The New York Times included this in its "Notable Books of the Year" when it was published in 1984. They also said it "...does for espionage and terrorism what Joseph Heller's Catch-22 did for war." In other words, it's not your usual spy thriller. There are good guys, bad guys, some who-knows? guys, a fake atomic bomb that becomes all too real, and double, triple, and quadrupal crosses, all stirred up with a cockeyed cynicism and a healthy dose of black humor.
