Mother Russia - by Robert Littell (Paperback)

About the Book

"This tragicomic classic by Robert Littell, New York Times bestselling master of the espionage thriller, follows a black marketeer's madcap odyssey through Soviet-era Moscow. In a city brimming with paranoia, Robespierre Pravdin keeps his head down, scraping by hustling wristwatches on the black market. Formerly held in a prison camp, he wants nothing more than to fly under the state's radar. But when Pravdin stumbles across the original manuscript of a famous Russian novel, he discovers evidence that the book's lauded, Nobel-prize winning author plagiarized the work. Pravdin pursues the truth, even if it means risking getting him committed to a mental hospital or imprisoned-again. With his signature absurdist style, Robert Littell evokes a dark, gripping, and humorous portrait of crime and punishment in Soviet-era Moscow-where someone is always watching"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

In this classic Soviet-set thriller, a hustler finds himself trapped in a high-stakes web of deceit.

In Moscow, a city that runs on paranoia, black marketer Robespierre Pravdin survives by hustling wristwatches and employing his ample--though slightly mad--charm to escape any close calls with the authorities. His plan to stay off the state's radar is foiled when he moves in with an enigmatic woman known only as "Mother Russia." She enlists his help to track down evidence that will prove an unthinkable crime: that their national hero, a writer, is a fraud, his most famous novel plagiarized. As Pravdin is drawn deeper into a conspiracy both literary and political, he becomes a pawn in a dangerous game. Can he find his way out of one last tight spot--possible treason?

Twisty and engrossing, Mother Russia is an essential tragicomic depiction of survival in a crumbling surveillance state.

Review Quotes

Praise for Robert Littell

"If Robert Littell didn't invent the American spy novel, he should have."
--Tom Clancy

"A Littell spy novel is always elaborately detailed, fun to read--and then just when you are being handed a few laughs, it blows up in your face."
--The New York Times

"Compulsive reading from start to finish."
--The Boston Globe

"Hugely entertaining . . . Popular fiction at its finest."
--The Washington Post Book World

"Littell is so gifted a creator of intelligent entertainment that I could give away almost everything and still not spoil your pleasure in reading."
--NPR's All Things Considered

"[Littell's] variety of genre fiction deals with one of the oldest themes in Western art, the wavering line between illusion and reality."
--Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Robert Littell is the author of twenty-two other highly acclaimed novels, many about the Cold War and the Soviet Union, including his masterwork, New York Times bestseller The Company, and the Los Angeles Times Book Award winner for best mystery-thriller Legends. An American born in Brooklyn, Robert Littell now lives in France.

Alma Katsu is a 30+ year veteran of the intelligence business. She is the author of two spy novels, Red Widow and Red London, and two novellas, Black Vault and The Spy Who Vanished. All of her espionage stories have been optioned for television series.