Once Professor Aleksandra Ponomarenko had been George Cove's tutor at Oxford but today, twenty years since they last met, she is telling him a life story - his own. He knew already that one of the greatest human tragedies of the twentieth century, the nuclear incident at Chernobyl in 1986, was deliberate sabotage, but Aleksandra reveals that not only was his role pivotal in the catastrophe, but everything else that mattered in his life - his education, his job, where he lived, how he lived, who he fell in love with, and who he lost - was orchestrated by the unseen hand of a man called Bill Familiant. As the Cold War became colder, Familiant, the British spy master, was in fear of the increasing Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe. He developed a counter-strategy that would last at least a generation, but to deliver his ambitious plan he needed to find agents who would grow into their role, and who could not know they had been selected for the purpose. Until this meeting with Aleksandra, George had no idea he and Anna had been the chosen ones. In their young adult years, when Familiant started pulling the strings, fate seemed particularly kind to them; but all the time, their feelings and loyalties were being moulded in preparation for active espionage in Poland and the Ukraine, and to be each other's' first real love. With George and Anna as his spearhead, Familiant's personal attack on the Red Enemy snowballed towards Chernobyl and the events that would haunt George forever. George finally faces up to the truth about his past and addresses Familiant's questionable morality and masterful manipulations, but he also gets the chance to build a new life - his own. With a second chance, will he be more successful? "When fate deals you a hand better than you could possibly imagine, should you trust it unquestioningly? If you do, will fate then find a way to claim back the fortunes it has bestowed on you?" This is a gripping novel of intrigue, power and complex relationships, showing the havoc caused when the State and the powerful manipulate innocent young lives to achieve their own goals-even when it comes to acts against humanity. This poignant story tackles important issues about destiny, complicity and personal identity and responsibility.
