With the Cold War raging, Blackford Oakes takes a sabbatical from his work as a CIA superspy in order to help restore the war-damaged windows in a fabled German chapel. He finds no peace or sanctuary there, however. Instead, he ends up in the arms of a beautiful KGB agent—and on the horns of a dilemma. He must either betray her or pull the switch on an old friend who is rallying his countrymen to reunite Germany.

According to THE NEW REPUBLIC, STAINED GLASS "cuts closer to the bone than Le Carré has ever cut." And UPI called it "delightful reading for the spy thriller fan...absolutely must reading."