The Russian Intelligence

Jerry Cornell is a spy, though not the kind found in the fiction of the era. Most agents of his rank are imagined as fearless, quick-witted and nearly indestructible, and Jerry lacks all of that. He admits to himself that the work is dull, rarely matters, and that persuading an enemy to switch sides is more a public relations exercise than heroic action. Still, the job is trendy, and it gives him plenty of chances to shirk his duties, cut corners and cheat on his wife.

A self-protective realist with a streak of cowardice, Jerry has been getting along comfortably. That changes one dreadful night, when he discovers a comic-strip hero, The Devil Masked Fighter for Justice, gripped in the hand of a dying colleague whom Jerry never liked much.