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The Prodigal Spy

The Prodigal Spy

by JosephKanon (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 1999

    $3.25
Synopsis

Walter Kotlar is the epitome of the American dream, the son of working class immigrants who attends Yale and becomes part of the establishment, but he is caught up in the '50s fear of the 'red menace' and forced to testify before the Committee on Un-American Activities. He seems a very unlikely Communist, but before the hearing is concluded he has disappeared - defected to the East - though not before the chief witness has committed 'suicide'. 19 years later his son, Nick, receivies a message that his father wants to see him in Prague. His first reaction is rejection and denial, but his memories and curiosity combined with a deep attraction for the messenger persuade him to risk the journey only a year after the Russian invasion. He discovers his father to be dying and eager to 'come home'. He learns too that the events preceding Walter's defection were not as simplistic as he'd thought, but before he can really work out what had happened his father is dead, probably murdered. Sure now that his father is more victim than villain, Nick knows he can only prove this in America, but he is stuck in a country where rules of evidence and justice are ignored and gertting out is not going to be straightforward ...

$3.25

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 448
 Edition: Export ed
 Publisher: Little, Brown
Published: 01 Apr 1999
ISBN 10: 0316846821
ISBN 13: 9780316846820
Book Overview: *National press ad campaign in THE TIMES and DAILY MAIL *POS to include dumpbin and poster *Review Coverage *To be submitted for trade promotions *Early copy mailing

Media Reviews
Joseph Kanon's debut thriller, Los Alamos, captivated readers and critics alike and was awarded the 1998 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The Prodigal Spy, set in the aftermath of the Manhattan Project, offers a glimpse at cold war espionage and a very personal story about theeffects of McCarthyism and the paranoia that it spawned. Once again, Kanon effortlessly weaves together history and fiction in prose that is thick with period details. The real achievement of the book, though, is the author's strong sense of his narrative centere, Nick Kotlar. The novel begins in 1950 in the Kotlar home in Washington, D.C., as young Nick tries to make sense of the masses of reporters who have gathered outside his house. Though his parents struggle to shield him from the truth, he inadvertently sees a newsreel that reveals his father's predicament: State Department Undersecretary, Walter Kotlar, is under the intense scrutiny of Congressman Kenneth Welles of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Kanon perfectly captures the sensibilities of a child with a parent in peril; disbelieving Nick becomes a fledgling spy, trying to erase any clues in his home that might support Welles and his committee. But one night, after an explosive conversation with Nick's mother, his father disappears. That same night, the woman who had accused Walter Kotlar of spying commits suicide--or was she murdered? In 1953, Mr. Kotlar gives a press conference from Moscow announcing his defection. The book then moves to London in 1969, where Nick meets a young woman who tells him that not only is his father still alive but he has been keeping tabs on his son for the 19 years since he fled to the Soviet Union. This revelation draws Nick into a meeting with the seriously ill elder Kotlar and propels Nick into some intelligence gathering of his own--to uncover the man who caused Walter Kotlar's defection and who killed his father's accuser. With The Prodigal Spy, Kannon has once again breathed new life into spy fiction. - Patrick O'Kelley, Amazon.com The Prodigal Spy is a mystery and a novel of ideas... Allan Massie
Author Bio
Joe Kanon was a publisher for many years, but turned poacher by becoming a novelist with his first, bestselling thriller LOS ALAMOS, which was awarded the Edgar for the best first novel of 1997.