Anatomy of a Betrayal - A Novel

From New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief comes a campus spy novel about ambition, love, and belonging, following two rival graduate students who find themselves on opposite sides of an international FBI investigation.

In science, nothing stays secret for long.

Fall quarter, Stanford University: This is the year Rosalind Song will get everything she’s ever wanted. She’s nearly three years into her PhD, and soon enough, she’ll publish her research. But it’s a dangerous time to be doing science, especially as a foreigner, and when the FBI begins asking pointed questions about the lab and the professor she works for, she knows her carefully constructed life is at risk—unless she can discover what they’re really after.

As Rosalind begins her own private investigation into the Gao lab and her supervisor’s shadowy past, she keeps running into the same obstacle: Peter Sun. She and Peter have spent years competing against each other, and at first, Rosalind thinks this is just another contest.

Peter, though, knows it isn’t. Because when the FBI arrived, they offered him a deal. And unbeknownst to anyone—his family, his friends, Rosalind—he said yes.

Inspired by true events, Anatomy of a Betrayal is a spy novel with a love story at its heart, examining the cost of success, loyalty, and what it means to love a field that will never love you back.