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I want to present you the novel" The Cardinal of the Kremlin" by Tom Clancy.
Because I told you about the author already last year, I just want to repeat the most important facts: he was born in 1947 in Baltimore and worked after college as an insurance broker in Maryland.
1984 his first novel "The Hunt for Red October" was published.
Other also well-known works followed, e.g. "Cardinal of the Kremlin" (1988), "Dept of Honour", which I presented last year, (1994) and "Rainbow Six" (1998). Almost each of his books has been a number one best-seller.
"The Hunt for red October", "Patriot Games", "Clear and present Danger" and "The sum of all fears" have been made into quite successful movies.
Story:
The story takes place during the Cold War, but at the end of it. The USA and the Soviet Union are negotiating about reducing their arms, when the USA find out there is project called Bright Star in the Soviet Union, which has developed a massive laser-defence system. This is able to destroy everything orbiting around the earth. They can find that out because they have a spy in the Kremlin called CARDINAL - it is the three times Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Filitov. It is very detailed described how espionage really works.
The CIA asks to get Filitov out of the Soviet Union because the spy-chain has been discovered, but at first the President refuses. When he finally realises that the CARDINAL is very important and in great danger, he let Jack Ryan convince the Chairman Gerasimov, who is the head of the KGB at the same time. So in the end Filitov is brought to the USA and also the Chairman defects to America.
There is also an attack of the Afghans against the project Bright Star, which is only a hundred kilometres away from the Afghan border and there is a big massacre, but the Soviets are able to kill most of the Afghans and so they run away.
Interpretation
The main plot is the race between the two superpowers in developing a ground based anti-missile weapon.
When the Soviets develop a laser projector capable of destroying a satellite in orbit or an airplane anywhere in the world, the United States is alarmed. The Soviets seem to be far ahead of US efforts. In an attempt to determine the details of the Soviet achievement the CIA asks its top agent in Moscow, code name CARDINAL, to find out the specifics of the Soviet laser. CARDINAL has been the top US agent in Moscow for over 20 years and Soviet counterintelligence never even suspected his existence. Now, the KGB has gotten its first sniff that CARDINAL exists and won\'t give up until they catch him. The American laser project has also come to the KGB\'s attention and they begin an operation to discover how far the US has gotten. In the midst of nuclear missile reduction talks, both superpowers are developing technologies that could unravel the negotiations. From the mountains of Afghanistan to the deserts of New Mexico, from the backrooms of Washington, DC. to the halls of the Kremlin, world peace may rest in the hands of the Cardinal of the Kremlin.
Summary by Bob Marek.
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