Trial lawyer Michael Pullara unravels his decade-long investigation of the 1993 murder of CIA officer Freddie Woodruff in the Soviet Republic of Georgia—disguised as a carjacking but ultimately ordered by KGB agents and covered up in Moscow as well as in Washington.
His bold examination of an almost laughable Georgian murder investigation and its cover-up at the highest levels bespeaks of someone who’s looking to get himself killed. As comical as it is frightening, it’s one of the things that makes this book all the more interesting ... His examination of the Georgian and Russian probes, as well as the subsequent trial, exposes an implausible-sounding but accurate look at the instability that passed for a government after the Soviet Union broke apart ... Mr. Pullara delivers. The Spy Who Was Left Behind, while telling Freddie Woodruff’s tragic story, also displays what a real investigator can uncover among complex documents, details and personalities. This investigative journey will draw readers in.
The Spy Who Was Left Behind tells a fascinating story of one man’s quest for the truth, even if that meant putting his own life at risk for someone he had never met. Pullara attacks the problem as a good lawyer would attack a legal case, methodically examining documents, interviewing witnesses, researching, making site visits, using the press ... Intrigue heightens, and the stakes rise ... Michael Pullara sets a standard for idealistic attorneys to strive for. Whether he succeeded or failed is not the heart of the matter; it’s the fact that he tried. The Spy Who Was Left Behind tells that story.
From diving deep into FBI documents to repeatedly visiting the country and tracking down the shadowy protagonists, Pullara does a fine job of sleuthing to get at what he believes is the truth. A highly detailed, engrossing work that incorporates a history of fledgling Georgia amid the author’s well-demonstrated 'passion for mysteries…[and] memory for trivia.'
