Deep Cover

by Brian Garfield

A Soviet spymaster launches an audacious plan against the American militaryThe KGB calls it Amergrad. Buried deep in Siberia, just a few hundred miles from the Chinese border, it’s the most tightly guarded secret in the Soviet Union. Away from the frigid tundra, behind wall after wall of barbed-wire fence, is a perfectly ordinary small American city. It has gas stations, diners, movie theaters, and more cars than all of Leningrad. The residents speak English at all times, observing every custom of American life until it becomes second nature. When they graduate, they move to Tucson.Two decades later, Tucson is the center of the American military-industrial complex, and graduates of Amergrad are in positions of power at every level. These perfect Soviet spies hold the keys to the American nuclear array, and their mission is about to begin.

Genres: Thriller, Espionage

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Brian Francis Wynne Garfield was a novelist and screenwriter. He wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen, and gained prominence with 1975 his book Hopscotch, which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. He is best known for his 1972 novel Death Wish, which was adapted for the 1974 film of the same title, followed by four sequels, and a remake starring Bruce Willis.

His follow-up 1975 sequel to Death Wish, Death Sentence, was very loosely adapted into a film of the same name which was released to theaters in late 2007, though an entirely different storyline, but with the novel's same look on vigilantism. Garfield is also the author of The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History. Garfield's latest book, published in 2007, is Meinertzhagen, the biography of controversial British intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen.

Brian Garfield was the author of more than 70 books that sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and 19 of his works were made into films or TV shows. He also served as president of the Western Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America.

Pseudonyms:
• Bennett Garland
• John Ives
• Drew Mallory
• Frank O'Brian
• Brian Wynne
• Frank Wynne

Reviews

[Checkman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm 45 years old and I remember the Cold War. I was a child in the seventies. Ronald Reagen's presidency (the so-called Second Cold War) took place during my adolescence. There was real concern, during his presidency, that war would occur and the world would be destroyed in the process. Of course ,being a teenager at the time, the prospect of such a disaster seemed very exciting to me.

When I was among polite company I would make all the right noises about how terrible a nuclear war would be, but I would read and watch everything I could find about the topic. Among my favorites was anything about nuclear weapon, the geo-political situation and (of course) the post-apocalyptic/nuclear war survivalist action novels that proliferated in the early Eighties. Not surprisingly I saw myself as being heroic in my fantasies. One of those heroes wielding the machine-gun and leading other survivors in battle against the forces of evil among the radioactive ruins. hooah!

Well I was young........and stupid.

However I didn't read just the PA novels. I also devoured the thrillers which would spin elaborate scenarios in the which the U.S. and U.S.S.R. would come within a hair's breadth of nuclear annihilation before stepping back. Fail Safe was one of my favorites at the time as well as Red Alert and The Gold Crew. I suppose that while a part of me thought the idea of the end of the Human race sounded very exciting another part of me was scared of such an event. Those edge of your seat thrillers took me there before pulling back.

The world changed. The nukes are still around and now there is the whole China thing and god only knows what might be waiting in the wings, but the Cold War ended without nuclear annihilation. I got older, a little wiser and gave up such fantasies, but now and again I like to revisit my youth. The nuclear Cold War thrillers might not longer be fashionable (not to mention obsolete), but there are still many old copies of the various novels floating around. I like to read them now and again. The old novels are almost historical documents now. For while they are fiction they are products of their time - primary source material if you like.

Deep Cover was one of Brain Garfield's earlier works. Already an experienced novelist of crime thrillers and westerns by the time this novel was published (1971) it was somewhat different for him. As the synopsis tells you it takes place in and around Tuscon, Arizona. The premise is that the KGB have imbedded a large number of "illegals" (trained to imitate Americans perfectly), who for the past twenty-years, have infiltrated the area in and around Tuscon at all levels from political positions to the military and so on. After twenty some years a high ranking Soviet governmental official concludes that the U.S.S.R. and China are preparing to go to war and he activates the Illegals in order to launch U.S. missiles against China and ensure his country survives. After that it's a simple race against time thriller.

Only it isn't really all that thrilling. It's not a badly written novel, but it is.......wordy........and that isn't a good thing for a thriller. Characters are given pages of dialogue and introspection which brings the suspense aspect to a screeching halt. There are several long discussions about the military-industrial complex, nuclear policy, nuclear controls and the state of America's youth (it was written in the early seventies) which ,while interesting and provide backdrop, probably could have been pared down.

The other weakness is that the dramatic storyline is rather soapy. Lots of melodrama taking place among what is obviously a well researched novel. It reminded me of Arthur Hailey and Harold Robbins, but then those writers and others were selling millions of copies in 1971 so it should come as no surprise that Garfield imitates aspects of their story telling. He might not have even realized that he was doing it at the time.

A well researched novel (rather implausible as well) that gives you insight into what was going on with the United States and it's military-industrial complex, but draggy and in need of a little more editing. Thrillers are not necessarily the best genre for editorializing.

In conclusion I think Mr. Garfield is better when writing westerns and crime novels.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tale of Soviet espionage, a political thriller which became an alternate history of sorts once Nixon went to China and the early 70's threat of Sino-Soviet conflict died down. The names of Garfield's good friend/collaborator Donald E. Westlake and his pseudonyms are Tuckerized to within an inch of their lives, which is somewhat amusing.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment. I enjoy Brian Garfield. I like Cold War thrillers. This looked promising: Soviet spy school, KGB sleeper agent infiltration, political infighting (both US and USSR), but . . . It doesn’t work the concentration of so many sleeper agents in one location is unbearably stupid. The novel starts well, and the pacing is fine. However the body count and the resolution are lame.

[Richard Fortunati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarkable and very readable.

This is a story of what the world faces today. No matter what we do, we have the capacity to destroy all life on this planet. It is just a matter of when that will happen!

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one of Brian Garfield's terrific spy stories.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1974. Deeply embeded Soviet agents in America.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of Russians is embedded in USA after training in a model American village in the Soviet Union and getting jobs in an airforce base in Tucson, Arizona.

Meanwhile, a Republican congressman is embroiled in an internal party dispute after opposing a new programme called the Phaeton programme which is similar to Star Wars.

The novel is similar to a couple of episodes of "Dangerman" (a TV series made for ITV in the 1960s), even the chief Russian spy has a similar name (“Dangerfield”).