The Defection of A.J. Lewinter

A Novel of Duplicity

By: Robert Littell

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Before there was The Company, Robert Littell made a name for himself with The Defection of A.J. Lewinter. Lewinter is an American scientist, for years an insignificant cog in America's complex defense machinery. While at an academic conference in Tokyo, Lewinter contacts the KGB station chief and says he wants to defect. He tantalizes the Russians with U.S. military secrets he claims to possess, but is his defection genuine? Neither the Russians nor the Americans are sure and Lewinter is swept up in a terrifying political chess match of deceit and treachery.

Each side struggles to anticipate its opponent's next move and the superpowers are locked in a deadly contest that exploits friendships, destroys loyalties, and manipulates human beings as expendable pawns.

©2002 Robert Littell (P)2002 New Millennium Audio, All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

"A perfect little gem, the best Cold War thriller I've read in years." (The New York Times)
"Concise, smart and funny, this novel turns Cold War spy cliches on their head." (Publishers Weekly)
"Littell deserves his comparisons with Deighton and le Carre." (The Times, London)

well read, well written

Well read, well wriiten and like all of Littel, extremely nuanced. The listener must listen; the rewards are ample.

Scott Brick is a good storyteller

The pacing was good. I hope he does more audiobooks. This espionage book was interesting and hope they do a mini series or movie.

Luke Warm At Best

Not even close to the quality of "The Company". However, it is readable and enjoyable -- just a disappointment after reading his show stopper.

not as good as the Company, but what could be?

a nice cynical take on Russian-US reading of each other's signals. Female characters badly developed.

Scott Brick is masterful

I thought this was an excellent novel of the spy genre. I continue to be impressed with Scott Brick as a reader who manages to separate characters without substantial differences in voices. At one point a character is coughing and he manages to switch voices and coughing in a very believable manner.

Brick Makes the Story

A good story with interesting quirks which Scott Brick brings alive. Not in the same class as "The Company" and has some areas which are only salvaged by Brick's talent as a narrator. This is a book you must pay attention to in order to "get" lots of the nuances. If you enjoy Littell or Brick this one is worth your time.

Good story but unusual to listen to

Overall an interesting story of how the "spooks" on both sides play off each other. Not sure when this story is to have taken place, but sounds like late cold war era, 60s perhaps. But it was very unusual to listen to as the narrator gave every character an ethnic accent to nearly every phrase in the book. Didn't matter whether the character was from Russia, Washington DC or Boston. Content good but narration unusual.

Great story of the game of Cold War Espionage.

I have to admit that spy novels and espionage is my genre of choice, but this is another great "read" (listen) from Robert Littell. As always he has many characters to keep track of, but masterfully pulls them all together to end the book. If you liked "The Company" you will like this book.

Well Done

Would you listen to The Defection of A.J. Lewinter again? Why?

no

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

his voice is mellow and he does different characters in a slightly different way so that it is easy to follow who is speaking when the author does not write in who says what. He rarely does a sudden change to the volumeof his voice (it is REALLY ANNOYING to have your eardrums blasted as some narrators do) .

Any additional comments?

leaves you hanging a bit at the end, but the story line is good and it makes you think.

Slow moving - lacking substance

This was perhaps one of the bottom 5 books that I have downloaded. Save your money. The characters are flat, the plot predictable. I had to force myself to finish it and would not recommend spending your time listening. I continue to like Scott Brick as a narrator but even he can't make up for a weak plot.