Tass is Authorized to Announce...

This is far superior to most spy fiction, in which the heroes rely primarily on their combat skills and on their brains secondarily; they usually have supporting characters to help them do hard intellectual tasks like read. Fortunately, TASS IS AUTHORIZED TO ANNOUNCE is a complete break from that. There's only a little action right near the end, the focus is definitely on what is, essentially, a giant game of chess between the CIA and the KGB, with agents trying to outwit and outthink one another. Although there could be a little confusion at times (the translations from Russian weren't always clear, and two similar characters share the same name), I certainly didn't see any evidence of anti-Semitism as was claimed. For the most part I am highly satisfied with this Soviet spy novel.