Defectors

by Joseph Kanon

Paperback, 2018

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Genres

Historical Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Fiction

Publication

Simon & Schuster UK (2018), 320 pages

Description

"From the bestselling author of Leaving Berlin and The Good German comes a fast-paced and richly imagined novel about an American spy, the Cold War's most notorious defector, who gave up his country for the safety--and prison--of Moscow, but never lost his gift for betrayal. In 1949, Frank Weeks, fair-haired boy of the newly formed CIA, was exposed as a Communist spy and fled the country to vanish behind the Iron Curtain. Now, twelve years later, he has written his memoirs, a KGB- approved project almost certain to be an international bestseller, and has asked his brother Simon, a publisher, to come to Moscow to edit the manuscript. It's a reunion Simon both dreads and longs for. The book is sure to be filled with mischief and misinformation; Frank's motives suspect, the CIA hostile. But the chance to see Frank, his adored older brother, proves irresistible. And at first Frank is still Frank--the same charm, the same jokes, the same bond of affection that transcends ideology. Then Simon begins to glimpse another Frank, still capable of treachery, still actively working for "the service." He finds himself dragged into the middle of Frank's new scheme, caught between the KGB and the CIA in a fatal cat and mouse game that only one of the brothers is likely to survive. Defectors is the gripping story of one family torn apart by the divided loyalties of the Cold War, but it's also a revealing look at the wider community of defectors, American and British, living a twilit Moscow existence, granted privileges but never trusted, spies who have escaped one prison only to find themselves trapped in another that is even more sinister. Filled with authentic period detail and moral ambiguity, Defectors takes us to the heart of a world of secrets, where no one can be trusted and murder is just collateral damage"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member charl08

[Defectors]
Leningrad, at first glance, was a faded beauty that had stopped wearing makeup—all the buildings, the pastel facades, needed paint. “Rain,”the driver said. “Very unusual this time of year. The afternoon will be better.”More a hope than a forecast, Simon thought. The rain, the

mist over the canals, seemed part of a deeper melancholy. The imperial scale of St. Petersburg, without the crowds, the old government ministries, made the city feel empty. Moscow, by contrast, hummed with purpose. This was more like a ballroom after a party, just streamers left, and half-filled glasses.

Kanon imagines an American defector under Khrushchev who decides he wants to return to the US, and enlists his publisher brother to help. Kanon is good on the unseen ramifications of spying, from partners to the fallout of those left behind. I found this took a while to get going but half way through was gripped

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LibraryThing member techeditor

All of Joseph Kanon's books are intelligent literary thrillers/historical fiction, and every one is great. But his latest book, DEFECTORS, is outstanding.

In 1961 a publisher, Simon, travels to the Soviet Union to edit the "memoir" of a former US citizen who defected to Russia in 1949--his brother,

Frank. "Memoir" is in quotation marks because the truth of that book is suspect. The truth of anything Frank says is suspect.

So, when Frank tells Simon he wants to return to the US but can only do so with his help, Simon is on his guard but cannot refuse.

I will spare you further details so you can enjoy discovering them on your own. And you will.

Partly, that's because every word counts in this novel. Kanon never goes on and on with unnecessary descriptions, tempting his readers to skim, as so many authors do. Kanon never wastes his readers' time.

If I had to pick my favorite of all Kanon's previous books, it would probably be THE GOOD GÈRMAN. DEFECTORS ranks right up there with that book and may even surpass it.

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LibraryThing member annbury

Decent thriller, with the writing quite good as in most Kanon books. The problem comes at the end where the brothers try to escape the Soviet Union. We don;t know what Simon is up to, and we have no idea of what kind of escape the other brother plans. This is stuoid/

LibraryThing member gmmartz

'Defectors', Joseph Kanon's latest, continues his long winning streak of intelligent, atmospheric thrillers. I don't think there's another writer better than Kanon in evoking time and place through writing technique (although Alan Furst is no slouch in that regard...), and when you combine great

prose with an intricate, thoughtful plot, you have a great book. I've loved literally every one of his novels and Defectors is another fine effort.

Defectors is the story of a publishing guy whose brother had defected to Russia with CIA secrets after WWII. Several years have passed and the defector wants to tell his story. Who better than his brother to help him get it out there in the American market? The problem is that he's in the communist Soviet Union and his brother needs to travel to Moscow and endure all of the scrutiny reserved for non-believing foreigners .

The tension and almost claustrophobic atmosphere in Moscow are palpable throughout the story. Everyone's listening or being listened to, or followed, everyone the American comes into contact with (other than embassy employees) is either a Russian spy or a traitor to the west, and what begins as a straightforward 'help the brother finish his book' editing effort turns into an exfiltration project. Or does it?

Defectors has a great plot and is beautifully written with fully developed characters and realistic dialogue. Although the conclusion was a bit melodramatic, overall this is a wonderful book by a writer at the top of his game.

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LibraryThing member Tybeemiller

Not up to Kanon's usual standards

LibraryThing member maneekuhi

I have read a number of books by Joseph Kanon over the years and my experience has been feast or famine. The very first I read was "Los Alamos" about the New Mexico lab where much of the work on the first atomic bomb was done; I rated that one 5 stars and because it was so good I gave Kanon a pass

when I encountered a klunker from him. I also enjoyed the recent "Istanbul Passage". I was disappointed in other books, including his current "The Defectors"(TD). I don't think I'll be reading future Kanons - there's been too much famine.

TD takes place mostly in Moscow in 1961. Frank Weeks and his wife Jo have been living there since 1949 when he was uncovered as a spy. Now he has written a book about his life and has arranged for his book publishing younger brother, Simon, to visit him and collaborate on the final stages of the manuscript. Simon was also in the spy business and is a former lover of Joe. Frank and Jo have a comfortable living arrangement in Moscow and Frank has a respected position in the Service. But all is not as it appears and gradually Simon is sucked into a plot that Frank reveals only gradually - and it keeps shifting.

There are several things I disliked about the book. First, the story moves along at a snail's pace. The reader knows that it will be all about the climax, there will be a big twist or two, someone will likely shoot someone else. Who will survive? Who will not? Lots of dialogue but it didn't really create any tension for me nor did it reveal for me as much about the brothers as I would have liked. Lengthy passages were boring.

Secondly, the climax reminded me of a mix of Who's on First and a car chase with multiple cars and multiple passengers, ala a Pink Panther movie. Who's in what car? Where are they going? As the ending of the book approached, there were a dozen different possible climaxes, none more obvious nor surprising than another.

Thirdly I know a smidge of history about turncoat spies living in Russia. Everything I have read about them is that they get provided for - a roof over their heads, enough to eat, drink. I haven't heard of such criminals being welcomed into Russian intelligence services in any meaningful way nor honored for their post-exile contributions. It's just a few weeks of photos in the newspapers, medal presentations, smiles. Then they seem to disappear. Booze seems to play a big role in the latter years. Not so with Frank, he has influence and power - and I didn't believe it. Finally, the big question in stories such as TD is.....why? Why did they betray their birth country? Any fresh insights in TD? Not for me.

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LibraryThing member Gwendydd

This is the story of two brothers who both worked in American intelligence during the Cold War, until one of them defected to Russia. Now he has written his memoir, and his brother, still loyal to the US, is going to publish it. Except that the defector brother has some other scheme in mind, and

needs his loyal brother to help.

This started out pretty boring, then got to be somewhat intriguing, and then became totally confusing. I confess that I never did understand what the defector brother was trying to do, which made the whole thing pretty nonsensical.

I listened to the audiobook - the narrator did a good job.

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LibraryThing member fizzypops

I expected more from this, given Kanon's previous works having impressed me. While this is perhaps an accurate portrayal of what it must have been like to defect, the central characters aren't very convincing, or even very likeable. The ending was pretty anticlimactic and frankly fairly silly. I

liked the description of the damaged lives traitors and defectors must have lived in 1960's Russia, and the novel was well researched. Perhaps it would have served better to put that information into a non-fiction setting, but it didn't really do it for me as a work of fiction.

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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl

It's been more than ten years since his brother, about to be caught sharing secrets with the Soviets, defected to the Soviet Union. Simon Weeks had to leave his job at the State Department, but connections and hard work have brought him a comfortable job as an editor with a New York publishing

house. Now he's in Moscow. His brother has written a memoir and Simon is there to go over the final edits, always in the presence of his brother's handler. But all is not as it seems. His brother's wife is unhappy and Frank wants to return to the US for her sake.

Joseph Kanon has a skill for writing complex novels set in the immediate aftermath of WWII and Defectors is one of his best. Once again, a man of principle is placed into an impossible situation and how he works his way through all the various lies and subterfuges to find his way out is just a lot of fun. Kanon also writes vividly of Moscow in 1961 and of the peculiar world of American and British defectors living in the USSR and their precarious place of both suspicion and privilege.

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LibraryThing member camharlow2

An entertaining and thrilling novel set in Moscow and Leningrad in 1961. An American, Frank Weeks, who defected to the Soviet Union a decade earlier has permission to write his memoir and invites his brother, Simon, now a publisher, who was dismissed from the CIA as a result of Frank’s treachery,

to finalise the editing and publishing of the book in America. The action takes place over his week’s visit as Frank surprisingly reveals his wish to return to America, but can Simon really trust his brother, or is this another betrayal? Kanon ratchets up the tension with some clever plotting as Frank draws Simon further into his plans and spins a web of complexity where much is not as it seems. The story has an exciting and tension-filled finale as Simon attempts to discover the truth about his brother.

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