A Coming of Age story set against the backdrop of Cold War espionage...
Greg thinks of himself as an average American teenager, until he learns that his parents were Soviet spies. When their operation is exposed, their hasty retreat to Russia marks the beginning of an odyssey and awakening for Greg. His quest to return to the only life he knows and to Jessica, a girl he recently met, only becomes possible when he befriends Alexei, a Red Army vet dteremined to defect.
Their attempted escape is laced with humor, as well as tragedy, as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster unfolds. Greg sees that average people everywhere are much alike and sees how political parties "play" average people, alienating them from one another and sometimes from the better part of their own nature. He learns that America and the Soviet Union share some things, some good, some not, like a few of what Mahatma Ghandi condemned as "Cardinal Sins."
As he comes to question the idea of coincidence as well as his strong attraction to Jess, he finds truth in the words of the old Rolling Stones song, that you can't always get what you want but sometimes get what you need. His story is woven with historical fact and commentary on current political issues, as seen from the perspective of his diverse, struggling, blue-collar neighborhood.
Michael Augustyn is the author of Vlad Dracula, The Dragon Prince, published in the US, China, Italy, Poland, and Vietnam. He is also the author of the novella for young readers, Mantle of The Warrior, a story of a younger generation claiming a legacy of peace in the aftermath of a bitter war.
