DEEP COVER

In Levin’s thriller, a Soviet espionage project reemerges decades after the end of the Cold War.

In the 1970s, hundreds of highly trained operatives of the U.S.S.R. infiltrated the United States, posing as ordinary U.S. citizens and integrating themselves into American society. In 2011, Lisa Jones, a 28-year-old genetic researcher, receives a strange call, consisting of random Russian words spoken over the 18th-century musical arrangement “La Voltaire et La Franklein,” and goes into a trance. A week later, her 30-year-old boyfriend, Stephan Beck, who interprets intercepted Russian messages for the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, translates one that’s partially concealed by a series of noises; he later discovers that the same sequence—hidden under “La Voltaire et La Franklein”—is on a recording he made at Lisa’s class reunion months before. It’s revealed that Lisa’s parents, Roxanne and Peter, were among the aforementioned Soviet agents, and that Lisa’s school was teaching more than the usual subjects. As Stephan tries to figure out what’s going on, Lisa continues to receive trance-inducing phone calls; soon, she is roped into a clandestine project with dangerous implications. Levin delivers an action-packed novel with a fresh, engaging plot and memorable characters; in some ways, it feels like a love letter to classic spy tales, such as Walter Wager’s Telefon (1975). The story unfolds through multiple perspectives, although all but one of them—Stephan’s—are written in the third person, which some readers may find distancing. Additionally, the narrative reveals some major plot points very early, including Lisa’s parents’ past and the truth about the school, which takes away much of the element of mystery. Still, it’s an entertaining read that explores rivalries, secrets, and vestiges of Cold War tension. There’s also some metafictional humor: “Turning back to the work waiting on her computer, she thought, ‘You know, I’d make a really excellent spy, just like in those old Cold War novels.’”

An often compelling spy tale with plenty of twists and turns.