Phantom Orbit
A Thriller
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4.1 • 227 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“A meaty, slow-burning spy thriller that combines geopolitics with a primer on celestial mechanics.” —Steven Poole, Wall Street Journal
A subtle and masterful novel from a prescient voice on the cutting edge of spy literature.
David Ignatius is known for his uncanny ability, in novel after novel, to predict the next great national security headline. In Phantom Orbit, he presents a story both searing and topical, with stakes as far-reaching as outer space. It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing, who discovers an unsolved puzzle in the writings of the seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler. He takes the puzzle to a senior scientist in the Chinese space program and declares his intention to solve it. Volkov returns to Moscow and continues his secret work. The puzzle holds untold consequences for space warfare.
The years pass, and they are not kind to Volkov. After the loss of his son, a prosecutor who’d been too tough on corruption, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Volkov makes the fraught decision to contact the CIA. He writes: Satellites are your enemies, especially your own. . . . Hidden codes can make time stop and turn north into south. . . . If you are smart, you will find me.
With this timely novel, Ignatius addresses our moment of renewed interest in space exploration amid geopolitical tumult. Phantom Orbit brims with the author’s vital insights and casts Volkov as the man who, at the risk of his life, may be able to stop the Doomsday clock.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The fate of America’s space program is in the hands of two foreign scientists in this commanding cyber-thriller. Astrophysicist Ivan Volkov dedicated his life to building up the Russian space program, but he’s become disillusioned with the bureaucracy and corruption of his government. When he and his former professor Cao Lin, a powerful Chinese scientist, discover a vulnerability in America’s GPS system, Ivan reaches out to the only person he thinks can help: CIA agent Edith Ryan—who just happens to be his ex-girlfriend. Author and journalist David Ignatius uses his grasp of international politics, modern warfare, and rapidly changing technology to create an apocalyptic “what if?” scenario that had us twitching with paranoia. And we were just as drawn in by the novel’s relatable main characters, who must reject their senses of national loyalty if they want to save the world. This thriller is smart, engrossing, and frighteningly plausible.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist and novelist Ignatius (The Paladin) delivers an engrossing, character-driven spy thriller about space warfare. In 1995, 24-year-old Russian scientist Ivan Volkov accepts a scholarship in astronomy at Beijing's Tsinghua University. After solving a notoriously tricky problem proposed by a 17th-century astronomer, Ivan is taken under the wing of professor Cao Lin, who convinces him to study satellites. During Ivan's schooling, he meets American student Edith Ryan, with whom he shares a brief romance. He then returns to Moscow, marries, fathers a son who grows up to become a Russian prosecutor, and draws on his research with professor Lin to become a major figure in Russia's satellite warfare program. Decades later, Ivan reconnects with Edith—now a CIA analyst—to warn the U.S. of dangerous tactics being utilized by Russian forces that could pose a threat to the human race, which he unwittingly helped develop. Ignatius alternates chapters between Ivan, professor Lin, Edith, and Ivan's son, Dmitry, patiently knitting together their storylines until the high-stakes espionage plot achieves liftoff. This is contemporary cloak-and-dagger intrigue at its finest.
Customer Reviews
Great until the ending
The book was exciting and I think it was a wonderful read! However, the ending was lackluster and left me wishing the author took it a different path.
Phantom Orbit
I thought it was a good read and especially relevant to today’s headlines of May 2024. I heard about the book from an interview on NPR.
Happy Reading.