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The Mercenary
Moscow, 1985. The Soviet Union and its communist regime are in the last stages of decline, but remain opaque to the rest of the world—and still very dangerous. In this ever-shifting landscape, a senior KGB officer—code name GAMBIT—has approached the CIA Moscow Station chief with top secret military weapons intelligence and asked to be exfiltrated. GAMBIT demands that his handler be a former CIA officer, Alex Garin, a former KGB officer who defected to the American side.
The CIA had never successfully exfiltrated a KGB officer from Moscow, and the top brass do not trust Garin. But they have no other GAMBIT's secrets could be the deciding factor in the Cold War.
Garin is able to gain the trust of GAMBIT, but remains an enigma. Is he a mercenary acting in self-interest or are there deeper secrets from his past that would explain where his loyalties truly lie? As the date nears for GAMBIT's exfiltration, and with the walls closing in on both of them, Garin begins a relationship with a Russian agent and sets into motion a plan that could compromise everything.
The CIA had never successfully exfiltrated a KGB officer from Moscow, and the top brass do not trust Garin. But they have no other GAMBIT's secrets could be the deciding factor in the Cold War.
Garin is able to gain the trust of GAMBIT, but remains an enigma. Is he a mercenary acting in self-interest or are there deeper secrets from his past that would explain where his loyalties truly lie? As the date nears for GAMBIT's exfiltration, and with the walls closing in on both of them, Garin begins a relationship with a Russian agent and sets into motion a plan that could compromise everything.
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First published February 2, 2021
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About the author
Paul Vidich
12 books351 followersPAUL VIDICH is the acclaimed author of The Coldest Warrior (2020), An Honorable Man (2016) and The Good Assassin (2017), and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, LitHub, CrimeReads, Fugue, The Nation, Narrative Magazine, and others. He lives in New York.
Praise for THE COLDEST WARRIOR:
A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Mystery/Thriller Pick for Spring 2020
Publishers Weekly and Library Journal STARRED reviews.
“Vidich . . . writes with the nuanced detail and authority of a career spook. With this outing, Vidich enters the upper ranks of espionage thriller writers.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A worthwhile thriller and a valuable exposé.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Vidich presents a fast-paced, historically accurate thriller, placing him alongside other great spy authors such as John le Carré and Alan Furst. Readers of the genre will want this slow-burn chiller that shows how far government will go to keep secrets."—Library Journal (starred review)
“The Coldest Warrior is more than an entertaining and well-crafted thriller; Vidich asks questions that remain relevant today.”—JEFFERSON FLANDERS, picked as a Top Espionage Novel of 2020
Praise for AN HONORABLE MAN:
Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Top 10 mysteries and thrillers coming 2016.
A Booklist STARRED Review.
"Cold War spy fiction in the grand tradition--neatly plotted betrayals in that shadow world where no one can be trusted and agents are haunted by their own moral compromises." -- Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Berlin and Istanbul Passage.
"A cool, knowing, and quietly devastating thriller that vaults Paul Vidich into the ranks of such thinking-man's spy novelists as Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst. Like them, Vidich conjures not only a riveting mystery but a poignant cast of characters, a vibrant evocation of time and place, and a rich excavation of human paradox." -- Stephen Schiff, Co-Producer and writer, The Americans.
"As I read AN HONORABLE MAN, I kept coming back to George Smiley and THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. That’s how good this book is. Much like John le Carre and Eric Ambler before him, Vidich writes with a confidence that allows him to draw his characters in clean, simple strokes, creating dialogue that speaks volumes in a few spare lines while leaving even more for the reader to fathom in what’s not said at all. At the center of the novel is George Mueller, a man who walks in the considerable shadow of Smiley but with his own unique footprint, his own demons and a quiet, inner strength that sustains and defines him in endless shades of cloak and dagger gray. Pick up this book. You’ll love it." --Michael Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Chicago Way
"An Honorable Man" is wonderful -- an unputdownable mole hunt written in terse, noirish prose, driving us inexorably forward. In George Mueller, Paul Vidich has created a perfectly stoic companion to guide us through the intrigues of the red-baiting Fifties. And the story itself has the comforting feel of a classic of the genre, rediscovered in some dusty attic, a wonderful gift from the past. – Olen Steinhauer, New York Times Bestselling author of The Tourist and The Cairo Affair.
“Paul Vidich's tense, muscular thriller delivers suspense and intelligence circa 1953: Korea, Stalin, the cold war, rage brilliantly, and the hall of mirrors confronting reluctant agent George Mueller reflects myriad questions. Just how personal is the political? Is the past ever past? An Honorable Man asks universal questions whose shadows linger even now. Paul Vidich's immensely assured debut, a requiem to a time, is intensely alive, dark, silken with facts, replete with promise.” -- Jayne Anne Phillips, New York Times Bestselling author of Lark and Terminte a
Praise for THE COLDEST WARRIOR:
A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Mystery/Thriller Pick for Spring 2020
Publishers Weekly and Library Journal STARRED reviews.
“Vidich . . . writes with the nuanced detail and authority of a career spook. With this outing, Vidich enters the upper ranks of espionage thriller writers.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A worthwhile thriller and a valuable exposé.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Vidich presents a fast-paced, historically accurate thriller, placing him alongside other great spy authors such as John le Carré and Alan Furst. Readers of the genre will want this slow-burn chiller that shows how far government will go to keep secrets."—Library Journal (starred review)
“The Coldest Warrior is more than an entertaining and well-crafted thriller; Vidich asks questions that remain relevant today.”—JEFFERSON FLANDERS, picked as a Top Espionage Novel of 2020
Praise for AN HONORABLE MAN:
Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Top 10 mysteries and thrillers coming 2016.
A Booklist STARRED Review.
"Cold War spy fiction in the grand tradition--neatly plotted betrayals in that shadow world where no one can be trusted and agents are haunted by their own moral compromises." -- Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Berlin and Istanbul Passage.
"A cool, knowing, and quietly devastating thriller that vaults Paul Vidich into the ranks of such thinking-man's spy novelists as Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst. Like them, Vidich conjures not only a riveting mystery but a poignant cast of characters, a vibrant evocation of time and place, and a rich excavation of human paradox." -- Stephen Schiff, Co-Producer and writer, The Americans.
"As I read AN HONORABLE MAN, I kept coming back to George Smiley and THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. That’s how good this book is. Much like John le Carre and Eric Ambler before him, Vidich writes with a confidence that allows him to draw his characters in clean, simple strokes, creating dialogue that speaks volumes in a few spare lines while leaving even more for the reader to fathom in what’s not said at all. At the center of the novel is George Mueller, a man who walks in the considerable shadow of Smiley but with his own unique footprint, his own demons and a quiet, inner strength that sustains and defines him in endless shades of cloak and dagger gray. Pick up this book. You’ll love it." --Michael Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Chicago Way
"An Honorable Man" is wonderful -- an unputdownable mole hunt written in terse, noirish prose, driving us inexorably forward. In George Mueller, Paul Vidich has created a perfectly stoic companion to guide us through the intrigues of the red-baiting Fifties. And the story itself has the comforting feel of a classic of the genre, rediscovered in some dusty attic, a wonderful gift from the past. – Olen Steinhauer, New York Times Bestselling author of The Tourist and The Cairo Affair.
“Paul Vidich's tense, muscular thriller delivers suspense and intelligence circa 1953: Korea, Stalin, the cold war, rage brilliantly, and the hall of mirrors confronting reluctant agent George Mueller reflects myriad questions. Just how personal is the political? Is the past ever past? An Honorable Man asks universal questions whose shadows linger even now. Paul Vidich's immensely assured debut, a requiem to a time, is intensely alive, dark, silken with facts, replete with promise.” -- Jayne Anne Phillips, New York Times Bestselling author of Lark and Terminte a
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
February 20, 2021
As the author, I am partial to this book, but early reviews, including today's review from Tom Nolan in the Wall Street Journal, confirm this book got a few things just right. Nolan called The Mercenary 'edgy' and 'an outstanding' spy saga.
November 3, 2020
Even if you’re a fan of espionage fiction, you may not yet be familiar with the name Paul Vidich. You should be. Vidich writes spy novels in the grand tradition of Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, and John le Carré. His historical espionage tales rank with those of his better-known contemporaries, Alan Furst and Joseph Kanon. And his rare talent for repopulating history with complex and credible characters is fully on display in his fourth novel, The Mercenary, a Cold War thriller set in the final years of the Soviet Union.
It’s 1985. The “mercenary” of the title is Aleksander Garin, a former CIA officer who had been forced to leave the Agency six years earlier. The high-ranking KGB agent he was attempting to exfiltrate from the Soviet Union was captured and executed then. Since then, Garin has been working on contract from time to time. Suddenly, the CIA calls unexpectedly with a generous offer inviting him to return to Moscow to “handle” a senior KGB officer code-named Gambit. The agent’s handler, George Mueller, the CIA Station Chief in the city, had been blown and expelled from the country. Now Gambit was demanding to meet with Garin personally.
Once in Moscow, Garin initiates the perilous process of meeting with Gambit and negotiating a safe course through the distrustful staff of the CIA station. On all sides, his failure six years earlier returns to complicate his life. And Gambit has access to some of the KGB’s most closely held secrets, so the stakes couldn’t be higher. However, the price he sets to deliver those secrets reawakens Garin’s deepest fears. He must engineer Gambit’s exfiltration along with his wife and son—a feat the CIA has never managed to accomplish. And to complicate further an already daunting challenge, Garin is falling in love with a woman he stumbled across at a rendezvous with Gambit.
This ailing old Stalinist, Konstantin Chernenko, presided over the USSR for just 13 months before Mikhail Gorbachev became its chairman. Image: Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The historical background
As the USSR approached the seventieth anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the society that Josef Stalin had built on the rubble of a centuries-old tyranny and a blood-soaked Civil War was crumbling. The accumulated outrages and injustices have betrayed the ideals that motivated millions and now threaten to destabilize the state itself. Corruption, cynicism, and defeatism permeate the ranks of the government.
For many years, the Soviet government had been led by inflexible old men whose ability to confront the society’s problems was undermined by chronic illness, alcoholism, or both. Following the death of Leonid Brezhnev (1906-82), KGB chief Yuri Andropov (1914-84) served as General Secretary for just fifteen months before dying of kidney failure. Brezhnev had succumbed to multiple causes related to his heavy smoking, drinking to excess, and addiction to sleeping pills and tranquilizers. Andropov’s successor, Konstantin Chernenko (1911-85), held the office of General Secretary of the Communist Party for only thirteen months. He died of emphysema, hepatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver. And these were the fearsome men at the helm of the “Evil Empire.”
The events depicted in this outstanding Cold War thriller unfold in the final months of Chernenko’s life. Vidich deftly portrays the pessimism and black humor of the long-suffering Russian people, who were now saddled with a profoundly ill-managed system that strained to feed, clothe, and house them. It’s easy to understand the desperation that led Mikhail Gorbachev to undertake the dangerous reforms that characterized his stewardship of the Soviet state following Chernenko’s death.
It’s 1985. The “mercenary” of the title is Aleksander Garin, a former CIA officer who had been forced to leave the Agency six years earlier. The high-ranking KGB agent he was attempting to exfiltrate from the Soviet Union was captured and executed then. Since then, Garin has been working on contract from time to time. Suddenly, the CIA calls unexpectedly with a generous offer inviting him to return to Moscow to “handle” a senior KGB officer code-named Gambit. The agent’s handler, George Mueller, the CIA Station Chief in the city, had been blown and expelled from the country. Now Gambit was demanding to meet with Garin personally.
Once in Moscow, Garin initiates the perilous process of meeting with Gambit and negotiating a safe course through the distrustful staff of the CIA station. On all sides, his failure six years earlier returns to complicate his life. And Gambit has access to some of the KGB’s most closely held secrets, so the stakes couldn’t be higher. However, the price he sets to deliver those secrets reawakens Garin’s deepest fears. He must engineer Gambit’s exfiltration along with his wife and son—a feat the CIA has never managed to accomplish. And to complicate further an already daunting challenge, Garin is falling in love with a woman he stumbled across at a rendezvous with Gambit.
This ailing old Stalinist, Konstantin Chernenko, presided over the USSR for just 13 months before Mikhail Gorbachev became its chairman. Image: Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The historical background
As the USSR approached the seventieth anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the society that Josef Stalin had built on the rubble of a centuries-old tyranny and a blood-soaked Civil War was crumbling. The accumulated outrages and injustices have betrayed the ideals that motivated millions and now threaten to destabilize the state itself. Corruption, cynicism, and defeatism permeate the ranks of the government.
For many years, the Soviet government had been led by inflexible old men whose ability to confront the society’s problems was undermined by chronic illness, alcoholism, or both. Following the death of Leonid Brezhnev (1906-82), KGB chief Yuri Andropov (1914-84) served as General Secretary for just fifteen months before dying of kidney failure. Brezhnev had succumbed to multiple causes related to his heavy smoking, drinking to excess, and addiction to sleeping pills and tranquilizers. Andropov’s successor, Konstantin Chernenko (1911-85), held the office of General Secretary of the Communist Party for only thirteen months. He died of emphysema, hepatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver. And these were the fearsome men at the helm of the “Evil Empire.”
The events depicted in this outstanding Cold War thriller unfold in the final months of Chernenko’s life. Vidich deftly portrays the pessimism and black humor of the long-suffering Russian people, who were now saddled with a profoundly ill-managed system that strained to feed, clothe, and house them. It’s easy to understand the desperation that led Mikhail Gorbachev to undertake the dangerous reforms that characterized his stewardship of the Soviet state following Chernenko’s death.
November 27, 2022
Every job had its moment of truth, when the unexpected met the unforgiving, forcing him to improvise.
Moscow, 1985. A high-ranking Soviet official codenamed GAMBIT seeks to defect, carrying important defence secrets to the west, but his plans are derailed by a mole, either within Moscow Station or Washington. His handler, nearing the end of his term, is sent back to Washington but GAMBIT, driven by his son’s tendency to spasms, calls for Moscow-born émigré Aleksander Garin, a former CIA agent, to replace him.
With a chequered past and nursing his own grievances, Garin arrives in Moscow using a human rights envoy as his cover, unable to trust anyone. While establishing a rapport with GAMBIT, Garin’s path crosses that of an attractive woman, former ballerina, Natalya, with links to his own past.
But when the incumbent dies and is replaced by Gorbachev, jealously-guarded secrets, ambitions and conspiracies swirling within the KGB, draw Garin into a deadly cat-and-mouse game for survival.
Author Paul Vidich is new to me but his style of espionage novels, reminiscent of John le Carré and Graham Greene, the tight writing and strong characters, a quixotic hero with a hint of Romeo and Juliet’s star-crossed lovers, makes it among the top five books I have read this year. Well recommended.
Moscow, 1985. A high-ranking Soviet official codenamed GAMBIT seeks to defect, carrying important defence secrets to the west, but his plans are derailed by a mole, either within Moscow Station or Washington. His handler, nearing the end of his term, is sent back to Washington but GAMBIT, driven by his son’s tendency to spasms, calls for Moscow-born émigré Aleksander Garin, a former CIA agent, to replace him.
With a chequered past and nursing his own grievances, Garin arrives in Moscow using a human rights envoy as his cover, unable to trust anyone. While establishing a rapport with GAMBIT, Garin’s path crosses that of an attractive woman, former ballerina, Natalya, with links to his own past.
But when the incumbent dies and is replaced by Gorbachev, jealously-guarded secrets, ambitions and conspiracies swirling within the KGB, draw Garin into a deadly cat-and-mouse game for survival.
Author Paul Vidich is new to me but his style of espionage novels, reminiscent of John le Carré and Graham Greene, the tight writing and strong characters, a quixotic hero with a hint of Romeo and Juliet’s star-crossed lovers, makes it among the top five books I have read this year. Well recommended.
March 8, 2021
Spies are an interesting lot, always scurrying about in their wide-brimmed hats, trench coats, and fake mustaches. But the secret they can never uncover is why they are so lonely. The confidential information they can never obtain is will they ever be loved? No matter how many ballpoint pen grenades, or Omega wristwatches with laser cutters, or shoe phones these spies acquire, it will never be enough to fill the hole in their heart of this missing love. This is something master writer Paul Vidich understands. In his newest thriller, The Mercenary: A Novel, his characters (CIA and KGB operatives esbionaging their bad selves all over the place in mid ‘80’s Moscow) contain a level of humanity usually glossed over in spy stories. Former CIA agent Alex Garin is enlisted to exfiltrate a KGB officer willing to spill the beans on many secrets and cutting edge weapons technology. Garin has issues, his last attempt at getting a defector out of Moscow ended tragically. He is also a lonely sad sack. His ticker misses the warmth and connection of a loving soul. Sure he is a mercenary, risking his life for money and not for some patriotic ideal, but even mercenaries need to be seen, to be heard, to be given great big wet smooches. Enter the adorably cranky Natalya, a former ballet dancer who also carries scars from her loneliness. Will Garin get his asset out of Russia safely? Will Garin find love with that cute grump Natalya? Will he be able to find the loving warmth of an adult relationship that he deserves?
Like a sadist who is into bare-handed spanking, Vidich ratchets up the suspense as Garin scrambles to get his asset out of Russia. The tension in this story is thicker than the coating of cholesterol that is obstructing my coronary arteries (the angioplasty is scheduled for next week). It builds and builds until the reader is a trembling mess of nerves dripping buckets of perspiration, reeking of body odor and shrieking every time anyone comes up behind them like a 1960’s teen discovering the man next to her at the bus stop hiding behind a newspaper is George Harrison.
In other words, The Mercenary: A Novel is another fine addition to Vidich’s already impressive list of spy thrillers.
Like a sadist who is into bare-handed spanking, Vidich ratchets up the suspense as Garin scrambles to get his asset out of Russia. The tension in this story is thicker than the coating of cholesterol that is obstructing my coronary arteries (the angioplasty is scheduled for next week). It builds and builds until the reader is a trembling mess of nerves dripping buckets of perspiration, reeking of body odor and shrieking every time anyone comes up behind them like a 1960’s teen discovering the man next to her at the bus stop hiding behind a newspaper is George Harrison.
In other words, The Mercenary: A Novel is another fine addition to Vidich’s already impressive list of spy thrillers.
March 17, 2021
The Mercenary is a first-class, top tier espionage thriller and Vidich’s fourth CIA novel packed with danger, drama and intrigue. As the U.S.S.R. begins to crumble and half a century of the Cold War stutters to a halt, Russian-born, KGB-trained American Aleksander Garin, a former CIA asset, who had been forced to leave the agency six years earlier after a failed attempt to smuggle a valuable KGB Officer out of the Soviet Union, has been contracted to try the same thing again, even though the first time the soon-to-be defector had been captured and brutally executed. Alek is now a mercenary meaning where his loyalties lie always comes into play and of course, they lie wherever the money is. Because of the previous failure, this time around the operation is kept even closer to the vest with only those involved knowing about it. Alek is once again dispatched by the CIA to Moscow to exfiltrate Soviet military officer, Petrov, who had perilously approached the CIA Moscow Station Chief looking to defect, across the border from Moscow to Czechoslovakia. Posing as US Embassy staff Garin uses his fluency in Russian to gain the trust of the officer. The high-ranking KGB Officer’s information had been vetted and he had been given the codename GAMBIT. GAMBIT had insisted that Garin be his handler. But there was a catch making this a much more complicated exfiltration: GAMBIT demanded his wife and son to be smuggled out of the country with him and as the US desperately wants the intelligence he can provide they bend over backwards to fulfil this. To prove his worth and earn his freedom, before they take a big risk with him, GAMBIT is tasked with smuggling top-secret communiqués and papers to Garin.
As Garin was an ex-KGB agent who had defected to America and worked under contract for the CIA for some time his superiors didn't exactly trust him. However, they forge ahead because the amount of top-secret military information and data on newly acquired weaponry could possibly have a hand in bringing to an end the Cold War. Garin puts a plan together as to exactly how the exfiltration will happen but his attention is soon swayed when he meets former Russian ballerina, Natalya, a member of the KGB he comes across at one of his meetings with GAMBIT. Can Garin manage to pull off a daring feat of courage right under the very noses of the KGB and police authorities? This is a riveting and compulsive espionage thriller with plenty of exhilarating action and so many heart in your mouth moments. It's fast-paced, superbly written and wickedly twisty; I found I couldn't predict what was about to happen and was shocked several times throughout. Vidich evokes the time and place perfectly with rich, intricate detail and a real authenticity about it with Soviet Russia during the Cold War giving rise to a high-stakes, palpably tense narrative that is both claustrophobic and engenders intense feelings of unsettling dread. The oppressive and immensely dangerous situation was portrayed well and the atmosphere created was an exciting and suspenseful one. Vidich is grossly underrated yet he weaves together extensively researched, scintillating spy shenanigans as adeptly as the finest of the genre, including le Carré and Alan Furst. A tightly plotted, intelligent and multilayered thriller, The Mercenary is the finest quality spy fiction from a master of the genre. Highly recommended.
As Garin was an ex-KGB agent who had defected to America and worked under contract for the CIA for some time his superiors didn't exactly trust him. However, they forge ahead because the amount of top-secret military information and data on newly acquired weaponry could possibly have a hand in bringing to an end the Cold War. Garin puts a plan together as to exactly how the exfiltration will happen but his attention is soon swayed when he meets former Russian ballerina, Natalya, a member of the KGB he comes across at one of his meetings with GAMBIT. Can Garin manage to pull off a daring feat of courage right under the very noses of the KGB and police authorities? This is a riveting and compulsive espionage thriller with plenty of exhilarating action and so many heart in your mouth moments. It's fast-paced, superbly written and wickedly twisty; I found I couldn't predict what was about to happen and was shocked several times throughout. Vidich evokes the time and place perfectly with rich, intricate detail and a real authenticity about it with Soviet Russia during the Cold War giving rise to a high-stakes, palpably tense narrative that is both claustrophobic and engenders intense feelings of unsettling dread. The oppressive and immensely dangerous situation was portrayed well and the atmosphere created was an exciting and suspenseful one. Vidich is grossly underrated yet he weaves together extensively researched, scintillating spy shenanigans as adeptly as the finest of the genre, including le Carré and Alan Furst. A tightly plotted, intelligent and multilayered thriller, The Mercenary is the finest quality spy fiction from a master of the genre. Highly recommended.
January 16, 2021
In his latest spy novel, Paul Vidich effortlessly captures the paranoia, suspicion and fear that marked the Cold War battle between the CIA and KGB.
Set in Moscow in 1985, a former CIA officer, Aleksander Garin,is tasked with exfiltrating a senior KGB officer code-named "Gambit", who has specifically askeds for Garin, who we learn was a KGB agent before he defected to the USA.
Six years earlier, Alek was involved in a similar mission which ended in failure.
So begins a tortuous plan orchestrated by Alek to bring Gambit, his wife and son, safely across the Russian border to Czechoslovakia.
If successful, Gambit will be the only senior KGB officer ever to have been exfiltrated from Moscow. He has already delivered copies of top secret papers and promises to deliver more, including the Soviet Union's plans for "look down" radar, when he reaches safety.
Once in Moscow, Alek has to deal with American Embassy staff who harbour various suspicions about his reasons for being there while also arranging to meet in secret with Gambit to organise his escape.
To some in the CIA's Moscow Station Alek is a only a mercenary, but we discover that he has deeper secrets which go back to his childhood.
Now, with the Soviet Union in decline, the CIA sees Gambit as someone who could tip the balance in the USA's favour.
Almost from the start, Garin's plot goes awry as he becomes romantically involved with Natalya, a former ballerina who works for the KGB. As the story moves inexorably to a shattering climax the reader is subjected to the nerve-wracking escape bid by Alek, Gambit and his family.
Throughout the story, we are left uncertain as to who Alek can trust - and can Alex, himself a double agent, be trusted?
Paul Vidich has produced another beautifully written espionage tale with a labyrinthine plot, mixing fact with fiction in a delicious brew that is destined to become a classic in this genre. Highly recommended.
My thanks to No Exit Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.
Set in Moscow in 1985, a former CIA officer, Aleksander Garin,is tasked with exfiltrating a senior KGB officer code-named "Gambit", who has specifically askeds for Garin, who we learn was a KGB agent before he defected to the USA.
Six years earlier, Alek was involved in a similar mission which ended in failure.
So begins a tortuous plan orchestrated by Alek to bring Gambit, his wife and son, safely across the Russian border to Czechoslovakia.
If successful, Gambit will be the only senior KGB officer ever to have been exfiltrated from Moscow. He has already delivered copies of top secret papers and promises to deliver more, including the Soviet Union's plans for "look down" radar, when he reaches safety.
Once in Moscow, Alek has to deal with American Embassy staff who harbour various suspicions about his reasons for being there while also arranging to meet in secret with Gambit to organise his escape.
To some in the CIA's Moscow Station Alek is a only a mercenary, but we discover that he has deeper secrets which go back to his childhood.
Now, with the Soviet Union in decline, the CIA sees Gambit as someone who could tip the balance in the USA's favour.
Almost from the start, Garin's plot goes awry as he becomes romantically involved with Natalya, a former ballerina who works for the KGB. As the story moves inexorably to a shattering climax the reader is subjected to the nerve-wracking escape bid by Alek, Gambit and his family.
Throughout the story, we are left uncertain as to who Alek can trust - and can Alex, himself a double agent, be trusted?
Paul Vidich has produced another beautifully written espionage tale with a labyrinthine plot, mixing fact with fiction in a delicious brew that is destined to become a classic in this genre. Highly recommended.
My thanks to No Exit Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.
March 20, 2021
Page-turner classic spy thriller - question everyone and everything, as nothing may be as it seems.
March 17, 2021
Very well-written Cold War novel. Loved it.
February 12, 2021
Double-cross and double-cross again
It’s 1983 and the USSR is beginning to crumble, but for the KGB and CIA in Moscow, it is business as usual. There is a high-ranking KGB officer who wishes to defect; code-named GAMBIT, this officer demands an outsider as his handler, aware as he is of Soviet penetration of the CIA’s Moscow presence. Enter Alek Garin, half Russian, half American, former spy, now an agent who works for monetary return – or so it seems.
Or so it seems - because nothing in this novel is as it seems. No KGB defector has ever been successfully extracted from the Soviet Union and GAMBIT makes it even more difficult by demanding his wife and child come too. He has, however, information which the USA wants and needs, so his requests must be honoured. The twists and turns in this story are legion. There are few sure footholds for the participants, let alone the reader. It is an exciting, clever narrative, building to a tense, possibly implausible climax, enjoyable to read, for all that.
It’s 1983 and the USSR is beginning to crumble, but for the KGB and CIA in Moscow, it is business as usual. There is a high-ranking KGB officer who wishes to defect; code-named GAMBIT, this officer demands an outsider as his handler, aware as he is of Soviet penetration of the CIA’s Moscow presence. Enter Alek Garin, half Russian, half American, former spy, now an agent who works for monetary return – or so it seems.
Or so it seems - because nothing in this novel is as it seems. No KGB defector has ever been successfully extracted from the Soviet Union and GAMBIT makes it even more difficult by demanding his wife and child come too. He has, however, information which the USA wants and needs, so his requests must be honoured. The twists and turns in this story are legion. There are few sure footholds for the participants, let alone the reader. It is an exciting, clever narrative, building to a tense, possibly implausible climax, enjoyable to read, for all that.
November 2, 2020
Paul Vidich’s “The Mercenary” begins in the late 1980’s with George Mueller, key figure in Vidich’s first two novels, in Moscow for a clandestine meeting with Petrov, a high level Russian army officer who wants to defect to America with a bunch of military secrets. The meeting blows up as Mueller is arrested, but Petrov (code name: GAMBIT) demands a specific replacement for him, Alek Garin, an ex-KGB guy who’d done contract work in the past for the CIA. Nobody’s happy about the request; the CIA since one of Garin’s previous assignments ended poorly and they don’t know how far they can trust him, Garin himself since his wife recently left him and his mind isn’t exactly in the right frame, and GAMBIT, who doesn’t know Garin from Adam except by his reputation in the USSR and figures he won’t screw up twice in a row.
Garin accepts the assignment and is soon on his way to Moscow, where he poses as a member of the US Embassy staff. Fortunately, he’s a fluent speaker of Russian, which facilitates his communication with GAMBIT during their eventual meetings as well as his romantic exploits with a young female Russian officer who may or may not eventually betray him. His goal is to accumulate as much top secret Russian military information as possible and then exfiltrate Petrov and his family to the US, all while under the ultra-watchful eye (and hearing devices, phone taps, nosy neighbors, and ubiquitous police and KGB presence….) of the Russian authorities.
The Mercenary evokes time and place perfectly. Soviet Russia during the Cold War engenders feelings of claustrophobia and dread every time I read about it. Everything and everyone are under surveillance and, in the parlance of the spies, Moscow Rules (trust NO ONE) prevail. Vidich’s writing captures these feelings and this heightens the suspense as a seemingly impossible challenge is undertaken. As the key action in the conclusion approaches, I was strongly reminded of the denouement of Le Carre’s great ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’, with the tension reaching nearly indescribable levels. When Vidich describes the Cold War setting, the tradecraft, and 80’s era Europe, it truly makes the reader feel he's there.
I’ve followed Paul Vidich’s career from the beginning and “The Mercenary” is a fine addition to his collection of novels based on the CIA during the Cold War era. If you’re a fan of the literary thriller that eschews slam-bang theatrics for a more complex and subtle plot, you need to get your hands on The Mercenary. It further enhances Mr. Vidich’s reputation as an upcoming master of the genre.
Garin accepts the assignment and is soon on his way to Moscow, where he poses as a member of the US Embassy staff. Fortunately, he’s a fluent speaker of Russian, which facilitates his communication with GAMBIT during their eventual meetings as well as his romantic exploits with a young female Russian officer who may or may not eventually betray him. His goal is to accumulate as much top secret Russian military information as possible and then exfiltrate Petrov and his family to the US, all while under the ultra-watchful eye (and hearing devices, phone taps, nosy neighbors, and ubiquitous police and KGB presence….) of the Russian authorities.
The Mercenary evokes time and place perfectly. Soviet Russia during the Cold War engenders feelings of claustrophobia and dread every time I read about it. Everything and everyone are under surveillance and, in the parlance of the spies, Moscow Rules (trust NO ONE) prevail. Vidich’s writing captures these feelings and this heightens the suspense as a seemingly impossible challenge is undertaken. As the key action in the conclusion approaches, I was strongly reminded of the denouement of Le Carre’s great ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’, with the tension reaching nearly indescribable levels. When Vidich describes the Cold War setting, the tradecraft, and 80’s era Europe, it truly makes the reader feel he's there.
I’ve followed Paul Vidich’s career from the beginning and “The Mercenary” is a fine addition to his collection of novels based on the CIA during the Cold War era. If you’re a fan of the literary thriller that eschews slam-bang theatrics for a more complex and subtle plot, you need to get your hands on The Mercenary. It further enhances Mr. Vidich’s reputation as an upcoming master of the genre.
August 21, 2024
A little too much talky talk. Not enough spying spy.
Read
January 28, 2025weakest Vidich so far. but a weak Vidich is still better than 90% of the other junk in the cold war thriller genre category.
March 22, 2021
Last year I thoroughly enjoyed reading Paul Vidich's previous spy thriller, The Coldest Warrior and have been looking forward to The Mercenary with eager anticipation. This time he explores a later period in the Cold War; the Soviet Union is on the brink of change with an ailing Chernenko on the brink of death and Mikhail Gorbachev waiting to assume his historical mantle.
The fading Russian bear is perhaps as dangerous as ever however, and the opaque world of spies is captured with breathtaking intensity. The book opens with a suspenseful attempt to exfiltrate a valuable Soviet asset but when it doesn't succeed, the senior KGB officer known only as GAMBIT insists that his new handler should be Aleks Garin, a former defector himself. From the start, Garin is an enigma - not American but not Russian either and with a complex, murky history which means his return to Moscow is personally risky for him should he be recognised.
Paul Vidich's atmospheric descriptions of the frigid Russian landscape immerse the reader in a storyline which is as much a perceptive exploration of the psychological impact of espionage as it is a tautly plotted battle of wills between the CIA and KGB. Garin's own past, most notably his failure to secure the release of another Soviet defector, means nobody is sure whether he can be trusted. This ambiguity makes him an engaging protagonist, especially when he becomes increasingly drawn to former ballerina-turned-Russian-agent, Natalya. She is equally as fascinating - and untrustworthy - especially when she reveals her own complicated past
With both sides falling victim to double-crossing treachery, Garin's perilous mission to exfiltrate not just GAMBIT but also his wife and young son looks doomed to almost certain catastrophe. The latter chapters of The Mercenary become a tense, high-stakes race to the border in this poignantly cynical thriller which recognises that when we,
"shed espionage of its popular mythology, the spy's job is to lie, deceive and betray trust."
There are plenty of nail-biting dramatic scenes to keep action fans happy in an intriguing storyline that twists and turns towards its heart-pounding conclusion but Paul Vidich's vividly evocative novel is also a moving, rather melancholy exploration of what is ultimately a profoundly lonely way of life. Meticulously researched, with insightful characterisation and a superb sense of time and place, The Mercenary is a riveting, propulsive thriller. I highly recommend it.
The fading Russian bear is perhaps as dangerous as ever however, and the opaque world of spies is captured with breathtaking intensity. The book opens with a suspenseful attempt to exfiltrate a valuable Soviet asset but when it doesn't succeed, the senior KGB officer known only as GAMBIT insists that his new handler should be Aleks Garin, a former defector himself. From the start, Garin is an enigma - not American but not Russian either and with a complex, murky history which means his return to Moscow is personally risky for him should he be recognised.
Paul Vidich's atmospheric descriptions of the frigid Russian landscape immerse the reader in a storyline which is as much a perceptive exploration of the psychological impact of espionage as it is a tautly plotted battle of wills between the CIA and KGB. Garin's own past, most notably his failure to secure the release of another Soviet defector, means nobody is sure whether he can be trusted. This ambiguity makes him an engaging protagonist, especially when he becomes increasingly drawn to former ballerina-turned-Russian-agent, Natalya. She is equally as fascinating - and untrustworthy - especially when she reveals her own complicated past
With both sides falling victim to double-crossing treachery, Garin's perilous mission to exfiltrate not just GAMBIT but also his wife and young son looks doomed to almost certain catastrophe. The latter chapters of The Mercenary become a tense, high-stakes race to the border in this poignantly cynical thriller which recognises that when we,
"shed espionage of its popular mythology, the spy's job is to lie, deceive and betray trust."
There are plenty of nail-biting dramatic scenes to keep action fans happy in an intriguing storyline that twists and turns towards its heart-pounding conclusion but Paul Vidich's vividly evocative novel is also a moving, rather melancholy exploration of what is ultimately a profoundly lonely way of life. Meticulously researched, with insightful characterisation and a superb sense of time and place, The Mercenary is a riveting, propulsive thriller. I highly recommend it.
November 4, 2020
If you are a devotee of John le Carre's spy-thrillers, featuring George Smiley of British Intelligence, then you will love the work of American Paul Vidich, a relative newcomer to the espionage genre. He even has a Smiley-like character in his George Mueller, who has appeared in major or minor roles in all four of his novels - AN HONORABLE MAN, THE GOOD ASSASSIN, THE COLDEST WARRIOR, and now, his latest, THE MERCENARY. Mueller, a veteran of WWII and the OSS, is now a seasoned senior CIA agent, who contracts former double agent Alek Garin to go into Moscow and bring out a KGB defector who holds valuable tech secrets. It is 1985, just before the detente between the U.S. and the USSR. There is distrust and danger, entrapment and escape, torture and intrigue, and even a little romance. It's all in here, and in the most literary and nail-biting fashion imaginable. Garin is a marvelous character, with a suitably shadowy past and scars both physical and emotional, but he knows spycraft. And Mueller is here too, watching and waiting. I have loved the work of Graham Greene, Ward Just and le Carre for years, and have sampled some Eric Ambler too. Well, I'm adding Paul Vidich to that honor roll of masters of spy fiction. He is that good. My very highest recommendation.
- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA
- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA
March 27, 2021
The Mercenary is a spy thriller set in Russia during the 1980s and involves the complicated attempt to smuggle out an important KGB informer.
Alex Garin is sent to Moscow to make the deal and bring the man over; one of the key factors of this story is that Garin was previously involved in another extraction attempt which failed. Placing Garin in a similar high profile situation just a few years after the first, bothered me; would the Russians not pick him up quickly? I expected the cage to close in around Garin far more quickly than it did.
In contrast, I liked the setting and there were plenty of good descriptions about life in Russia, for both Russians and embassy workers; the cold temperatures, the shortages and the knowledge that neighbours could turn informer at any moment, felt quite real. A couple of times I thought that the author watered down the tension by over explaining a situation, but these were only minor, and I did like the ending.
So a good thriller in this genre, not the best that I’ve read, but still a solid story.
Alex Garin is sent to Moscow to make the deal and bring the man over; one of the key factors of this story is that Garin was previously involved in another extraction attempt which failed. Placing Garin in a similar high profile situation just a few years after the first, bothered me; would the Russians not pick him up quickly? I expected the cage to close in around Garin far more quickly than it did.
In contrast, I liked the setting and there were plenty of good descriptions about life in Russia, for both Russians and embassy workers; the cold temperatures, the shortages and the knowledge that neighbours could turn informer at any moment, felt quite real. A couple of times I thought that the author watered down the tension by over explaining a situation, but these were only minor, and I did like the ending.
So a good thriller in this genre, not the best that I’ve read, but still a solid story.
March 9, 2021
Moscow, during the late winter-early spring of 1985—in the waning times of the Soviet Empire and end of nearly fifty years of the Cold War—is the setting for a master work of espionage thriller by Paul Vidich, in which a high-ranking KGB Officer is attempting to defect to the United States with a treasure-trove of priceless Soviet military secrets.
After approaching the CIA Moscow Station Chief in an open and dangerously clumsy way, the potential turncoat’s information is vetted, then he’s given the code name GAMBIT, and knowledge of him is restricted to the fewest number of persons—less than a handful—because the Americans have never been able to successfully exfiltrate anyone from Moscow Station.
GAMBIT demands that an ex-CIA officer, a man named Alek Garin, be his handler. Garin’s an ex-KGB officer who defected to the U.S. and joined the CIA. He failed in a prior attempt to bring out a KGB general, who was killed in the process. The CIA chiefs don’t trust Garin, but decide to go ahead with the mission anyway, because GAMBIT’s huge amount of top-secret military information could be key to ending the Cold War.
Garin gains GAMBIT’s trust, but not the CIA’s. Is he just a mercenary—a hired gun—acting only out of self-interest? Will he sellout to another, higher bidder? Will he be recognized by his old spymasters at the KGB . . . or is GAMBIT himself merely an elaborate ruse to lure Garin back so that he can be captured, tried and then executed?
You’ll find yourself reading faster and faster and ignoring routine chores as you race to the electrifying conclusion of this astonishingly tense and well-plotted spy yarn that’s as real as it gets without actually being there and running in fear for your life!
After approaching the CIA Moscow Station Chief in an open and dangerously clumsy way, the potential turncoat’s information is vetted, then he’s given the code name GAMBIT, and knowledge of him is restricted to the fewest number of persons—less than a handful—because the Americans have never been able to successfully exfiltrate anyone from Moscow Station.
GAMBIT demands that an ex-CIA officer, a man named Alek Garin, be his handler. Garin’s an ex-KGB officer who defected to the U.S. and joined the CIA. He failed in a prior attempt to bring out a KGB general, who was killed in the process. The CIA chiefs don’t trust Garin, but decide to go ahead with the mission anyway, because GAMBIT’s huge amount of top-secret military information could be key to ending the Cold War.
Garin gains GAMBIT’s trust, but not the CIA’s. Is he just a mercenary—a hired gun—acting only out of self-interest? Will he sellout to another, higher bidder? Will he be recognized by his old spymasters at the KGB . . . or is GAMBIT himself merely an elaborate ruse to lure Garin back so that he can be captured, tried and then executed?
You’ll find yourself reading faster and faster and ignoring routine chores as you race to the electrifying conclusion of this astonishingly tense and well-plotted spy yarn that’s as real as it gets without actually being there and running in fear for your life!
October 30, 2020
I always thought you would have to go a long way to beat Jason Matthews's "Red Sparrow" for the accuracy of its descriptions of tradecraft in Moscow and the pure excitement of its descriptions of derring do in the conflict between the KGB/SVR and the CIA.
Finally I have found a book that is even more dense, politically astute and historically accurate in its portrayal of Cold War Moscow and yet packed full of labyrinthine intrigue and deception with rival KGB officers betraying each other as they struggle up the greasy pole to the top all topped off with a mercenary ex-KGB operative now working for the CIA (or is he?) and attempting to orchestrate the defection of a high ranking KGB traitor to America. Stir in a bit of love interest too and you will find this heady brew by a wonderful author in Paul Vidich.
I found his previous offerings slightly lacking in excitement with too many plots, sub plots and even characters but this book is the real deal combining breathless excitement and action with excellent plotting and characterisation and it should deservedly elevate Paul Vidich to the upper echelon of writers of spy fiction.
A wonderful book. Highly recommended
Finally I have found a book that is even more dense, politically astute and historically accurate in its portrayal of Cold War Moscow and yet packed full of labyrinthine intrigue and deception with rival KGB officers betraying each other as they struggle up the greasy pole to the top all topped off with a mercenary ex-KGB operative now working for the CIA (or is he?) and attempting to orchestrate the defection of a high ranking KGB traitor to America. Stir in a bit of love interest too and you will find this heady brew by a wonderful author in Paul Vidich.
I found his previous offerings slightly lacking in excitement with too many plots, sub plots and even characters but this book is the real deal combining breathless excitement and action with excellent plotting and characterisation and it should deservedly elevate Paul Vidich to the upper echelon of writers of spy fiction.
A wonderful book. Highly recommended
February 5, 2021
With The Mercenary, Paul Vidich confirms his position in the pantheon of top authors in the espionage genre
A great novel pulls you forward it doesn’t push you there. Paul Vidich‘s evolution as a writer continues to impress. With each successive book, he grows in maturity and sophistication. The Mercenary it’s his best novel to date.
It's wonderful story of suspense, the betrayal, set in the former Soviet Union and Vidich has captured both time and place perfectly.
But The Mercenary is not only a heart-pounding espionage thriller. And like the best authors of the genre, Vidich plumbs the depths of the characters' makeup to explore their motivations, providing us with a window into who they are and why they do what they do.
This is what differentiates a run-of-the-mill work from the exceptional.
A great novel pulls you forward it doesn’t push you there. Paul Vidich‘s evolution as a writer continues to impress. With each successive book, he grows in maturity and sophistication. The Mercenary it’s his best novel to date.
It's wonderful story of suspense, the betrayal, set in the former Soviet Union and Vidich has captured both time and place perfectly.
But The Mercenary is not only a heart-pounding espionage thriller. And like the best authors of the genre, Vidich plumbs the depths of the characters' makeup to explore their motivations, providing us with a window into who they are and why they do what they do.
This is what differentiates a run-of-the-mill work from the exceptional.
March 29, 2021
My thanks to the Author publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
This Author is a master of this genre and can be mentioned in the same breath as the legend that is John Le Carre. Beautifully written clever dramatic intriguing and intelligent a real grown up story. The characters and descriptions of time and place leap from the page, cross and double cross, nail biting with some action scenes that were so exciting I found myself holding my breath. A moving story of betrayal family honour love loss and completely totally recommended.
This Author is a master of this genre and can be mentioned in the same breath as the legend that is John Le Carre. Beautifully written clever dramatic intriguing and intelligent a real grown up story. The characters and descriptions of time and place leap from the page, cross and double cross, nail biting with some action scenes that were so exciting I found myself holding my breath. A moving story of betrayal family honour love loss and completely totally recommended.
February 14, 2021
I am a big fan of Paul’s work and was pleased to be able to review this new novel ahead of publication. It’s excellent at creating the atmosphere of 1980s Moscow, from the cold pavements to the overheated flats, and the population on the brink of deserting the entire Communist project. There’s an intriguing cameo by an anti-corruption expert called Navalnyi. The last 50 pages in particular are suspense at its best.
March 11, 2021
Excellent spy novel. An imperfect man involved in a dangerous enterprise. It kept me rapidly turning the pages. It is similar to John Le'Carre. The imperfect doing noble things inspite of themselves. I enjoyed the book so much I am searching for their predecessors.
April 17, 2021
Since Le Carre passed at the end of last year I have been trying to find someone near that caliber. The evolution for me starts with Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, and the John Le Carre. It is hard to find writers of that caliber. Vidich seems very close. Not quite as good but very close. I intend to read his other works because this was worth the time. I recommend it.
June 12, 2021
The Mercenary is very well-written, keeping the reader on their toes throughout. Unfortunately I wasn't able to read the book in a super timely manner, so I would forget certain events or plot twists for a while when picking it back up again.
August 20, 2024
Espionage, lies, deceit and betrayal mixed in one big cauldron. A good read but a little slow in places.
January 30, 2022
If you like Cold War espionage fiction this is as good as it gets.
A tight well constructed thriller with a message about all the sometimes deadly games spy’s played on both sides of the iron curtain.
I suspect it is similar today … just the technology has changed.
A tight well constructed thriller with a message about all the sometimes deadly games spy’s played on both sides of the iron curtain.
I suspect it is similar today … just the technology has changed.
July 24, 2022
Classic cold war era spy novel set mostly in Russia. Reminiscent of John le Carre, but not quite as good.
October 4, 2021
From the very first page, this novel of Cold War spy craft sent me straight back in my reading history to the likes of Frederick Forsyth: The lies! The deceit! The history! The double crosses!
Set in Moscow and the U.S. on 1985, the plot and the characters seamlessly bring the the cultural chill of the times to light. The goal: exfiltrate a high ranking KGB officer to the West while securing the latest Soviet stealth technology. The man for the job: a Russian-born, KGB-trained American who worked for the CIA but had a failed career. He takes contract jobs now and this one's the challenge of his life.
I hope the rest of this author's work matches this title. I could hardly put it down.
Set in Moscow and the U.S. on 1985, the plot and the characters seamlessly bring the the cultural chill of the times to light. The goal: exfiltrate a high ranking KGB officer to the West while securing the latest Soviet stealth technology. The man for the job: a Russian-born, KGB-trained American who worked for the CIA but had a failed career. He takes contract jobs now and this one's the challenge of his life.
I hope the rest of this author's work matches this title. I could hardly put it down.
April 4, 2024
1 star. Do you want to read a John Le Carre spycraft novel with none of the pacing, logical plotting, character development, or interesting dialogue? Then this book is for you. I usually have more to say about books I have read, but there isn't much more to add. The author seems to confuse purposefully withholding information from the reader for mystery. His prose is elementary. He didn't plot the novel. And none of the characters develop, except for one scene 65% in the novel where the randomly put together love interest reveal to each other their backstories (for no apparent purpose). And the only thing saving it from a zero star rating is that it was an easy, quick read. Otherwise, I'd stay away. Just go read a John Le Carre novel, or read David McCloskey's first book (Damascus Station) -- which actually manages to be an interesting spycraft novel.
March 6, 2021
An excellent spy tale
If you are in the mood for a good classic spy novel, this is it! Fast moving and well written...
If you are in the mood for a good classic spy novel, this is it! Fast moving and well written...
April 17, 2021
Robert Littell does this kind of late Cold War better: see Agent in Place
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