Chessplayer Author:William Pearson "Chessplayer" -- the code name of a mole so deeply burrowed into U.S. Intelligence that his trail crosses and recrosses some of the most restricted paths in government; a secret operation so dangerous that it causes deadly confusion not only in Washington but in Moscow as well; a creation so perfectly molded from truth and fiction that... more » proof of it causes intelligence communities on both sides of the Atlantic to doubt their own convictions.
For George Malkin, the urbane senior intelligence officer in charge of the search, Chessplayer is as much a personal as a professional challenge. Nearing the end of a distinguished career that begin with the OSS, Malkin has no intention of losing his critical -- and possibly last -- battle with ancient Cold War enemies.
Halfway around the world, Igor Demichev will spend more than one interminable committee meeting convincing his colleagues in Soviet intelligence of Chessplayer's identity is still safe, despite all appearances is to the contrary. And as his colleagues equally scrutinized Demichev's explanations, this long -- time veteran of Palace revolutions and purges is well aware that Chessplayer's safety is crucial to his own.
The attention of both these powers is focused on David Belknap, former Malkin protege and now an expert in" salvation operations," a master in the art of tracing -- or concealing -- information. And when Malkin calls on him in the search for Chessplayer, Belknap too finds that the challenge is as much personal as professional -- especially when he discovers that his assistant, Vanessa Holden, seems to know much more about his past than her administrative duties would warrant.
The search for Chessplayer, the mole so deeply and dangerously embedded in the lives of all the willing and unwilling players in this game, will trap readers into the mirror-world of espionage, where every fact is partly an illusion. And "Chessplayer," with its penetrating description of these players caught between lies and truth, will grip readers with its perception of the ways in which the human spirit is compromised by principles and betrayed by loyalty.« less