Robert Littell is a master storyteller of the highest caliber in the ranks of John le CarrA(c), Len Deighton, and Graham Greene. "The Once and Future Spy" is a tale of espionage and counterespionage that reveals the dirty tricks and dangerous secrets of the subjects Littell knows bestathe CIA and American history. When athe Weeder, a an operative at work on a highly sensitive project for athe Company, a encounters an elite group of specialists within the innermost core of the CIA protecting a clandestine plan, the present confronts the past and disturbing moral choices are weighed against a shining patriotic dream. Inventive, imaginative, and relentlessly gripping, "The Once and Future Spy" is Robert Littell at his most original. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

This complex, layered tale of espionage pits members of the CIA against one another in an effort to stop an information leak concerning the construction and deployment of atomic devices. In Washington, Rear Admiral J. Pepper Toothacher is recalled from disgraced retirement to ``walk back the cat''--that is, trace the leak. He is joined by the brilliant but physically repulsive Wanamaker and a mathematical genius-cum-chauffeur named Huxstep. In New York, Silas Sibley, aka the Weeder, also engaged in secret work for the company, tracks phone calls across the nation from his SoHo loft and--in his spare time--indulges a passion for Revolutionary War heroes, particularly one legendary figure he coyly refers to as ``Nate.'' When Toothacher's operation closes in on the leak, the Weeder's world is abruptly shut down, and he, with his erratic but appealing sidekick Snow, takes flight--for reasons he shares with Nate. Littel blends history and espionage inventively, and his dialogue and prose resound with high wit. But the story remains obtuse, the historical subplot something of a giveaway. The result is funny and complex but a little silly. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo. Copyright 1990 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information