“Richard Hoyt is an expert writer.” —The New York Times 

If his plan worked, he would bring
Russia to its knees. But if he failed . . .

When poet lsaak Ginsburg innocently asks Soviet authorities for permission to emigrate, he is sent instead to a Siberian work camp. After two inhuman years, he is released . . . seemingly a model of reform.

But Ginsburg has a plot for revenge . . . a devious, bizarre plan which could bring the Soviet government to its knees.

With the help of the beautiful wife of a Russian diplomat, a group of dissident Estonians, residents of a cancer, clinic—and unconventional CIA agent James Burlane—Ginsburg puts his plan into action.

For one year's open emigration from Soviet bloc countries, he plans to steal—and ransom—Russia's most precious national relic . . . the Head of State.  

“Madcap Marxist suspense . . . shows Hoyt in his best form. Ginsburg has far more weight and dignity than is common to a thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews 

“HEAD OF STATE conducts the suspense novel at a new level of literacy . . . ingenious and forceful.” —Brian O'Doherty