THE SET-UP

by Vladimir Volkoff ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 1985

Subtitled ""A Novel of Disinformation,"" this latest by Volkoff (The TurnAround, 1981), a Paris-born Russian now living in Georgia, is a rather long drawn-out portrait of the creation and ultimate destruction of a Soviet ""influence agent"" in Paris. But part thriller, part satire, part textbook, part political dialogue, the novel tries to be too many things and only partially succeeds. For the reader, even this partial success is not easily attained. Aleksandr Psar, the son of a White Russian ‚migr‚ who dreams of re-turning to Russia, agrees to work for the KGB and becomes an influential French literary agent. His manipulation of numerous French intellectuals as well as journalists of every conceivable political persuasion make up the bulk of the book. With only one exception, these people are portrayed as fools who will do anything to bolster their own egos and careers. Psar and his Soviet masters, on the other hand, are portrayed as brilliant tacticians who make few if any mistakes. Together, they help shape French--and, Volkoff implies, western--public opinion to lull us into a false sense of security while they take over the world. The West has been warned. In the book's one rather meager plot turn, the manuscript of a jailed Soviet dissident named ""Iron Mask"" is smuggled out of Russia, and the plot begins to slow. When ""Iron Mask"" shows up in Paris--and later, a second ""Iron Mask"" to discredit the first one--the mechanics of the plot grind even more slowly and without much credibility. In the end, the reason behind all this seems hardly worth the trouble. There are some plusses here--the characters are entertainingly drawn, particularly Psar's bosses in Moscow, their superhuman capabilities notwithstanding; Psar's longing for Russia is poignantly portrayed; the depiction of France's intellectual community as a circus of pomposity is devastating--but along with this we get several pages of textbook description of alleged Russian disinformation techniques that stop the book cold, from a point of view that is as dubious as it is paranoid. Only in the last 80 pages, as Psar flees from the KGB, does the book become genuinely thrilling. As a polemic, The Set-Up serves its purpose. As a novel of espionage, it works only intermittently, and that isn't enough.

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Arbor House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1985

Categories: FICTION