Spy novels used to be my favorite. I especially loved Jason Bourne, the assassin who turned out not to really be an assassin. Reading this, it felt like the author loved the same books once upon a time. Unfortunately, this book did not recreate those kinds of stories.
The time kept switching, the characters were shallow and unlikeable, and the plot was predictable.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Black Rose Writing, and Jeffrey Jay Levin for the advanced reader copy of this book. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

If you have ever seen the television show The Americans (which is a pretty good show, by the way), then you have the basic premise of Deep Cover. Harkening back to the Cold War era, the Soviet Union developed hundreds of spies to pose as ordinary Americans who could be activated as needed. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, what happened to all of them? They stayed in the United States, had children, and are somewhat merged into society.

I say "somewhat" because there were special schools these spies sent their children to, and those children were trained as sleeper agents to be activated when needed. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, though, nothing much seemed to come of it, until now.

Stephan Beck is a sergeant assigned to Army Intelligence. He stumbles across a recording from Homeland Security that initially seems to be nothing. However, he's sure there's more to it. Working on it even after being told no to, he hears musical notes through the static identical to the school song he heard at his girlfriend's school reunion. The girlfriend, Lisa Jones, works for a genetics lab and is a brilliant scientist.

What follows is some brilliant intrigue, where the bad guys aren't who the reader would think. Well, most of us wouldn't. I had an idea but hoped I was wrong. In fact, I kept waiting for the mea culpa that I was sure was going to be there but never came.

The author states that this book was adapted from a screenplay for a movie he created once upon a time that never saw the light of day. I could see that in several places, particularly the ending. Once I had that in my mind, a lot of things in the book made more sense. Unlike other books I've read that seem to scream "movie" this one doesn't. Throughout most of the story, it read like a decent extension of a Cold War thriller. The children of the former Soviet spies had depth to them and didn't even know anything about their backgrounds or those of their parents. Lisa, in particular, tries to figure out what's going on with the missing time and exhaustion she's been experiencing after making a remarkable scientific breakthrough. That had to be the weakest part of the book for me. It just seemed all too easy to duplicate what happened in the lab after she had worked on this for so long.

However, I did enjoy Deep Cover and can recommend it. It's a relatively short read at 181 pages, and kept me riveted as to how it was going to end.

Deep Cover - This is my favorite genre and Ludlum rules. I guess I have read too many Cold War, and other wars and commercial/industrial, espionage books over the decades since I am having trouble finding writers that can compete with the Old Masters; no, not the Dutch painters.

This author, like many others, throws a bunch of stuff at the reader trying to get all the characters and snippets in before the body of the story. When done correctly, this is a great; Levin did poorly. Otherwise, if the reader is easily bored, confused or lacks patience, the rest of the story does not survive. I am patient and understand what the author is trying to do in many of the beginning chapters but I could not get interested, forget getting immersed, in the story. (Ludlum has ruined me for the novice writer.)

I am sure there are many readers who will enjoy this book but sadly, Levin's writing style did not roll for me. This is an average read, not a bad read once past the intros, which is why I rated DC three stars. I would like to see a new book of his in five years to see how well he improves. Source: Netgalley. 3*

Deep Cover is about an "unknowing agent." I guess that I am the unknowing reader because I found it impossible to keep up with this poorly told story. In the first fifth of the novel, it's like being on a merry-go-round where you are moving but not going anywhere. So many segments involving a variety of characters, none of which seem related to the other, kept me in a state of confusion. Apparently this is how the author wants to tell his story, but it didn't keep me involved.
So, I put the book down and let it sit. Several weeks have passed since I wrote the above and posted it as a review. I now update that review to say that author Jeffrey Jay Levin ultimately redeemed himself with a crackling good spy story about children being programmed for future lies as spies for the Soviet Union. Their own children would also be involved unknown to them.
But the Soviet Union fell and the new Russia did not see fit to continue with their massive program. Ultimately someone else discovered it and tried to revive it for nefarious purposes, and that's where Deep Cover really takes off.
I'd sure suggest a rewrite for the beginning. It almost stopped me from finally enjoying the story.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review "Deep Cover" by Jeffrey Jay Levin.
During the Cold War, the Soviets plan to infiltrate the U.S. by placing deep cover agents into the country as everyday citizens. Was the plan successful? If so, with détente and the collapse of the Soviet Union, where are they today?
I found the premise to be most interesting given today's political climate, but I have to admit I was underwhelmed by the execution. I never felt like I knew any of the main characters, and perhaps that was intentional.
I don't know if the author intends on a follow up, and I would be interested to see where he might take the story, but it would have to be much better fleshed out. It all seemed a bit rushed.