A.J. Lewinter is a scientist with a specialty in ceramics, working at MIT on a project involving ceramic nosecones for ballistic missiles, and as the book opens, he is in Japan for a conference. After spending some time at a Noh theater performance, he goes to the Russian Embassy, where he makes it known that he wants to defect. At first, they do not take him seriously, but when questioned further, he offers up a formula and the next thing you know, he's on a plane for the USSR with nothing but a dozen bottles of Head and Shoulders shampoo and 500 Chlor-Trimetron allergy pills. And here begins a story that is a bit of a mind boggler. The book is structured like a chess game, and within that structure the actions of international agents also play out like a chess game, each side trying to make the other side guess as to whether or not a) Lewinter's defection is genuine, or b) whether or not the information he has to offer the USSR is worthless or priceless. I won't say more about the plot, because any info would totally wreck someone else's reading experience.
The world of espionage is fascinating, and I'm sure that a lot of the tactics used in this book have some basis in fact, because it's really difficult to believe someone could just make up the convoluted machinations of our intelligence operatives. The writing is absolutely superb and I was not prepared for the ending. I spent way too much time trying to figure out "what would happen if..." after I finished the book. To me, that speaks highly of the author, and now I can't wait to get my hands on more by Littell. As if the tbr pile wasn't huge enough already -- sigh--.
Definitely recommended; I'd say that people who enjoy novels of espionage, the Cold War, and the inner workings of our intelligence agencies would enjoy it the most.
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