ESCAPE FROM THE CIA: How the CIA Won and Lost the Most Important KGB Spy Ever to Defect to the U.S., by Ronald Kessler, Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, 210 pages, $19.95.

The most well-known moment of Vitaly Yurchenko’s spy career was when he waved goodbye in 1985 before boarding a plane to return to the Soviet Union three months after he had defected to America.

Although Yurchenko claimed he was kidnapped by the CIA, Ronald Kessler writes that Yurchenko defected and entered the U.S. Embassy in Rome during a trip in August 1985.

In “Escape From the CIA” Kessler, an award-winning journalist, builds a convincing case that Yurchenko was a genuine defector and not a double agent as some in the intelligence community believed. To learn the truth behind the unusual events, Kessler interviewed present and former government officials including members of the FBI and CIA. He also traveled to Moscow in 1989 to interview Yurchenko.

During the 1989 interview, Yurchenko stuck to his story that he was kidnapped, drugged and held against his will for three months until he was able to escape in November. However, Kessler’s story that Yurchenko sought the American way of life is more believable.

William H. Webster, who recently resigned as head of the CIA, said Yurchenko had given the United States plenty of valuable information. Kessler points out that a year after Yurchenko’s redefection, the CIA produced a top secret report on what he gave up.

“If the KGB leadership saw the document, they’d probably shoot him,” an intelligence officer told Kessler.

Yurchenko held many posts in the KGB, including that of deputy chief of the division that directs spies within the United States and Canada. During his debriefings, Yurchenko exposed a number of spies and secret KGB operations. But after giving away the farm, he decided he could no longer accept how he was being treated by the CIA. He constantly complained about the leaks to the media and his lack of privacy.

On Nov. 2 he simply got up from his table at a French bistro in the Georgetown section of Washington and told his CIA guard that he was going for a walk. “If I don’t come back, it’s not your fault.”

His escape put the CIA in an embarrassing position. U.S. officials wondered how the CIA could have allowed him to escape. His escape also led to a congressional investigation into why Yurchenko decided to redefect.

Sen. William S. Cohen, who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time of the Yurchenko affair, said this case shows that “there is a good deal of truth that we were deficient in our defector program.” Cohen said the investigation showed that the agency had to improve its language skills and learn to understand the needs of defectors.

“There are still deficiences, but I think we made some improvements,” Cohen said. “I have dealt with some defectors in the wake of the Yurchenko episode, and I think we better understand the psychological aspects of defecting.”

On whether Yurchenko was a genuine defector or double agent, Cohen said, “I have no way of knowing for sure, but I think he was genuine.”

Kessler’s book supports that conclusion. “Almost without exception, those with access to what Yurchenko gave up are convinced he was a true defector,” Kessler writes.

“Escape From the CIA” is a must for people interested to learn what Yurchenko told the CIA. But Kessler’s book is more than a catalog of secret operations. This fast-paced book also reveals Yurchenko’s secret journeys as he attempted to adapt to the American way of life. Kessler describes Yurchenko’s trips to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas and tells about his visit to a furniture story where he selected his own bed. Kessler also shares new details about a secret trip to Montreal during which Yurchenko attempted to lure a former lover to defect and join him in America.

Although “Escape From the CIA” focuses on the secret world of espionage and the undercover battle between two superpowers, Kessler’s book reveals a deeper story about the individuals who fight that battle daily.

Jim Emple is an editor on the NEWS copy desk.