The Soul of Viktor Tronko

I won this book as a First Reads give-away. It is a Nancy Pearl Book Lust Rediscovery originally published in 1987. I am a fan of spy-novels and I think this was a great one! The story is about Viktor Tronko, who is either a Soviet defector with very little real value or a Soviet disinformation plot meant to confuse the CIA and/or end an internal mole hunt for a Soviet spy code-named Dmitri. The story unfolds as Michael Kessler gets a visit from an old CIA informant and former member of counter-intelligence, Mel Pokorny, who tells him of Tronko and Dmitri and then is killed right after leaving Kessler's home. Kessler can't stop himself from following the story through despite the contradictory information he is being fed and the danger he is putting himself in.

I was drawn into this book right from the start but it is not an easy read. There are a lot of characters, none of whom should be trusted as telling the complete truth about what they know. I read another review of this book that said it would be an easier read in e-book format since you could more easily search back to jog your memory about certain characters. I totally agree with this. Absent the e-book version, taking notes would have helped me a lot and may be something I'll do on a second reading. But the book is fascinating. David Quammen weaves his setting so well that I felt I was on the journey with Kessler to find the truth. The twist ending will surely leave me thinking about this book for some time. I highly recommend this book to fans of spy and cold war fiction.