Helpful Score: 2
The main action, set in 1953, surges within a present-day frame in which Washington Post journalist William Massey tries to discover why his father, Jake, ended up in a Moscow grave more than 40 years ago. Eventually, Jake encounters Anna Khorev, the lone survivor of Operation Snow Wolf, who narrates the third-person flashback that forms most of the novel. In 1953, the U.S. government, fearful that Stalin is about to develop and use the hydrogen bomb, decides to eliminate him. The operation, headed by Jake, recruits Alex Slanski, aka Wolf, to do the deed, and Anna, who recently has escaped from a Soviet gulag, to be his guide. Though slow to build, the suspense hits overdrive when Alex and Anna parachute into Estonia, only to be hunted in turn by Major Yuri Lukin of the KGB.
Helpful Score: 2
This is an outstanding book! It is an exciting espionage story. I highly recommend it. The plot is primarily set in the post-war USSR, where the CIA have plotted to kill Joseph Stalin (Operation Snow Wolf), Jake Massey enlists the help of Alex Slanksi and Anna Khorev, with the KGB attempting to stop them at every opportunity. The characters are well developed, as are the relationships between them. The novel is fast paced and extremely riveting. I couldn't put it down.
