The Last Spy

by Bob Reiss

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, a group of long-established Soviet spies in the U.S. finds they can trust no one and moves from close camaraderie to bloody betrayal

Genres: Espionage

343 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1993

About the author

Bob Reiss (born 1951) is an American author of nonfiction and fiction books. Reiss, who also writes under the pen-names of Scott Canterbury, Ethan Black, and James Abel, has written more than a dozen books, including Purgatory Road, a murder mystery set in Antarctica, The Road to Extrema, a study of the destruction of Brazilian rain forests, and The Coming Storm, which focuses on global warming and catastrophic weather. Many of his books and articles are based on his travels to Hong Kong, Somalia, South Africa, Antarctica, and other locations around the world.

As the writer Ethan Black, Reiss has penned a series featuring Conrad Voort, a New York City police detective.

Reviews

[Vince Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imaginative and very exciting, in the story, set in a then and now format, a group of Russian kids are raised in Siberia in an environment patterned after an American small town, then brought here as teens, where they mature into roles as a reporter, a lawyer, a professor, etc., spying all the while.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book. I liked it a lot. It was full of action/adventure and suspense. I got it from the free book exchange at a store that I go to on a daily basis to have coffee. I hope to read more books by this author.

[Steven Owad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Owad’s Micro-Review #72

This thriller is set in the early 1990s during the demise of the Soviet Union. Three Soviet spies in Washington find themselves adrift once communism ends. Who’s in charge back home? Do the old rules of spycraft apply? Most important, are old friends and colleagues now coming to kill them?

This premise is intriguing, and the novel has shades of Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy—a stimulating story despite uneven writing—but on the whole, it’s a little hard to swallow. Soviet spies raised from birth in a mock-up of an American town in Russia? The story’s more-farfetched elements are leaned on a touch too heavily. Dec. 2, 2021

[Vulco1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good and believable espionage novel. Set in a real world on the back of the Cold War, in the 80's or 90's. Enjoyable with good characterization.

I don't think there are any real plot twists and you're kind of along for the ride.

A good tale of espionage and tradecraft.

[Emily Duerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book in a book exchange in the Himalayas. It was a little cheesy as might be expected for a spy novel written in the 90s but the concept was interesting enough to keep my attention.

[Sharon Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page turner. Fun book. Good story.

[Patrick]

started slow but finished well

[Tibor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy summer read