| We who love spy novels read them not so much for the feats of fearless audacity but for the delicious insider details: the nuanced sleight of hand, the subtle tradecraft and the matching of wits. David Ignatius’ new novel, “Phantom Orbit,” is chock full of all of that and more. Ignatius writes a foreign affairs column for the Washington Post and draws expertly from his constant conversations with intelligence sources. The new novel opens as a brilliant Russian scientist attempts to share a secret about American satellites with the CIA. When he’s ignored, he seeks out an American he once suspected was a spy. Ignatius says he delved into the complex world of space technology because, after a trip to Ukraine in December of 2022, he realized that that’s where global conflict and high-tech weaponry development is headed.
— Kerri Miller | MPR News | 