"Accomplished storyteller Hunter keeps things moving apace in this thriller set during
the closing months of WW II....Hunter's intriguing tale also offers a fascinating speculation as to the
real purpose of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan."--Publishers Weekly

It's 1945, and Stalin's army stands poised to conquer all of Europe. The only way to stop him is for
Truman to bluff him down. To make the bluff work, C. G. Brandt, America's ultra-professional but very
human spymaster, is forced to risk everything on Alex Lukas, an under-trained but bilingual secret
agent. Lukas must escort a Soviet defector who will parachute into Bavaria with crucial information.

But the defector's plane crashes; there is a gorgeous Communist spy in the drop area; and Lukas can't
believe the amount of well-armed interest in his movements. Against all odds, Lukas manages to get
out with his skin intact. Then he's given new orders: to proceed to New Mexico, to a place called Los
Alamos, pick up a crate, and deliver it to the Moscow embassy. In the crate is the key to the great
bluff--the biggest card in Harry Truman's hand as he faces off with Joseph Stalin.