The Soul of Viktor Tronko, David Quammen
The Soul of Viktor Tronko, David Quammen
List: $44.99 | Sale: $31.50
Club: $22.49

The Soul of Viktor Tronko

Author: David Quammen

Narrator: David Quammen

Unabridged: 14 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 09/16/2014

Synopsis

When Soviet agent Viktor Tronko defected to the US in 1964, he made two intriguing claims: he insisted that Russia had not placed a mole inside the CIA, and that Lee Harvey Oswald had not been recruited to assassinate the president. Convinced that Tronko was working as a disinformation agent, the CIA furiously did everything they could to break him. But Tronko had one more surprise for them: he refused to break.Almost two decades later, former CIA officer Mel Pokorny shows up at journalist Michael Kessler’s house and offers to talk about Tronko. It’s the scoop of a lifetime for Kessler. But the more he investigates, the closer he gets to the truth: a truth so shocking that someone would do anything to keep it under wraps. This could be the biggest story of his life…if it doesn’t kill him first.Filled with fascinating characters and darkly delicious humor, The Soul of Viktor Tronko is a rich, suspenseful espionage saga inspired by a true story.

About David Quammen

David Quammen is the author of a dozen fiction and nonfiction books, including Blood Line and The Song of the Dodo. Spillover, his most recent book, was shortlisted for several major awards. A three-time National Magazine Award winner, he is a contributing writer for National Geographic and has written also for Harper’s, Outside, Esquire, The Atlantic, Powder, and Rolling Stone. He travels widely on assignment, usually to jungles, mountains, remote islands, and swamps.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave on March 30, 2015

This is a spy story based on two famous KGB defectors, and a controversial CIA Counterintelligence Director. The first of the defectors, Bogdan Fedorenko (Anatoly Golitsyn in real life), in 1961, provided a lot of intelligence, including the shocking information that a senior CIA official was a Sovi......more

Goodreads review by Mal on May 16, 2023

At the time, few in any inside the Agency would have called him a “mole.” That term didn’t enter wide use until the publication in 1974 of John le Carré’s novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But for a decade in the 1960s and 70s, the CIA’s counterintelligence chief, James Jesus Angleton, turned the Ag......more

Goodreads review by Ashlei on February 05, 2015

I WON A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM A GOODREADS GIVAWAY!!! and I was very excited to start it... As I am with all the books I get...(some one put a lot of hard work and effort into it might as well give it a shot....) Anyways...... I liked the spy,suspense, who-dun-it type books. But this one was a l......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on February 04, 2021

The Cold War holds a special place in the annals of spy fiction. The shadowy conflict where spies were the front line, in many ways, stretched across nearly half a century. Not to mention where, in many ways, the genre came into its own in stories about dubious allegiances and 'moles' burrowed deep......more

Goodreads review by Jak60 on April 30, 2018

This is a read for initiated spy story junkies (and I found it pretty amazing that such a book comes from an author who's not a specialist of the genre); if you are one, you are likely to enjoy The Soul of Viktor Tronko, despite - and maybe because of - its slow pace and cerebral plot. If you are a......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List