Agent 6

Starred review from March 26, 2012
In his third and final novel featuring Russian policeman Leo Demidov, Smith covers three decades in his protagonist’s life, beginning in Stalinist Russia in 1950 when Demidov meets his soon-to-be-wife, Raisa. Then it’s on to 1965, when the cold war thaws enough for Raisa and their two adopted daughters to travel to New York and get caught up in a deadly conspiracy. The book operates on several levels, as a spy thriller, a study of obsession, and a harsh criticism of political expediency, and narrator Dennis Boutsikaris finds a splendidly sardonic voice that captures all three. When it comes to dialogue, much of it from the mouths of Smith’s carefully crafted Russian characters, Boutsikaris uses a minimal accent and a slightly brusque, typically Slavic manner of speech. Equally commendable is his subtle approach to female voices: a softening and mild shift in pitch. Worthy of special notice is his vocal choice for Jessie Austin, a world famous African-American singer and avowed Communist. It’s vaguely Southern, educated, and filled with the wonder of the politically naïve. A Grand Central hardcover.

Starred review from November 14, 2011
Spanning decades, the ambitious final volume of Thriller Award–winner Smith’s trilogy set in the Soviet Union (after 2009’s The Secret Speech and 2008’s Child 44) takes former KGB agent Leo Demidov from Moscow to Manhattan via a gripping, relentless whodunit plot. In 1950, the Soviet authorities plan to exploit the arrival in Moscow of Jesse Austin, a Paul Robeson–like American singer and dedicated Communist, for propaganda purposes, but Austin’s refusal to play along creates complications. The full implications of Austin’s behavior don’t become apparent until the action shifts to 1965, when Demidov’s wife and two adolescent daughters travel to New York City as part of a delegation intended to ease cold war tensions, and tragedy ensues. Most readers will reach the final page with regret and in awe of Smith’s uncompromising vision of the realities of a police state and the toll it takes on those caught in its meshes.