This episode of the Danger Close podcast is brought to you by Cry Havoc

from New York Times number one best-selling author Jack Carr.

Cry Havoc, a Tom Ries thriller. Order now. Chapter 2

G.R.U. Headquarters, Moscow, Russian, Soviet, Federative Socialist Republic, January 24, 1968.

Mikhail Lavrenenko could tell that Sergei Egarov was nervous. That was not uncommon.

Everyone was nervous when meeting with the director of the GRU, the main intelligence

directorate of the general staff of the Soviet armed forces. Lavrenenko knew that his

appearance added to the intimidation factor of his title.

Even at this later stage in life he had maintained the hairline of his youth. His black and gray

hair was in a battle that had reached a stalemate, though the GRU director knew that the

army of gray would soon overtake its adversary.

It was inevitable.

He had never considered taming the rogue nose and ear hair that protruded from those appendages

at excessive lengths, nor had he once trimmed his eyebrows, which sprouted hair in varying

directions.

His lack of refined grooming gave him the look of a wild animal. It also helped distract from his significant girth. In certain circles, the GRU was

more feared than their neighbors in the KGB, though the KGB certainly held the distinction of having more

international recognition. The GRU was the intelligence arm of the Soviet military and therefore

had no direct links to its counterpart in the KGB. Two foreign intelligence services serving

different masters led to a deep rivalry, with the

GRU viewed as subordinate. That perceived standing did not bother Lavrenenko. It allowed the

GRU the ability to maneuver in ways that the KGB could not, something that fit his current

...