Fathers, sons and spies

In 1950s Washington, Walter Kotlar becomes a casualty of the era's witch hunts when an ambitious congressman accuses him of being a spy. Kotlar denies it, and the hearings drag on — until the congressman's star witness plunges to her death from a hotel window. Kotlar flees the country that night and never returns, leaving his family to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Twenty years later, Kotlar's wife and son have left the past behind and settled comfortably into their new lives. Then one day, Nick Kotlar learns that his father wants to come home.

That's the premise of Joseph Kanon's 1998 novel "The Prodigal Spy," which tracks the fallout from Walter Kotlar's defection and his son's efforts to help him come in from the cold.

Like Kanon's first novel, the 1997 mystery "Los Alamos," "The Prodigal Spy" takes an intriguing premise — What if the Communist witch hunts of the 1950s had uncovered a spy? — and spins it into an absorbing mystery, rich in evocative details and well-rounded characters.

But "The Prodigal Spy'" has more on its mind than solving a mystery. As Nick Kotlar delves into his father's past, the novel becomes a moving exploration of the bond between fathers and sons and the ways in which that bond is tested --- and broken.

As absorbing as it is, the novel isn't perfect. The plot relies rather heavily on coincidences, and the sex scenes between Nick and his girlfriend, Molly, are more clinical than romantic. And although Molly plays a key role in the plot, she isn't as fully realized as the other characters.

Those quibbles aside, "The Prodigal Spy" is a smart, thoroughly adult thriller that transcends the convention of its genre. It's perfect fare for readers looking for a novel that's simultaneously entertaining and thoughtful.