On Wednesday, Jan. 24, the Nordic Heritage Museum will feature former Sweden-based CIA agent-turned author Vaughn Sherman who will be discussing his spy novel, “Sasha Plotkin’s Deceit.” Sherman will also be talking about his book “Sea Travels: Memoirs of a 20th Century Master Mariner,” a book about a Danish immigrant family that arrives on Bainbridge Island in the late 1800s. The book discussions will start at 7 p.m.
About “Sasha Plotkin’s Deceit,” from the Nordic Heritage Museum:
Former Central Intelligence Agency officer Vaughn Sherman says his novel, Sasha Plotkin’s Deceit, is based on “things that really happened, or could have happened” during his 20 years in America’s secret service. There is enough truth that “I had to submit the book to the CIA Publications Review Board before going to print,” says the Edmonds resident.
“After I retired from the CIA, I discovered spy-novels and found that few authors understand that Cold War espionage involved more mind-games than shoot-’em-outs and car chases. The stories don’t capture the personal challenges intelligence officers face living and working aboard with secrets to be kept and lives at stake. Often the biggest challenge is family life – lies that have to be told to loved ones, unexplained absences, worries about their safety and even spouses jealous about time spent in intimate situations with colleagues and agents of the opposite sex.”
As the reader waits to learn if the Soviet agent will turn on his country, Chris’s wife commits a stunning indiscretion and threatens to leave him and return home to Washington state with their children if Chris continues to put the risky mission ahead of his family. Despite the risk to his life and his marriage, Chris answers the call of duty and the lives of those involved are forever changed.
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