From Publishers Weekly
A somber Cold War espionage story set during the Reagan administration, Tyler's ( Rogue's March ) sixth novel lacks the energy and excitement needed to make it a real page-turner. Young CIA agent Kevin Corkery is assigned to investigate the sudden disappearance of Frank Dudley, a career agent on the threshold of retirement. As Corkery discovers, Dudley was investigating Alexei Andreyev, a Soviet defector who was presumed dead, but is in fact alive behind the Iron Curtain. Corkery can't figure out what is so important about Andreyev, and his superiors at the CIA aren't about to tell him. Tyler is adept at exploring a world in which peeling away one layer of deception simply reveals two more. Everybody is hiding something, or lying about something, if for no other reason than because that's what they do for a living. Though well written and tightly plotted, the book's tone is earnest rather than exciting, and some of the lies and deceptions are likely to confuse the reader as well as Corkery. Obviously meant to be a serious thriller, it doesn't quite succeed because, in truth, there is very little thrill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Frank Dudley, a longtime CIA agent nearing the end of a disappointing career, is missing. Assigned to find him is agency newcomer Kevin Corkery. What unfolds is a post-Cold War tale in which Corkery meticulously pieces together the lives of two men, one of them Russian. Cynicism and double-dealing among the old boy intelligence network hamper Corkery's search; only his persistence drives him toward what is a sadly tragic conclusion. Tyler ( The Shadow Cabinet , LJ 2/1/84, among others) is a superb writer; his detail is brilliant. But one senses, in nearly every page, the demise of the old tried-and-true spy genre. It is difficult to shake the feeling that Tyler's talent might have been better served with a different plot. Nevertheless, this is a fine book. Recommended for all fiction collections.
- Chet Hagan, Berks Cty. P.L. System, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Chet Hagan, Berks Cty. P.L. System, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
