The Charm School (1988) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

• Sam Hollis: Air Force officer
• Lisa Rhodes: Embassy liaison
• Burov: KGB agent
• Seth Alevy: Head of CIA at US embassy in Russia
• Gregory Fisher: Add a description of this character.
• O'shea
• Zina
• Jack Dodson
• Brennan
• Surikov
• Mrs. Ivanova
• Poole
• Marchenko
• Salerno
• Jane Landis
• Vadim
• Pavel
• Sasha
• Greg Fisher
• Viktor
• Bert Mills
• Charles Banks
• Misha
• Rooney
• Martindale
• Tim Landis
• Borodino
• Bill
• Ernie Simms
• Hughes
• Filenko
• Kay Hoffman
• Mikhail
• Boris

Quotes edit see section history

• “(speaking of the Russians refusal to let their spies attend church in USA) "I don't quite understand that either. They make such a big deal over atheism and bad-mouthing religion, you'd almost think they believed in God.”

  Poole

• “The burly man, Sergunov, delivered a vicious judo chop to the neck of one of the men, who crumpled to the floor. The second CIA man drew his gun, but Sergunov got to his first and fired twice into the CIA man, who dropped to the mauve carpet, blood spreading across his white shirt. A few people at that end of the lobby screamed and ran as Sergunov sprinted toward the glass doors, brandishing his pistol. He knocked over a doorman, and Alevy saw him disappear into the night.Someone yelled, “Stoi!”The action in the roped-off section of the lobby stopped. The CIA man who had been judo-chopped stood and shouted, “Can’t you explain to that cretin how to fake a chop? He nearly broke my neck.”A man standing next to Alevy inquired, “Do you speak English?”“Yes.”The man said in a British accent, “They ought to announce these things, don’t you think?”“Actually, there’s a sign over there.”“It’s in Russian.”“It’s a Russian movie,” Alevy pointed out.”

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• ‘People who worry about what others think of them would be surprised at how little they did.’”

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• Napoleon Bonaparte, said, ‘Never interrupt an enemy while he’s making a mistake.’”

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• “Give me a light that I may go forth into the unknown.” And the man replied, “Put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light, safer than a known way.”

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• They were willing to swap freedom for security. The next step was believing what the government implied: Slavery was freedom.

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• “Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

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• there is no news in the Truth and no truth in the News.

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• It was a nation of illusion, delusion and collusion, a Potemkin village on a national scale, a place where men and women could disappear without a trace, and all evidence of their ever having existed would disappear with them.

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• Bulgarian is the root Slavic language, sort of like Latin is to the Romance languages.

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• quid pro quo.” “Do you now?” Alevy replied. “Well, as they also say, I won’t agree to any sine qua non.

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• xenophobia was a deep-rooted condition of the national psyche; a nation that was a police state. The ultimate vacation: a dangerous place.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Moscow
• Russia
• Mozhaisk
• Kremlin
• Minsk
• Leningrad
• Soviet Union
• Rossiya
• Lubyanka
• Moskva River
• Yablonya
• Sheremetyevo
• Lefortovo
• Smolensk
• East Bloc
• Ukraina Hotel
• Beriozka

Organizations edit see section history

• United States Information Agency (USIA): American government agency that issues press releases, among other things. Not usually involved in espionage.
• Defense Intelligence Agency: The Pentagon's military intelligence branch.
• Central Intelligence Agency: America's premier foreign intelligence gathering service.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation: Besides providing national law enforcement within the United States, this agency is charged with couterespionage, or investigating and arresting foreign agents within the United States. It may also investigate foreign intelligence activities directed against U.S. embassies.
• Komitet (KGB): The Committee for State Security was the Soviet equivalent of the FBI and CIA together. Its predecessor was known as the NKVD and its successor was the FSK and is now the FSB (Federal Security Service). The KGB had its own army called KGB border guards, which figures in "The Charm School." The FSB still deploys border guards.

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Cabinet of Curiosities, and followed by Feed.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Nelson DeMille (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

This book will teach the reader how to say "F_ You" in Russian. Need I say say more?

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Action & Adventure
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

More Books Like This edit see section history