The Defection of A.J. Lewinter

*A new edition of the spy classic by Robert Littell, New York Times* bestselling master of the espionage thriller.

The black comedy follows a pawn in the American military complex whose decision to change sides might determine the outcome of the Cold War.**

An engineer who's spent most of his career studying ceramic nose cones for ballistic missiles, American scientist A.J. Lewinter is used to being a cog in the military-industrial complex-until, while at a conference in Tokyo, he rushes into the Russian Embassy offering to defect.

Hard-edged US intelligence operative Leo Diamond sets out to determine what, if anything, Lewinter knows; on the Soviet side, KGB agent Yefgeny Pogodin must decipher whether this high-level defection is another ruse in a long-standing war. Neither global superpower knows what to expect from Lewinter, the wild card, but both sides know this: If he's telling the truth, his information could be the final turning point in the Cold War.

A darkly funny spy thriller from one of the most brilliant voices of espionage fiction, The Defection of A.J. Lewinter is a shockingly prescient portrayal of international politics.