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O Último Espião
A 1 de Novembro de 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, um ex-agente russo do KGB, bebia uma chávena de chá no prestigiado hotel Millennium Mayfair, perto da Embaixada Americana em Londres - mas ao chá tinha sido acrescentado um raro isótopo radioactivo chamado Polonium 210. Vinte e dois dias mais tarde, ele estava morto. O mistério por detrás do seu assassinato revelar-se-á ainda mais perturbador e confuso do que qualquer enredo de John le Carré. Litvinenko procurou asilo em Londres e a partir daí tornou-se num crítico fervoroso do governo de Vladimir Putin. O perfil dele é o que chama mais a atenção num rol de mortes misteriosas de dissidentes russos, que anuncia uma nova era ao estilo do KGB: autoritária e aterrorizadora. Rapidamente ficou conhecido como um dos crimes mais misteriosos e audaciosos da era pós-Guerra Fria, além de desencadear uma investigação internacional liderada por oficiais antiterroristas de Londres. Misturando o compasso de um "thriller" com reportagens e pesquisas originais, "O Último Espião" documenta a vida e a morte de Litvinenko, e a subsequente investigação policial, a reacção de Vladimir Putin e outros em Moscovo, os emigrantes russos que se estabeleceram em Londres, e as implicações deste caso na proliferação nuclear e terrorismo internacional no futuro. É uma acusação chocante direccionada para o desprezo de certos governos pelo cumprimento da lei e uma arrepiante recordação de poder - em todos os aspectos - da Nova Rússia.
460 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
34 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Alan S. Cowell
12 books9 followersALAN S. COWELL is a British writer whose career spanned four decades as a foreign correspondent, first for Reuters and then for The New York Times. Alongside news coverage, he authored works of fiction and non-fiction, including The Terminal Spy, a definitive account of the life and death of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former KGB officer poisoned with radioactive polonium in London in 2006. His novels include Permanent Removal, set in post-apartheid South Africa. Cowell is married and lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
May 1, 2022
The Terminal Spy is a fascinating account of Alexander Litvienko a former KGB who was poisoned in London and Putin rise to power. If you're looking for a really good audio book I suggest you check this one out. I really enjoyed and liked it a lot
February 16, 2014
Overall, "The Terminal Spy" is an oddly shaped book. The opening chapter is written in the style of a sweeping epic, as if trying to capture the entire zeitgeist of 21st-Century London. We frantically jump around in time, as if the author, jittery with excitement, can't decide where to start. He includes himself, but never illustrates himself. He suggests deadly portent, but then refuses to fill in the details until the final act. He talks about his secret meetings with people, but those meetings are ultimately vague.
Yet as the book unfolds, it becomes exponentially more interesting. The premise -- the radiological assassination of Litvinenko -- was a news story that I remembered well and drew me to the book. I delighted in Cowell's history of contemporary Russia, his characterization of Litvinenko as a flawed and reluctant hero, and the moral quagmire of his demise. By the end I was riveted, particularly in Cowell's analysis of microcosmic nuclear warfare and how the many players responded.
In the end, The Terminal Spy struck me as an airport read, the kind of thing you blow through on a long flight to Tokyo. A lot of critics were put off by its lack of actual spies; Litvinenko was a KGB operative for a short time, of which career little is known, and then some unidentified assassin knocked him off. There *are* spies, but we're never sure who they are or what they've done. But that's how spies generally work, and I approve of its title. Litvinenko was a spy, and he behaved like one the duration of his tragic life. He never really put down roots. He was always an outsider. No one ever knew whether they could trust him. The complexity of his personality (or personalities) will linger for me, far beyond that long flight. Hero or con, egomaniac or lost soul, Litvinenko is a protagonist worthy of Dostoyevsky.
Yet as the book unfolds, it becomes exponentially more interesting. The premise -- the radiological assassination of Litvinenko -- was a news story that I remembered well and drew me to the book. I delighted in Cowell's history of contemporary Russia, his characterization of Litvinenko as a flawed and reluctant hero, and the moral quagmire of his demise. By the end I was riveted, particularly in Cowell's analysis of microcosmic nuclear warfare and how the many players responded.
In the end, The Terminal Spy struck me as an airport read, the kind of thing you blow through on a long flight to Tokyo. A lot of critics were put off by its lack of actual spies; Litvinenko was a KGB operative for a short time, of which career little is known, and then some unidentified assassin knocked him off. There *are* spies, but we're never sure who they are or what they've done. But that's how spies generally work, and I approve of its title. Litvinenko was a spy, and he behaved like one the duration of his tragic life. He never really put down roots. He was always an outsider. No one ever knew whether they could trust him. The complexity of his personality (or personalities) will linger for me, far beyond that long flight. Hero or con, egomaniac or lost soul, Litvinenko is a protagonist worthy of Dostoyevsky.
February 16, 2009
Three lessons:
-- avoid contact with polonimum 210
-- never criticize the Russian FSB or Russian oligarchs
-- work for the separation of wealth and power in the U.S. as a cornerstone of democracy
-- avoid contact with polonimum 210
-- never criticize the Russian FSB or Russian oligarchs
-- work for the separation of wealth and power in the U.S. as a cornerstone of democracy
February 9, 2020
After 389 pages, I've given up on "Terminal Spy," the story of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. What could have been handled as a page-turning thriller read like a cross between a dull history book on post-Soviet Russia and the National Enquirer.
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July 26, 2011When I saw the Shelf Awareness ad for Alan Cowell’s The Terminal Spy, I only vaguely remembered the incident, and can’t say that the implications of the issue were at the forefront of my mind. Still, I found the premise interesting enough to want to read the book. I must say that it in no way disappointed.
The Terminal Spy, documenting the incident of an ex-KGB, Russian émigré’s poisoning death in London, reads like the best espionage thriller, full of shadowy characters and murderous intrigue.
The one thing that Cowell never lets us forget however is that this book is different from spy thrillers in one chilling aspect – it’s all real. Every place, event, action and most of all, every person is real. Alexander Litvinenko’s story was, in the long run, about parents mourning a child, a wife mourning a husband, children mourning the loss of a father, to paraphrase Cowell.
Cowell does a good job of outlining the history of all the key players related to the incident, including the poison itself. He does the same for the political history of Russia prior to and leading up to the incident.
While there was a lot of detail, I didn’t find myself tired of it, but rather wanting to read further. With one exception – in a probable attempt to keep the main personage and what happened to him at the forefront of the reader’s mind, Cowell has to find too many ways to refer to the day that Litvinenko was actually poisoned, and it did become redundant after about five or six references.
Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to gain a deeper insight into the Litvinenko incident, as well as anyone who enjoys a well-written, well-researched, solid piece of journalism.
The Terminal Spy, documenting the incident of an ex-KGB, Russian émigré’s poisoning death in London, reads like the best espionage thriller, full of shadowy characters and murderous intrigue.
The one thing that Cowell never lets us forget however is that this book is different from spy thrillers in one chilling aspect – it’s all real. Every place, event, action and most of all, every person is real. Alexander Litvinenko’s story was, in the long run, about parents mourning a child, a wife mourning a husband, children mourning the loss of a father, to paraphrase Cowell.
Cowell does a good job of outlining the history of all the key players related to the incident, including the poison itself. He does the same for the political history of Russia prior to and leading up to the incident.
While there was a lot of detail, I didn’t find myself tired of it, but rather wanting to read further. With one exception – in a probable attempt to keep the main personage and what happened to him at the forefront of the reader’s mind, Cowell has to find too many ways to refer to the day that Litvinenko was actually poisoned, and it did become redundant after about five or six references.
Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to gain a deeper insight into the Litvinenko incident, as well as anyone who enjoys a well-written, well-researched, solid piece of journalism.
March 26, 2014
Part murder-mystery, part spy thriller, part nonfictional accounting of events -- I think that's the easiest way to sum up this book. It was a fascinating read, to combine in with everything else I've been reading on Russia this year.
We open up with a three-page brief introduction to a few dozen people who repeatedly show up in the investigation around Alexander Litvinenko's death, and then the first chapter starts up like this just might be a work of fiction. Unfortunately, it's all too true.
After we get past the beginning, though, it gets a bit weird. The writing is a little disjointed at times, as the chronology is not written in a linear fashion. It's 2006, and then it's 2000, and then it's sometime in the 1980's, and then it's 2006 again, and then we're taking about Marie Curie; the juxtaposition of past and present lends to some confusion about which events happened when, exactly. And I say that having spent the last three months prior to reading this devouring other books on Russia and its politics leading up to and since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Some of the, to borrow a phrase from British sci-fi television, timey-wimey business is, I think, perhaps a bit necessary to aid in understanding what may have led to certain events in the last days of Litvinenko, but I do think that there is probably a better way that it could have been done.
I wish there were more references, because I love nothing more than an especially well-sourced work, so I can go and read further into particular areas of interest. However, I'm not exactly worse off for lacking a few more places to satisfy my urge to research.
But, on a lighter note, perhaps one of the other important things to take is this: Don't get poisoned with polonium-210! It won't end well.
We open up with a three-page brief introduction to a few dozen people who repeatedly show up in the investigation around Alexander Litvinenko's death, and then the first chapter starts up like this just might be a work of fiction. Unfortunately, it's all too true.
After we get past the beginning, though, it gets a bit weird. The writing is a little disjointed at times, as the chronology is not written in a linear fashion. It's 2006, and then it's 2000, and then it's sometime in the 1980's, and then it's 2006 again, and then we're taking about Marie Curie; the juxtaposition of past and present lends to some confusion about which events happened when, exactly. And I say that having spent the last three months prior to reading this devouring other books on Russia and its politics leading up to and since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Some of the, to borrow a phrase from British sci-fi television, timey-wimey business is, I think, perhaps a bit necessary to aid in understanding what may have led to certain events in the last days of Litvinenko, but I do think that there is probably a better way that it could have been done.
I wish there were more references, because I love nothing more than an especially well-sourced work, so I can go and read further into particular areas of interest. However, I'm not exactly worse off for lacking a few more places to satisfy my urge to research.
But, on a lighter note, perhaps one of the other important things to take is this: Don't get poisoned with polonium-210! It won't end well.
March 29, 2014
Choose audio version. I believe Simon Vance could tell the story of my three years sorting mail at the Post Office and make it sound fascinating and compelling.
April 10, 2021
Toamna era neobişnuit de călduroasă în Anglia, iar ziua de 1 noiembrie 2006, când Aleksandr Litvinenko a început să moară încetul cu încetul, nu făcea excepţie.
O adiere uşoară dinspre nord-vest făcea să freamăte frunzele îngălbenite ale copacilor din Muswell Hill, un cartier retras, situat la periferie, în nordul Londrei, cu case înşiruite în stil eduardian. Termometrul arăta numai câteva grade Celsius, totuşi nu era deloc ger. Omnibuzele roşii îşi urmau obişnuitul traseu deseori imprevizibil. Viaţa se derula cu trufia leneşă a marilor cartiere, când cei căzuţi pradă plicticoasei rutine îşi trag sufletul între activităţile obişnuite ale unei zile zbuciumate: fuga la şcoală, mersul la supermarket, la curăţătorie, la poştă, poate ceva aventuri pe furiş în spatele perdelelor trase în grabă.
Atmosfera, ca să nu mai pomenim de linişte, trebuie să i se fi părut dubioasă lui Litvinenko, fostul agent secret devenit denunţător, exilat şi transfug din ţara sa natală, Rusia, şi duşman înverşunat al regimului rus. Mulţi ani crescuse în Caucazul de Nord şi se pregătise pentru o carieră în KGB, unde fusese instruit să-şi spioneze camarazii, să interogheze copiii zdrenţăroşi din Cecenia, luaţi prizonieri, şi să urmărească membrii mafiei ruseşti din Moscova. Însă Litvinenko renunţase la toate acestea, la tot ce fusese învăţat atunci când Uniunea Sovietică s-a destrămat şi a devenit noua Rusie. Şi-a sfidat stăpânii de la Moscova cu îndrăzneală şi le-a trădat cele mai tainice secrete, după cum susţinea el.
Acum era timpul să plătească, deşi, cum se întâmplă cel mai des pe tărâmul trădării, victima este ultima care află.
O adiere uşoară dinspre nord-vest făcea să freamăte frunzele îngălbenite ale copacilor din Muswell Hill, un cartier retras, situat la periferie, în nordul Londrei, cu case înşiruite în stil eduardian. Termometrul arăta numai câteva grade Celsius, totuşi nu era deloc ger. Omnibuzele roşii îşi urmau obişnuitul traseu deseori imprevizibil. Viaţa se derula cu trufia leneşă a marilor cartiere, când cei căzuţi pradă plicticoasei rutine îşi trag sufletul între activităţile obişnuite ale unei zile zbuciumate: fuga la şcoală, mersul la supermarket, la curăţătorie, la poştă, poate ceva aventuri pe furiş în spatele perdelelor trase în grabă.
Atmosfera, ca să nu mai pomenim de linişte, trebuie să i se fi părut dubioasă lui Litvinenko, fostul agent secret devenit denunţător, exilat şi transfug din ţara sa natală, Rusia, şi duşman înverşunat al regimului rus. Mulţi ani crescuse în Caucazul de Nord şi se pregătise pentru o carieră în KGB, unde fusese instruit să-şi spioneze camarazii, să interogheze copiii zdrenţăroşi din Cecenia, luaţi prizonieri, şi să urmărească membrii mafiei ruseşti din Moscova. Însă Litvinenko renunţase la toate acestea, la tot ce fusese învăţat atunci când Uniunea Sovietică s-a destrămat şi a devenit noua Rusie. Şi-a sfidat stăpânii de la Moscova cu îndrăzneală şi le-a trădat cele mai tainice secrete, după cum susţinea el.
Acum era timpul să plătească, deşi, cum se întâmplă cel mai des pe tărâmul trădării, victima este ultima care află.
April 25, 2024
A fascinating story, especially for those of us only tangentially aware of the rise of Vladamir Putin and the new Russia.
But in general I have two real problems with this book.
1) The writing is not quite "yellow", but it is almost noir, and heavily stilted toward newspaper style. It unfolds in increasing layers of detail which gets repetitive. This story could have been told in about 2/3 of the time or less.
2) It is not all about espionage. It is one story about one completely audacious murder. And the other 40% sets the context for how and why it happened. Those are interesting but when the story devolves into context many years before, or even years after it feels like piling on
But like I said. The book is an education. And we can all stand to be a little better educated
But in general I have two real problems with this book.
1) The writing is not quite "yellow", but it is almost noir, and heavily stilted toward newspaper style. It unfolds in increasing layers of detail which gets repetitive. This story could have been told in about 2/3 of the time or less.
2) It is not all about espionage. It is one story about one completely audacious murder. And the other 40% sets the context for how and why it happened. Those are interesting but when the story devolves into context many years before, or even years after it feels like piling on
But like I said. The book is an education. And we can all stand to be a little better educated
August 16, 2022
I would have given this book 4 Stars for the well researched content and fascinating story but I also found it very tedious and all the Russian names a bit hard to keep track of. (partially my own shortcomings) I vaguely remembered the news story of how a Russian living in exile in London was poisoned. We learn from this book that this murder was committed using a radioactive isotope which caused a slow, horrible and agonizing death, one in which the victim lived long enough to share testimony of his own murder. I came away knowing a little more about Putin and some of the intrigues of the relationship between Russia and Britain and definitely very wary of nuclear terrorism.
November 6, 2020
This is a "fact is stranger than fiction" account of a former KGB agent, living in exile in London, who was poisoned to death by polonium. But it also offers insight into Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Putin's re-nationalism of the industries that Yeltsin supported privatizing really whip-sawed the country fundamentally in drastically different ways. I found this a good, informative read.
August 14, 2024
Solid book on the murder of Litvenenko, while there is some background material about his life and the Russian political situation most of the book is on the mechanics of his murder: book seems written around the time of the murder and not containing a lot of new info, reading the book nearly 20 years after the murder.
May 5, 2017
Fascinating deep-dive into the mystery behind the polonium-210 murder of Alexander Litvinenko. The story of Putin's rise to power has disturbing echoes now.
July 2, 2018
A fascinating look into the former Soviet spy apparatus. And what happens if you try and walk away.
August 7, 2019
Detailed history and background of Litvinenko, Lugovoy and Putin.
November 29, 2019
Pretty scary world we live in these days.
June 5, 2022
Thorough.
January 22, 2024
Knew about this but lots of interesting details.
July 11, 2017
The writing is melodramatic and disorganized but the story is killer. It was written like a novel jumping all over in time. It had fascinating background on the Russian oligarch Berezovsky, Vladimir Putin, and KGB agents. The book continues on after the protagonist's death but the story of how police and scientists went searching all over London and even Germany for traces of polonium was fascinating.
March 30, 2019
A fascinating true story of a murdered spy and the reasons that the Russian government might have killed him. The story is convuluted, but the author and editor did not do any favors to the story in the way that they structured the book.
August 14, 2008
Alexander Litvinenko seemed like an ordinary refugee to London. Russian émigrés have long filled London, fleeing all sorts of oppression in their homeland. What makes Litvinenko extraordinary is that he was assassinated in a very unique way that became very public. He was poisoned using a very exotic radioactive isotope in a cup of tea.
Litvinenko was a former KGB spy (he also worked for the FSB, a KGB successor). He became an outspoken critic of Putin, and being a critic of Putin is not a long term life strategy as countless journalists and opposition leaders have found out. The very public murder of such a loud critic shows the world just how embolden Putin has become, along with this weeks war with Georgia. The mode of death was the shock, not the actual murder.
Cowell’s book is a true thrill-mystery that will more than likely make it to the big screen. It has a cast of villains and spies to shame most fiction writers. Written in a highly readable prose, anyone can approach this book and meet all of the colorful characters.
Litvinenko was a former KGB spy (he also worked for the FSB, a KGB successor). He became an outspoken critic of Putin, and being a critic of Putin is not a long term life strategy as countless journalists and opposition leaders have found out. The very public murder of such a loud critic shows the world just how embolden Putin has become, along with this weeks war with Georgia. The mode of death was the shock, not the actual murder.
Cowell’s book is a true thrill-mystery that will more than likely make it to the big screen. It has a cast of villains and spies to shame most fiction writers. Written in a highly readable prose, anyone can approach this book and meet all of the colorful characters.
November 5, 2010
I've been trying to figure out why I was so disappointed in this book, and think I've finally gotten there. The author spends hundreds of pages giving biographical details of several figures in the book - details that, while they help paint a picture of what it was like in the Soviet Union/Russia, ultimately weren't as interesting as the actual crime at the heart of the book. Then the author seemed to race through the actual poisoning event, how the suspects were identified, where they could have obtained the materials, how the Polonium was transported to London, and really failed to provide any but the barest of details regarding an earlier poisoning attempt. Finding out more about these details was why I wanted to read this book and the fact that the book almost superficially dealt with them is why I was so disappointed in it.
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August 4, 2011There's now, like, three books on the radioactive poisoning of dissident Alexander Litvinenko and supposedly a movie on the way starring Johnny Depp. This one, Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB by Alex Goldfarb and The Litvinenko File: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy by Martin Sixsmith as well as Litvinenko's book Blowing Up Russia: The Secret Plot to Bring Back KGB Terror and Putin's Labyrinth: Spies, Murder, and the Dark Heart of the New Russia by Steve Levine as well as Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy by Anna Politkovskaya. All are good reading and having read them all, I'm not sure which I would recommend over the others. But don't wait for the movie! The book is a fast, sobering page turner that you read read in one sitting!
March 17, 2009
This is one of the worst-written books I have ever read. It was a torture to get through, like reading a really bad 9th grade essay. The author is especially fond of extremely dramatic one-line paragraphs that he then neglects to back up with any actual information or evidence. You are just supposed to take his word for it. It's amazing how long this book is, considering how little it actually says.
In fairness I was reading an "advance copy" that perhaps had not been rigorously edited yet. I really pity the editor who had to tackle it, though, if this is the case.
The book does deal with a fascinating subject. But I would recommend reading the Wikipedia article about Litvenenko's death. It is just about as informative.
In fairness I was reading an "advance copy" that perhaps had not been rigorously edited yet. I really pity the editor who had to tackle it, though, if this is the case.
The book does deal with a fascinating subject. But I would recommend reading the Wikipedia article about Litvenenko's death. It is just about as informative.
January 19, 2011
While an interesting plot for a novel---death of an ex-KGB spy by poisoning in London---it didn't work so well as a non-fiction book, but that may be due to the author. There are holes in the narrative of Litvinenko's last day, so there's no definitive conclusion. Cowell constantly tries to play both sides of the coin on Litvinenko, alternatively portraying him as a pawn and a central figure, aware of his fate while not knowing what's coming. And nearly every other page Cowell "foreshadows" Litvinenko's upcoming demise.
Again, a good premise for a novel or non-fiction book, but poorly written.
Again, a good premise for a novel or non-fiction book, but poorly written.
January 26, 2011
While an interesting plot for a novel---death of an ex-KGB spy by poisoning in London---it didn't work so well as a non-fiction book, but that may be due to the author. There are holes in the narrative of Litvinenko's last day, so there's no definitive conclusion. Cowell constantly tries to play both sides of the coin on Litvinenko, alternatively portraying him as a pawn and a central figure, aware of his fate while not knowing what's coming. And nearly every other page Cowell "foreshadows" Litvinenko's upcoming demise.
Again, a good premise for a novel or non-fiction book, but poorly written.
Again, a good premise for a novel or non-fiction book, but poorly written.
October 6, 2010
It starts off a little slow, more Russian history than true-crime thriller. But the background on the main players becomes important later and is worth working through. Not many books could combine history and espionage with a dash of physics and get away with it, but this one does. But it's not exactly a comforting story in terms of the future of Russian relations with the West and terrorism in general. Part of me wants to explore Putin a little more while part of me doesn't really want to know.
October 21, 2008
Well, I found this book hard to follow so I skipped around to the parts that interested me - he doesn't tell the story linearly - he goes off on tangents and does explain a lot about other things - plutonium, Russian political history, Putin's history etc but I wanted to hear the STORY about Sasha. in the end I was glad I read it but I would encourage readers to not feel compelled to read it in page order!
July 26, 2011
This book should have been about two hundred pages shorter. While some parts are fascinating and insightful, others are just repetitious and verbose. And then Alan S. Cowell spends fifty-plus pages telling us all the details of several completely speculative accounts of the murder. When the author sticks to the evidence, he tells a very interesting and important story.
October 15, 2013
This too was a little slow at times. There are, however, two key aspects of the book that really resonated with me. First, the historical data regarding Russia in general was fascinating. This was my first real glimpse into the period of the Oligarchs during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. The book also explained how that period led into the renewal of authoritarianism under Putin. The super rich Russian populace and their migration to “Londongrad” was interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews