- Hardcover: 202 pages
- Publisher: Harpercollins (May 1979)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060126566
- ISBN-13: 978-0060126568
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.7 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,840,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"'Elegant...works like a clock with three sticks of dynamite attached to it' The New York Times"
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Product Description
From the secret meeting rooms of Washington to the interrogation chambers of the KGB, "The Debriefing" is a novel of exquisite suspense and dazzlingly tense drama. Stone is the Head of an elite arm of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - and a master of the sophisticated art of debriefing. When Oleg Kulakov defects from Russia, handcuffed to a sealed diplomatic pouch, it's Stone's job to find out if he's genuine. He uncovers Kulakov's every secret, probes the darkest reaches of Kulakov's heart, and penetrates Russia itself to learn the chilling truth...a truth that tears his own world apart.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
This is a traditional spy story from Cold War days in which American and Soviet intelligence services plot nefarious schemes to save the world for democracy and capitalism or protect it from democracy and capitalism, depending on your point of view.
As is always the case with these books, the intelligence agencies generally hate and mistrust their rivals on their own side more than the other so the CIA and KGB spend more time tripping up the American and Russian agencies than they do each other.
This is a classic tale in which an American spy sets out to find out whether a Russian defector is genuine by entering the Soviet Union with a phony identity and retracing the "defector's" past life.
It is quite good but is spoiled by the author's constant desire to create "characters" as though he was writing a television series with leading parts in mind instead of a novel where the reader can use his imagination.
The spy ends up living clandestinely in a flat in Moscow with a prostitute with a heart of gold, a nervy transvestite and, believe it or not, the man who was Stalin's double during the war.
This character still looks like Stalin and manages to fool an old man who thinks he is talking to Stalin and helps reveal the secret behind the "defector".
Personally, I find Littell's spy stories more readable and enjoyable than John Le Carré's plodding efforts, perhaps because he does not take himself too seriously.
His books are also refreshingly free of the English public school slang and mannerisms that make Le Carré's books such painful reading.
As is always the case with these books, the intelligence agencies generally hate and mistrust their rivals on their own side more than the other so the CIA and KGB spend more time tripping up the American and Russian agencies than they do each other.
This is a classic tale in which an American spy sets out to find out whether a Russian defector is genuine by entering the Soviet Union with a phony identity and retracing the "defector's" past life.
It is quite good but is spoiled by the author's constant desire to create "characters" as though he was writing a television series with leading parts in mind instead of a novel where the reader can use his imagination.
The spy ends up living clandestinely in a flat in Moscow with a prostitute with a heart of gold, a nervy transvestite and, believe it or not, the man who was Stalin's double during the war.
This character still looks like Stalin and manages to fool an old man who thinks he is talking to Stalin and helps reveal the secret behind the "defector".
Personally, I find Littell's spy stories more readable and enjoyable than John Le Carré's plodding efforts, perhaps because he does not take himself too seriously.
His books are also refreshingly free of the English public school slang and mannerisms that make Le Carré's books such painful reading.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Just enough of a twist
12 July 2003
Format:Hardcover
On the surface this story works as a great cold war thriller or even a detective story.
A defecting Soviet major carrying a pouch of "goodies" -- intel secrets -- has to be verified by a small, special Pentagon group headed man known only as Stone. Stone doesn't think the major is the real deal (or "real fig" so to speak).
Littell does a great job of layering all sorts of intrigue and depth into this slim book. At about 200 pages (250 for the paperback) this book is short compared to Littell's 2002 tome entitled "The Company." But every word counts.
I don't want to give anything away, but if you like the twists Rod Serling brought to his television plays then you'll love The Debriefing. If you like just straightforward spy stories, then this one will work for you, too.
It's a great book.
A defecting Soviet major carrying a pouch of "goodies" -- intel secrets -- has to be verified by a small, special Pentagon group headed man known only as Stone. Stone doesn't think the major is the real deal (or "real fig" so to speak).
Littell does a great job of layering all sorts of intrigue and depth into this slim book. At about 200 pages (250 for the paperback) this book is short compared to Littell's 2002 tome entitled "The Company." But every word counts.
I don't want to give anything away, but if you like the twists Rod Serling brought to his television plays then you'll love The Debriefing. If you like just straightforward spy stories, then this one will work for you, too.
It's a great book.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A quick read, but that is all
29 May 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is not a bad spy novel, and in fact it moves along at a brisk pace and retains the reader's interest. However, this one also lacks any particularly distinguishing characteristics. It is a rather formulaic spy story, and that is pretty much the end of it.
Littell's penchant for eccentric characters is present in this novel, but here it seems somewhat contrived, and I found it irritating rather than refreshing.
My main criticism of this one is that it lacks that strong sense of authenticity that author Littell often brings to his spy novels. I just did not find this one to be particularly convincing or authentic. And unfortunately, it contains a formula that Littell has overused in any event--the notion that both sides of the Cold War were bad guys, equally unscrupulous, etc. Maybe this notion was "fresh" in the 1970s. It comes across as old and stale today. Well, times change, I suppose. A similar formula in Littell's "The Amateur" works out better.
This is a beer and chips novel for a lazy afternoon, which is exactly how I read it.
Littell's penchant for eccentric characters is present in this novel, but here it seems somewhat contrived, and I found it irritating rather than refreshing.
My main criticism of this one is that it lacks that strong sense of authenticity that author Littell often brings to his spy novels. I just did not find this one to be particularly convincing or authentic. And unfortunately, it contains a formula that Littell has overused in any event--the notion that both sides of the Cold War were bad guys, equally unscrupulous, etc. Maybe this notion was "fresh" in the 1970s. It comes across as old and stale today. Well, times change, I suppose. A similar formula in Littell's "The Amateur" works out better.
This is a beer and chips novel for a lazy afternoon, which is exactly how I read it.
So-So Spy Story
7 April 2012
This is a traditional spy story from Cold War days in which American and Soviet intelligence services plot nefarious schemes to save the world for democracy and capitalism or protect it from democracy and capitalism, depending on your point of view.
As is always the case with these books, the intelligence agencies generally hate and mistrust their rivals on their own side more than the other so the CIA and KGB spend more time tripping up the American and Russian agencies than they do each other.
This is a classic tale in which an American spy sets out to find out whether a Russian defector is genuine by entering the Soviet Union with a phony identity and retracing the "defector's" past life.
It is quite good but is spoiled by the author's constant desire to create "characters" as though he was writing a television series with leading parts in mind instead of a novel where the reader can use his imagination.
The spy ends up living clandestinely in a flat in Moscow with a prostitute with a heart of gold, a nervy transvestite and, believe it or not, the man who was Stalin's double during the war.
This character still looks like Stalin and manages to fool an old man who thinks he is talking to Stalin and helps reveal the secret behind the "defector".
Personally, I find Littell's spy stories more readable and enjoyable than John Le Carré's plodding efforts, perhaps because he does not take himself too seriously.
His books are also refreshingly free of the English public school slang and mannerisms that make Le Carré's books such painful reading.
As is always the case with these books, the intelligence agencies generally hate and mistrust their rivals on their own side more than the other so the CIA and KGB spend more time tripping up the American and Russian agencies than they do each other.
This is a classic tale in which an American spy sets out to find out whether a Russian defector is genuine by entering the Soviet Union with a phony identity and retracing the "defector's" past life.
It is quite good but is spoiled by the author's constant desire to create "characters" as though he was writing a television series with leading parts in mind instead of a novel where the reader can use his imagination.
The spy ends up living clandestinely in a flat in Moscow with a prostitute with a heart of gold, a nervy transvestite and, believe it or not, the man who was Stalin's double during the war.
This character still looks like Stalin and manages to fool an old man who thinks he is talking to Stalin and helps reveal the secret behind the "defector".
Personally, I find Littell's spy stories more readable and enjoyable than John Le Carré's plodding efforts, perhaps because he does not take himself too seriously.
His books are also refreshingly free of the English public school slang and mannerisms that make Le Carré's books such painful reading.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
