The Visiting Professor

By Robert Littell

Book Overview

From legendary espionage writer Robert Littell, bestselling author of The Company and The Amateur, a character-driven post-Cold War romp following an ex-Soviet professor turned amateur detective who finds himself in upstate New York investigating the mysterious and sudden death of a colleague.

Lemuel Falk, a theoretical "chaoticist," has been denied permission to leave Russia for the last twenty-three years--likely because he knows a few state secrets. He is shocked when his twenty-fourth request is approved and he is offered a position as visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Chaos-Related Studies in upstate New York.

As soon as Professor Falk arrives in America, a fellow professor dies under mysterious circumstances. When he agrees to assist in the investigation at the behest of local police, he is plunged into a new kind of chaos: a high-stakes academic catfight, an affair with a much younger woman, and cascading offers from domestic spies looking to capitalize on his knowledge--all while the ghosts from his past in Russia return to haunt him.

A wholly original novel from a master of intrigue, The Visiting Professor is a portrait of chaos theory, the limits of rationality, and the ironies of America.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1641297689
• ISBN13: 9781641297684
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Soho Crime
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.

Customer Reviews

a master wordsmith

I adored this book. My only concern was my fear that I would laugh out loud while reading it during a delay at LaGuardia. I found the characters fascinating, the professor's observations/internal monologue delightful, and the story line engaging. If you are looking for witty and humorous observations about life from a different perspective - all mixed with a bit of romance and "whodunit" - this book is for you. If it is hard-core action/suspense you seek, you'd be better served by some of Mr. Littell's other books. In hindsight, this book may have been better received had he penned it under a female pseudonym. I loved the book and it is receiving rave reviews from my friends as well. How about another one like this for the gals, Mr Littell??

I really like this book

I read the Company a few years ago and loved it. I thought this book was going to be a similar historical/spy/thriller novel. Turns out that The Visiting Professor is nothing like the Company, but I liked it anyway.