In January 1988, Communists still rule Russia. Polish soldiers have taken control of the Warsaw palaces. The Eastern Bloc is crumbling like hard clay, and everyone's fighting for their own turf. Anger and suspicion sparkle like snowflakes on the cold night air. And as Bernard Samson carries his sick companion home, his own journey is only beginning. As Len Deighton's superb trilogy concludes, Samson continues to peel away the mystery surrounding his sister-in-law Tessa Kosinski's murder on the crucial night his wife, Fiona, came back West from the cold. Once again, he's forced to confront the key relationships in his own life, while his father's specter hovers over all, a deadly force to be reckoned with even now. With no one he can trust, few leads, and even fewer truthful answers, Samson doggedly traces his way back to the fateful night in Berlin when he saw Tessa get shot.