When a defector reveals that the entire Soviet nuclear arsenal is broken, a Houston police officer becomes the only person who can extract her and change the course of the Cold War. Phil Swain is a SWAT sergeant haunted by a shooting that killed an officer under his command. When a CIA recruiter offers him a way out training as an Army linguist for a weapons verification operation, Phil accepts, not knowing it will pull him into something far larger than his past trauma. In East Germany, posing as a translator, Phil discovers a KGB major willing to defect with classified evidence: the guidance systems of every Soviet ICBM have been sabotaged. The Soviet deterrent the balance that has held the Cold War in check for forty years simply doesn't work. As Soviet tanks roll into Germany and his handlers' control dissolves, Phil must decide whether to trust this stranger with everything, extract her through a city at war, and deliver proof that could trigger nuclear escalation. But extraction is only the beginning. In Vienna, Washington, and Moscow, the revelation forces impossible choices: How do you negotiate with an enemy who has lost their greatest power? And what price do you pay for the decisions that define who you are? A tense, morally complex Cold War thriller about the moments when ordinary people must carry extraordinary weight.
ThriftBooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. We personally assess every book's quality and offer rare, out-of-print treasures. We deliver the joy of reading in recyclable packaging with free standard shipping on US orders over $20. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.