Phantom Orbit

A Thriller

By: David Ignatius

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

A subtle and masterful novel from a prescient voice on the cutting edge of spy literature.

David Ignatius is known for his uncanny ability, in novel after novel, to predict the next great national security headline. In Phantom Orbit, he presents a story both searing and topical, with stakes as far-reaching as outer space. It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing, who discovers an unsolved puzzle in the writings of the seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler. He takes the puzzle to a senior scientist in the Chinese space program and declares his intention to solve it. Volkov returns to Moscow and continues his secret work. The puzzle holds untold consequences for space warfare.

The years pass, and they are not kind to Volkov. After the loss of his son, a prosecutor who’d been too tough on corruption, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Volkov makes the fraught decision to contact the CIA. He writes: Satellites are your enemies, especially your own. … Hidden codes can make time stop and turn north into south. … If you are smart, you will find me.

With this timely novel, Ignatius addresses our moment of renewed interest in space exploration amid geopolitical tumult. Phantom Orbit brims with the author’s vital insights and casts Volkov as the man who, at the risk of his life, may be able to stop the Doomsday clock.

©2024 David Ignatius (P)2024 Recorded Books

Ignatius weaves current insider Knowledge into Prescience

The author takes a very long time to move all the chess pieces into place but eventually sculpts an important piece of Fiction into a cautionary tale that may soon become critically important Non-Fiction.

The most valuable take-away is the portrayal of the all too common reluctance of any bureaucracy to understand and accept the obvious value of the outliers in their midst.

Four stars. ****

Fantastic. Perfect self contained story ripped right from real life.

Loved this, and impressed with David's writing style. So glad I gave this a try.

Wonderful character development

The characters and their motivations were believable. Plot was intriguing. Narrator was well matched to audiobook.

Ignatius keeps getting better

Pretty cool to see the evolution of what is now a very accomplished fiction author.

Too much story, not enough payoff

This is more like a shaggy dog story than a thriller. Long, long sections of not entirely convincing character development followed by a brief semi-thrilling conclusion. Great narration helps some.