The Prodigal Spy

A Novel

By: Joseph Kanon

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

What if the Communist witch-hunts of the 1950s had actually uncovered a spy? The bestselling author of Los Alamos returns with a thrilling new novel of suspense, romance, and intrigue.

Washington, 1950. The trouble with history, Nick Kotlar's father tells him, is that you have to live through it before you know how it'll come out. And for Walter Kotlar, a high-level State Department official, the stakes couldn't be higher: an ambitious congressman has accused him of treason. As Nick watches helplessly, his family's privileged world is turned upside down in a frenzy of klieg lights and banging gavels.

Then one snowy night the chief witness against his father plunges to her death and his father flees, leaving only an endless mystery and the stain of his defection. It would be better, Nick is told, to think of him as dead.

But twenty years later Walter Kotlar is still alive, and he enlists Molly, a young journalist, to bring Nick a disturbing message. He badly wants to see his son; after two decades of silence and isolation, he is desperate to end his own Cold War. Resentful but intrigued, Nick agrees to accompany Molly to Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia for the painful reunion.

Once in Prague, Nick finds a clandestine world where nothing is what it seems--not the beautiful city, shadowy with menace; not the woman with whom he falls in love; and most of all not the man he thinks he no longer knows, yet still knows better than anyone. For Walter Kotlar has an impossible request: he wants to come home and he wants Nick to help. He also has a valuable secret about what really happened the night he walked out of Nick's life--and about the deadly conspiracy that still threatens them.

The Prodigal Spy is a story of fathers and sons and the loyalties that transcend borders, and of a young man's search for the truth buried in his own past, when a national drama was made personal and history itself became a crime story. Like Los Alamos, this is at once an ingenious mystery, a love story, and a masterly recreation of an era whose legacy haunts our own.

Critic reviews

Acclaim for Los Alamos:

"Compelling. . . . [Kanon] pulls the reader into a historical drama of excitement and high moral seriousness."
--The New York Times

"A terrific mystery."
--Newsweek

"A well-plotted novel that effortlessly dissolves real people and events into an elegant and moving thriller."
--The San Francisco Chronicle

"Genuinely thrilling. . . . A serious novel with profound implications."
--The Washington Post Book World

"The suspense novel for all others to beat. . . . [A] must-read."
--The Denver Post

"Read this book. . . . It's a love story inside a murder mystery inside perhaps the most significant story of the 20th century: the making of the atomic bomb. . . . A stunning achievement."
--The Boston Globe

Good story, poor quality presentation

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book is great -- would recommend the hard copy since the poor quality of the recording really detracts from the enjoyment of hearing the story. The sound quality was poor (very muffled, scratchy), the background music was screechy and caused me to yank out my ear plugs several times. The narrator was great, but his voice, etc. suffered because of the bad production level.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Joseph Kanon is a terrific writer, I always enjoy his books -- they are tightly written, take unexpected turns, one can really get "into" the characters -- this was no exception. This book, like "The Good German" presents unique situations from unique perspectives, presenting an interesting (and educational) look at a political situation that has sometimes been stereotyped in pop movies and books...

What didn’t you like about Boyd Gaines’s performance?

I thought Boyd's performance was good -- the production was awful & the full impact of his performance could not be appreciated properly.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Depends -- the movie of "The Good German" was a sore disappointment, so don't know.

very Bourne Identity ish

the plot is complex and historically interesting. there are a lot of components and hidden agendas making this listen absolutley intriguing. this is the only book I have read by him, but it was a terrific "listen" and the reader does a good job. Definitely an old school style novel that is a pleasant change from some of the more recent "trying too hard" novels.

Confusing plot.

I am still not sure understand it. Maybe a second listen will clear it up.

Lousy Sound

Liga is right. I'm going to ask for a credit because the sound is so bad.

A nice spy story

Kanon must have a winning receipt, as this one follows the same lines as his "Defectors". Unfortunately, this audiobook file had bad vocal problems I expect Audible to attend to.