The book, entitled Death of a Dissident with the subtitle The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB, was written by rights advocate Alex Goldfarb and coauthored by the FSB officer's widow, Marina. It will be published by U.S. publishing house Simon & Schuster.
The publishers said the book contains facts and impressions "from firsthand knowledge," as both Goldfarb and Marina were close to Litvinenko in the days before his death. "Death of a Dissident reads like a political thriller, yet its story is more fantastic and frightening than any novel," Simon & Schuster said on its Web site.
Litvinenko died in London last November after being poisoned with the radioactive element polonium-210, but no official conclusion about his death has been made public. In a deathbed note, Litvinenko accused President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating his death, which the Kremlin strongly denied.
The U.K. has made an official extradition request for Russian national, Andrei Lugovoi, who the U.K. authorities accuse of murdering Litvinenko last November. Litvinenko received British citizenship shortly before his fatal poisoning.
Lugovoi has denied any involvement in Litvinenko's murder, dismissing the charges as politically motivated. He told a recent news conference in Moscow that Litvinenko and Berezovsky worked for British intelligence.
Russian prosecutors have refused to extradite Lugovoi, saying it was against Russian law. Moscow has also been fruitlessly seeking the extradition of fugitive tycoon Boris Berezovsky, accused of fraud at home, from Britain where he has been based since 2001 and became a British citizen in 2003.
Putin reiterated Friday that Moscow will not extradite Lugovoi to the U.K. and said all Litvinenko case suspects will be tried in Russia. "They should not simply have demanded Lugovoi extradition, but should have sent [us] enough materials so we could take the case to court," he said at a Group of Eight countries' press conference.
Putin said the Russian Constitution prohibits extraditing Russian nationals. "If the people who sent us this request [to extradite Lugovoi] were unaware that the Russian Constitution does not permit the extradition of Russian nationals to foreign states, then their competence is in question," he said.
"But if they knew it, but still went ahead, it means that was just a PR political move," Putin continued. "There is only stupidity from whatever side you look at the issue."
Marina Litvinenko, the widow of the former Russian FSB officer, said her husband died because of his connections with Berezovsky. She denied Lugovoi's allegations that Litvinenko worked for British intelligence. "He will do anything to defend himself," Marina told AP.
Death of a Dissident will be published in 22 countries and in 14 languages.
The mysterious circumstances of Litvinenko's death have inspired literary and cinematographic versions of the events. For example, in April, The Litvinenko File written by former BBC Moscow correspondent, Martin Sixsmith was published by Macmillan in the U.K.
