Everybody Wants to Rule the World

About the book

It's 1985, a year that will soon be remembered as "The Year of the Spy," and fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett has a strong suspicion that his mom's new boyfriend is actually a Russian agent.

"Gary" is not listed in the phone book, speaks with a mysterious European accent, and keeps a gun in the glove box of his convertible Porsche. Peter believes that Gary's interest in his mom is related to her job at Scientific Atlanta, a lab with significant government contracts. However, who would believe a teenager who is only interested in BMX and MTV?

After another employee from the lab is murdered, Peter enlists the help of an unlikely duo - a washed-up pulp writer named Dennis Hotchner and his entertaining drag performer friend, Jackie Demure. Both soon find themselves targeted by a deranged Russian assassin (could it be Gary? Perhaps!), who has a bizarre obsession with Phil Collins.

Meanwhile, Sylvia Weaver, a young Black FBI agent, delves into the workings of Scientific Atlanta following the employee's death and uncovers a network of Russian spies. Unbeknownst to her, her investigation is being hindered by a compromised colleague in Washington, D.C., who is colluding with a lovesick and paranoid KGB defector playing both sides of the Cold War for his own gain.

As Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev prepare for a historic nuclear summit in Geneva, the events unfolding in Atlanta could have a significant impact on the Cold War, the 20th Century, and Peter Bennett's first year of high school.