A Cold War spy thriller about a man on the knife-edge between the balance of power and global chaos. Moscow treats defectors from the West with kid-gloves. That is, until they outlive their usefulness. But the American Robert Calder is different. He defected to Russia with information so explosive that even the iron-clad regime of the Kremlin shook with fear. It has kept him alive. Until now. With Calder desperate to return to the West, the ruthless and scheming Spandarian is placed 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... 'A white-knuckle number ... Lambert produces straight-ahead, foot-to-the-floor excitement' New York Times 'Certainly puts Lambert up there with today's top suspense writers' Book Browsing 'Mr Lambert's Moscow experience comes chillingly through' Sunday Telegraph 'Lambert is at the top of the class. This terrific novel puts him in a league with the best espionage writers' United Press International 'Another winner' Pittsburgh Press '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