Soviet Spy Fiction: Duccio Colombo: The Soviet Spy Thriller: Writers, Power, and the Masses, 1938–2002 Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, 2022, 308 p., $88.79.

Duccio Colombo's book, "The Soviet Spy Thriller: Writers, Power, and the Masses, 1938–2002," explores the genre of Soviet spy fiction and its relationship to the state's counterintelligence agenda. Colombo argues that spy fiction in the Soviet Union was primarily propagandistic and ideological, serving the official objectives of Soviet domestic and foreign policy. The book also highlights the dangers faced by writers in this genre, as they had to navigate an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia. While Colombo's work provides a comprehensive overview of Soviet spy fiction, it is criticized for its reliance on already published materials and lack of archival research. Nonetheless, the book sheds light on the prevalence of xenophobia and conspiracy thinking in the genre, which has persisted even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. [Extracted from the article]