| The Charm School | |
| Author: | Nelson DeMille |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Publisher: | Warner Books |
| Pub Date: | April 1, 1988 |
| Pages: | 533 |
| Isbn: | 9780446353205 |
| Oclc: | 17300504 |
The Charm School is a 1988 spy thriller novel by American author Nelson DeMille, set in the Soviet Union.[1] [2]
In a 2010 FBI investigation, striking similarities were noted between the real life case and DeMille's book.[3]
The novel's hero is U.S Air Force Colonel Sam Hollis, a former F-4 Phantom Fighter pilot[4] who fought in Vietnam. Hollis was shot down during the war[5] and was disqualified from flying. Later on he was transferred to US Air Force Intelligence and served as an intelligence officer and air attaché at the American embassy in Moscow. A young American MBA graduate driving in the Russian countryside encounters another American, claiming to have escaped a secret Russian POW camp—leaving numerous others behind who are still captive and being used to "Americanize" Soviet spies. When the information reaches Hollis, he begins to investigate and discovers a secret so dangerous that might cost him his life.