Atomsk is a clever and engaging spy novel....
Written by Paul M. A. Linebarger under the pen name of Carmichael Smith - shortly before he began writing as Cordwainer Smith - Atomsk is out of print. Copies of it fetch hundreds of dollars in the used book market. It's always been one of my favorites of my father's writings, so recently, for those of you who are readers more than collectors, I spent some time scanning in my copy and making an ebook.
You can read it onscreen or print it out.
Atomsk begins not long after World War II, with the American military in occupied Japan concerned about a very secret Russian city in Siberia. General Coppersmith asks Major Michael Dugan, "the greatest spy in the world," to help:
"I want you to spoil the secret of Atomsk."
"Atomsk?"
Coppermsith spelled it out, adding, "It's the Russian atomic center. We want them to know that we know all about it. We want them to guess as to how we know about it... For that, we need a man as a weapon."
"To go in, to get out, and after he was out, to leave traces?"
"Right."
