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by Victor Sheymov (Author)
Tower of Secrets Is a thriller, filled with spycraft and intelligence techniques never before revealed, a true story that is more spellbinding than any work of fiction could ever be.Head of security for cipher communications worldwide, Sheymov has rare knowledge of the entire system. A star player, headed for the top, his contacts range from party elite to the dissident community and the Moscow underworld. Until shattering events force a decision. With his wife and five-year-old daughter, Sheymov will defect. First he must find a way to make scret contact with the Americans. Then he must beat the overwhelming odds against getting out of Russia. But the thorniest challenge is to keep the defection secret for a decade and allow the US to use Sheymov's stunning expertise. A coup for the West, catastrophe for the KGB. Enter the riveting world of real intelligence where every life-or-death move on the chessboard affects the fate of nations. This memoir is a tale more thrilling than fiction, told by a consummate master of the game.
Back Jacket
Tower of Secrets is a thriller, filled with spycraft and intelligence techniques never before revealed, a true story that is more spellbinding than any work of fiction could ever be. As the ace troubleshooter for the super-secret Eighth Chief Directorate, Victor Sheymov operates from the KGB's inner sanctum, a courtyard tower within the old Lubyanka Moscow Center. He's in charge of the security of cipher communications worldwide, which gives him a rare if not unique knowledge of how the entire organization works. He knows Moscow like the inside of his pocket, and he's as comfortable among the Party elite and his KGB colleagues as he is among dissidents and the city's underworld. A star player destined for the very top, Victor nevertheless has a growing sense of unease, compounded by his wife Olga's unanswerable questions about the system his work supports so effectively. When he confronts the intrinsic evil of the KGB and all it represents, he realizes that neither dissent nor resignation are viable options - he knows too much. He decides that he and Olga and their five-year-old daughter must defect, but with a mission: to inflict the maximum possible damage on the KGB, the cortex of the Soviet system. The odds for their successful escape from Moscow are incalculably small. Because of his status, Victor is often under surveillance, and even the slightest indication of doubt about the system would result in his instant arrest and certain death. A series of ingenious schemes fails to put him in touch with the CIA, but after breaking every rule in the book, Victor finally succeeds in making contact with the Americans. The CIA's exfiltration of the Sheymovs is so brilliantly executed thatthe KGB is persuaded they are dead. So for years Sheymov and his unique expertise were available to the United States without the KGB's being aware of it. Given what he knew, this was catastrophic for the KGB. For the West, it was the intelligence coup of the Cold War. This is the real world of intelligence played like a chess match and described by a master of the game.
Author Biography
Victor Sheymov is a cyber security expert, author, scientist, inventor, and holder of multiple patents for methods and systems in cyber security. He was responsible for coordination of all security aspects of Russian cipher communications with its outposts abroad when he was exfiltrated with his wife and daughter by the CIA in 1980. He worked for the National Security Agency for a number of years and is a recipient of several prestigious awards in intelligence and security. Victor Sheymov also authored articles in The Washington Post, Barron's, World Monitor, National Review and other national publications. He appeared at many national news programs including Larry King Live, 48 Hours, Dateline, McNeil-Lehrer, Charlie Rose and the McLaughlin Report.
