The Defector

If there was indeed a recording of the conversation that followed, it did not exist for long. Carter would never speak of it, except to say that it was among the most difficult of his long career. The only other witness was Ed Fielding. The security man could not hear Carter's words, but he could see the terrible toll they were taking. He saw a hand gripping the telephone with such force that the knuckles were white. And he saw the eyes. The unusually bright green eyes now burning with a terrifying rage. As Fielding slipped quietly from the room, he realized he had never seen such rage before. He did not know what his friend Adrian Carter was saying to the legendary Israeli assassin. But he was certain of one thing. Blood was going to flow. And men were going to die.

Our president understands that he who controls history controls the future. - Sergei Korovin

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this life, it’s that everyone has a price. - Ari Shamron

Reality is a state of mind, he thought. Reality can be whatever you want it to be.

If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. • MACHIAVELLI

It was reassuring to hear your voice last night. I was afraid you might be dead. It’s the hardest thing about growing old, the death of one’s friends.

THE ADIRONDACK PARK, a vast wilderness area sprawling over six million acres in northeastern New York, is the largest public land preserve in the contiguous United States. Roughly the size of Vermont, it is larger than seven other American states—so large, in fact, the national parks of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Smoky Mountains could all fit neatly within its boundaries.

We mourn the dead and keep them in our hearts. But we live our lives.

it was clear of snow and ice. When the wind briefly subsided, Gabriel caught a whiff of the deicer the Russians used to achieve this result. He remembered stories Mikhail had told him about the powerful chemicals Russians poured onto their streets and sidewalks. The stuff could destroy a pair of shoes in a matter of days. Even the dogs refused to walk on it. In springtime, the streetcars used to burst into flames because their wiring had been eaten away by months of exposure. That was how Mikhail had celebrated the arrival of spring as a child in Russia—with the burning of the trams.

it’s that everyone has a price.

Shamron knew time could be hard on Russian men. they tended to age in the blink of an eye — young and virile one minute, wrinkled paper the next.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, forty-nine media professionals have been killed in Russia since 1992. Only in Iraq and Algeria have more died in the line of duty during the same period. This, too, is a Russian tragedy.

Abu Jihad . . . Even now, the sound of

Sabiam que andavam a ser caçados e tentavam não se manter muito tempo no mesmo sítio. Mas o medo tornava-os descuidados. O medo tornava-os alvos fáceis.

Não sabia o que o seu amigo Adrian Carter estava a dizer ao lendário assassino israelita. Mas tinha a certeza de uma coisa. Iria jorrar sangue. E homens iriam morrer.