The Debriefing: A Novel of Deception [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Robert Littell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2005

A New York Times Bestselling Author

From the secret meeting rooms of Washington to the interrogation chambers of the KGB comes a novel of exquisite suspense and dazzlingly tense drama. Stone (first name unknown) is the head of an elite arm of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a master of the art of debriefing. When Oleg Kulakov defects from Russia, handcuffed to a sealed diplomatic pouch, it's Stone's job to find out if he's genuine. What he learns is a chilling truth that tears his own world apart.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Elegant . . . works like a clock with three sticks of dynamite attached to it."
-- The New York Times (New York Times )

About the Author

Robert Littell was born, raised, and educated in New York. A former Newsweek editor specializing in Soviet affairs, he left journalism in 1970 to write fiction full time. Connoisseurs of the spy novel have elevated Robert Littell to the genre's highest ranks, and Tom Clancy wrote that “if Robert Littell didn’t invent the spy novel, he should have.” He is the author of fifteen novels, including the New York Times bestseller The Company and Legends, the 2005 L.A. Times Book Award for Best Thriller/Mystery. He currently lives in France.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 359 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (February 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786271620
• ISBN-13: 978-0786271627
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,148,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bestselling author Robert Littell has been ranked amongst John Le Carre and Graham Greene for his masterful spy fiction. A Newsweek journalist in a previous incarnation, Littell has been writing about the Soviet Union and Russians since his first novel, the espionage classic The Defection of A.J.Lewinter. Among his numerous critically acclaimed novels are The October Circle, Mother Russia, The Debriefing, The Sisters, The Revolutionist, The Once and Future Spy, An Agent in Place, The Visiting Professor, the New York Times bestselling The Company (adapted for a TNT mini-series), and Legends (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Best Thriller of 2005) and For the Future of Israel, a book of conversations with Shimon Peres. Littell is an American who makes his home in France.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just enough of a twist, July 12, 2003

By 

S. G Spires (Huntsville, Al United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Debriefing (Hardcover)

On the surface this story works as a great cold war thriller or even a detective story.
A defecting Soviet major carrying a pouch of "goodies" -- intel secrets -- has to be verified by a small, special Pentagon group headed man known only as Stone. Stone doesn't think the major is the real deal (or "real fig" so to speak).
Littell does a great job of layering all sorts of intrigue and depth into this slim book. At about 200 pages (250 for the paperback) this book is short compared to Littell's 2002 tome entitled "The Company." But every word counts.
I don't want to give anything away, but if you like the twists Rod Serling brought to his television plays then you'll love The Debriefing. If you like just straightforward spy stories, then this one will work for you, too.
It's a great book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A quick read, but that is all, May 29, 2007

By 

Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Debriefing (Hardcover)

This is not a bad spy novel, and in fact it moves along at a brisk pace and retains the reader's interest. However, this one also lacks any particularly distinguishing characteristics. It is a rather formulaic spy story, and that is pretty much the end of it.

Littell's penchant for eccentric characters is present in this novel, but here it seems somewhat contrived, and I found it irritating rather than refreshing.

My main criticism of this one is that it lacks that strong sense of authenticity that author Littell often brings to his spy novels. I just did not find this one to be particularly convincing or authentic. And unfortunately, it contains a formula that Littell has overused in any event--the notion that both sides of the Cold War were bad guys, equally unscrupulous, etc. Maybe this notion was "fresh" in the 1970s. It comes across as old and stale today. Well, times change, I suppose. A similar formula in Littell's "The Amateur" works out better.

This is a beer and chips novel for a lazy afternoon, which is exactly how I read it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Is the defector telling the truth?, September 25, 2010

By 

TChris (Tzer Island) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Debriefing (Paperback)

Stone heads a secret intelligence organization operated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Its function is to infiltrate Russia if the need to do so ever arises. So far, it hasn't. But when Stone debriefs a Russian defector who has offered information about Russia's position at upcoming arms reduction negotiations, he questions the defector's authenticity. Stone infiltrates Russia and impersonates a KGB officer to find the truth, enlisting the help of a prostitute and a Stalin look-alike.

The Debriefing is tightly plotted, Littell's writing style is crisp, and although the characterization is one-dimensional, the story is fun. It isn't as good as his first book, The Defection of A. J. Lewinter, nor is it as enjoyable as my favorite (so far) of the Littell books, The Sisters, but this brief novel is one that fans of espionage fiction should enjoy.