Nominated for an Edgar Award
This "historical page-turner of the highest order" (The Wall Street
Journal) tells the chilling story of an American-born Soviet spy in the
atom bomb project in World War II, perfect for fans of The
Americans.
George Koval was born in Iowa. In 1932, his parents, Russian Jews who
had emigrated because of anti-Semitism, decided to return home to live
out their socialist ideals. George, who was as committed to socialism as
they were, went with them. There, he was recruited by the Soviet Army as
a spy and returned to the US in 1940. A gifted science student, he
enrolled at Columbia University, where he knew scientists soon to join
the Manhattan Project, America's atom bomb program. After being drafted
into the US Army, George used his scientific background and connections
to secure an assignment at a site where plutonium and uranium were
produced to fuel the atom bomb. There, and later in a second top-secret
location, he had full access to all facilities, and he passed highly
sensitive information to Moscow.
There were hundreds of spies in the US during World War II, but Koval
was the only Soviet military spy with security clearances in the
atomic-bomb project. The ultimate sleeper agent, he was an all-American
boy who had played baseball, loved Walt Whitman's poetry, and mingled
freely with fellow Americans. After the war he got away without a
scratch. It is indisputable that his information landed in the right
hands in Moscow. In 1949, Soviet scientists produced a bomb identical to
America's years earlier than US experts expected.
A gripping, fast-paced, and "fascinating" (Bob Shacochis, National Book
Award-winning author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul) story about one
undetected spy whose actions influenced history, Sleeper Agent is
perfect for Ben Macintyre fans.
