A classic Cold War spy story from the bestselling thriller writer Derek Lambert. Moscow treated defectors from the West with kid-gloves. That is, until they had outlived their usefulness. But the American Robert Calder was different. He had defected to Russia with information so explosive that even the iron-clad regime of the Kremlin shook with fear. It had kept him alive. Until now. For Calder is desperately keen to return to the West. So they place the ruthless and scheming Spandarian on his trail, a KGB chief with a mind as sharp as the cold steel of an ice pick. And as a back-up they unleash Tokarev, a professional assassin who kills for pleasure… ‘Certainly puts Lambert up there with today’s top suspense writers’ Book Browsing ‘Mr Lambert’s Moscow experience comes chillingly through’ Sunday Telegraph ‘This terrific novel puts Lambert in a league with the best espionage writers of the day’ United Press International ‘Another winner’ Pittsburgh Press ‘Lambert is at the top of the class’ UPI ‘Splendid stuff. Mr Lambert’s scenes have the clear reality of a Moscow winter, his people are three-dimensional and affecting and best of all he spins a fast story’ Baltimore Sun ‘A white-knuckle number … Lambert produces straight-ahead, foot-to-the-floor excitement’ New York, New York ‘Superior espionage fiction’ Waterbury Ct. Republican