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)

Droning

I found the story slow and full of tangents. Some of the social philosophies and spook actions were at times interesting, but I quit listening to it. I found the reader's voice to be a bit droning and character's inflections started sounding the same. The accents were helpful, however, when figuring out who was saying what.

The Defection of A.J. Lewinter

I found this book to be very slow moving and unsatisfying. The "central" character, A.J. Lewinter, turns out to be a bit player in this imitation melodrama. We never really find out from him why he defected, but only get speculation from the "spooks" on both sides as to why Lewinter traded sides. Since the book never really grabbed me, I had to force myself to continue listening. Then when the book ended, I said " . . . that's it?" Save your money and your time: choose something else to read/listen.

What a bore!

I bought this book after having listened to the Company and becoming a huge Robert Littell fan....bad choice. Some of his other works are ok, but this one was boring. I would set it to play and fall asleep to it at night. I had no concerns or cares for the characters and only looked forward to the ending, which I don't even remember. If you liked The Company....STOP NOW. It's a great book and he's not come out with anything to match it...if you're desparate for more from him, read The Sisters...but I strongly advise not listening to this particular droning epic.

Good opening

The story starts of interesting, but it quickly goes downhill from there. It should be thrilling but it's quite boring. I had some problems separating the characters. The narrator clearly separates female and male, and American and Russian. But which Russian and which American was speaking. Of course it didn't help that I kept falling asleep.

Avoid this one. Has its moments, but that is all

After The Company I wanted more of Littell's work, so I got both this one and Once and Future Spy. This one was really weak. The best part of this book is that Scott Brick did a great job reading the book. The book is just slow and disjointed.