Children's Game, The

A Thriller of Russian Cyber Warfare, Fake News, and Modern Espionage The CIA has learned that the Kremlin is about to launch a sophisticated propaganda operation aimed at discrediting and disrupting the United States and ultimately restoring Russia to great nation status. Intercepted intelligence suggests that the operation will hinge on a single, breaking news event in Eastern Europe, supported by a sustained campaign of disinformation and cyberattacks. Code-named the "Children’s Game"—a chess stratagem that leads to checkmate in four moves—it was probably conceived by a Russian billionaire and former FSB officer named Andrei Turov. For years Turov has been developing the infrastructure for a new kind of warfare that exploits weaknesses in western democracies and manipulates public opinion. His organization offers the Kremlin plausible deniability. But the United States has its own secret weapon: Christopher Niles, a former CIA intelligence officer, who understands Turov's ambitions and capabilities. It falls to him and his small team—composed of his journalist half-brother Jon, a special forces operative he would trust with his life, and Anna Carpenter, a resourceful US senator with deep roots in the intelligence community—to unravel Turov's plot and restore truth to a world spiraling into chaos. The Children's Game is a frighteningly realistic, timely thriller that delves into the secret corners of Vladimir Putin's Russia, exploring the shifting world order and the murky realm of US-Russia relations.