of Europe, wrote more than 30 books and a few screenplays,won several awards including the French Academy award, the Ben-Gurion award, the International migration award and was knighted by the President of France as Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur