The Venona Cable by Brent Ghelfi
"The accolades Ghelfi has received for his Volk novels are well deserved, and this will only add to his acclaim."--Booklist
Volk is back! Brent Ghelfi's THE VENONA CABLE is releasing this month, and I know fans are thrilled to be able to dive into the dark, complicated life of Alexei Volkovoy once again. Brent writes fast-paced, rapier sharp plots that immediately captivate, drawing you into a world full of corruption, death and deception. This latest Volk adventure promises a wild ride of intrigue and heart-stopping action.
Russian agent and criminal Alexei Volkovoy pays an action-packed visit to the U.S. to uncover secrets of the infamous Venona cables and to attempt to clear his family name.
The past erupts into the present when the police arrest Alexei Volkovoy, known as Volk, at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and take him to a murder scene. At first, the dead man appears to be just one more victim of Moscow's out-of-control violence. But Volk soon discovers that he is a famous Hollywood filmmaker whose reputation was destroyed in 1995 when the CIA released decrypted documents from the Venona cables--the top-secret American and British crypto-analysis of Soviet messages that implicated the Rosenbergs, Alger Hiss, Kim Philby, and hundreds of other Soviet spies. Tucked inside the American's pocket is a marked-up Venona intercept that refers to a Russian used as a spy by the Americans, a man who may have been Volk's illustrious father.
Aided by his female partner, Valya, Volk's only hope to clear his family name will be to solve this murder and discover how the Venona papers relate to his father's disappearance, while powerful forces want to keep him from investigating the past and to remove him from the present.
I had the honor of discussing Volk's latest adventure with Brent.
I love Erik Larson's comment "this is Volk --- damaged, intense, perversely moral..." You have obviously created a very dark character. How has Volk changed and grown since your first novel VOLK'S GAME?
I loved Erik's comment, too. Volk has always been a walking metaphor for Russia. Damaged, as Erick says, but also weighed down by a past he can't seem to bear. Over the course of three books, he has developed into a more cerebral character; still quick to violence, to be sure, but more inclined to think through the consequences now.
Volk's world is a violent one. How have you gone about your research and is there one specific element that drew you to write about Russian espionage? Tailgating on that question -- are you often surprised by what you learn from your research?
Volk was forged during Russia's dirty wars in Chechnya, and many of his experiences mirror the stories of a friend I met in Moscow who fought in Chechnya for two years. The first time we talked about the things he saw there, I simply didn't believe him. His stories seemed too horrifically fantastical to be true. I followed up with hours of research and discovered that, in fact, his stories paled in comparison to some of the things that really happened.
With respect to espionage, the genesis for THE VENONA CABLE came when I ran across a reference to the joint U.S. and British Venona project in Moscow during my research for VOLK'S SHADOW. Later, I was surprised to learn how deeply the Soviet intelligence services had penetrated U.S. and British government and industry at the highest levels--including Roosevelt's and Churchill's inner circles.
Another aspect of my research for THE VENONA CABLE that surprised me was the under-reported but terrific story of "ferrets"--spy planes flying over the Iron Curtain to activate and target Soviet radar. Hundreds of brave pilots and technicians lost their lives performing this duty, and their families were often told that their loved ones were the victims of weather related accidents or pilot error.
You have an impressive legal background. How has this influenced your writing?
Great stories reside at the heart of most legal cases. Family fights, neighbors feuding, people willing to jump into a cage fight over a few dollars. One reason so many lawyers are writers, I think, is that good lawyers have to cast their client's stories in the best light possible, and so they learn how to tell convincing and entertaining stories.
What do you do when you're not writing novels?
Legal consulting, real estate investing and development, and restoration of damaged property. I have my fingers in a lot of pies.
When can we expect to see Volk again?
The next Volk novel should come out in the summer or fall of 2010. I'm working on the story now--Volk investigates the murder of a journalist who was reporting Russia's disastrous nuclear past and present--and I'm very excited about how the novel is coming together.
"The Venona Cable packs more punch than a trunk full of C4. Action, suspense, and international intrigue are masterfully interwoven in an intelligently written, pulse-pounding thriller that everyone will be talking about. Brent Ghelfi is the new Le Carré." -- Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Apostle
Julie Korzenko is a senior paralegal at a boutique domestic law firm in Atlanta. Her first book DEVIL'S GOLD hit the shelves in March of 2009. Publisher's Weekly stated that "Fans of Alex Kava, Shannon, McKenna, and Suzanne Brockmann will hope to see more of Cassidy and Jake." She is currently wrapping up its sequel ANGEL FALLS.
ThrillerFest
ITW's annual celebration of the thriller world is the largest event of its kind, a meeting place for authors, readers, budding writers, and publishing industry professionals.
For 2011, we’ll be back in the heart of New York in July with the ThrillerFest conference including CraftFest and AgentFest.
ThrillerFest VI will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
The dates will be July 6-9, 2011.
More information to follow.
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