A Cold War Novel of Lies and Love
In the Cold War’s final throes, the only dream worth keeping is the one that will be called treason.
Moscow, 1985. Under a highly classified operation, CIA officer Jack Smith is tasked with recruiting Eton Volkonsky, a talented Soviet physicist and musician, using unconventional means. Jack expects another cold assignment, another step toward the California ranch he’s spent his life chasing. What he doesn’t expect is Eton himself: guarded, magnetic, and unlike anyone Jack has ever known.
As AIDS, Chernobyl, and escalating spy expulsions close in around them, what began as tradecraft becomes the one true thing in Jack’s life.
East Berlin, 1989. They meet again, and Jack is given one more chance: to choose his reality built on covers and lies, or the one person who has always been true. What will he do?
What Early Readers Say About the Book
“…what happens when loyalty to your country clashes with loyalty to your heart, and how the choices we make can shape the rest of our lives.”
“I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction, Cold War intrigue, and love stories that cross political and social boundaries.”
“Each character is so well depicted you will feel, not only like you know them intimately, but you can visualize them right off the pages.”
“…successfully immerses the reader in its time period and in the heads of its main characters…”
“This is a spy’s life, not the constant action and adventure of a James Bond novel, but the daily stress of living a lie and still trying to be a fun, decent human being.”
“M.K. South’s Of Our Own Device is a great read that captures the spirit of a historical period with brilliance… The novel is well-plotted, fast-paced, and done in beautiful prose.”