Publication Date: August 1, 2024
Defector in Paradise is the second novel in the Owen Roberts’ trilogy. The year is 2024, and a Russian agent is just a step away from making it to the White House. Tragic circumstances force Owen to team with a cagey Soviet defector to expose one of the Cold War’s last and biggest secrets: the identity of a high-level mole operating within the US government.
This is not the same Owen we read about in The Clandestine Education of Owen Roberts. It is twenty years later, and he is no longer the young, idealistic intelligence officer he once was. He wants to be, but life in the world of espionage is beginning to wear on him. His career is going nowhere, and once again he finds himself fighting against invisible forces he cannot control while he questions his own moral code.
As Owen walks down a violent path of death and destruction, he realizes that he has become the last man standing between the mole and the White House. What follows is a high stakes game of cat and mouse fought at the highest levels of the intelligence community, but the question is: who’s the cat and who is the mouse?
At its heart, Defector in Paradise is a novel about the unimaginable manipulation of American politics, and the actions of those who refuse to believe truths they cannot accept. Owen Roberts teaches us once again that the truth can set you free, but sometimes it’s better just not to know. The truth, after all, is the most dangerous weapon of all.
Still reeling from a disastrous mission, intelligence officer Owen Roberts is assigned to oversee a Soviet defector amid concerns his identity has been compromised.
Author Richard E. Snyder takes readers on a dangerous journey of espionage that threatens to overtake the highest levels of the U.S. government in Defector in Paradise.
From the opening chapter, the author delivers a high-octane adventure that can only come from experience. As a former intelligence officer, the author knows what details matter and effectively puts readers in a front-row seat where the action happens.
While the storyline’s primary focus is leveraging information to determine the mole’s identity, there’s also an opportunity for Owen to ruminate about his role, especially in relation to the failed mission.
Putting the United States and Russia as adversaries provides a natural segue between the Cold War and the present-day setting, enabling rich background information.
Defector in Paradise serves up a crisp espionage thriller with an alarmingly realistic concept.
Richard Snyder is a former intelligence officer. He and his wife live in Florida and have a son who lives in Amsterdam as an advertising executive. Defector in Paradise is the author’s second novel in a trilogy involving Owen Roberts’ adventures as a spy. It is the sequel to The Clandestine Education of Owen Roberts.
