The Blind Spy

January 2, 2012
The pseudonymous Dryden’s personal knowledge and experience of both the British security services and Russia’s intelligence apparatus informs his fine third entry (after 2010’s Moscow Sting) in a series grounded less in physical action than in the twisting intellectual gamesmanship that makes the shadow world of espionage so compelling. Anna Resnikov, a former KGB colonel who defected to the British, works for Cougar, the largest private intelligence agency in the world, which is run by ex-CIA legend Burt Miller. The CIA enlists Cougar as part of several operations designed to uncover Russian deceit in Ukraine. Into the mix of superspies comes Gen. Valentin Viktorov, head of Russia’s secretive Department S, whose son, Balthasar, is the intelligence service’s most accomplished agent, despite being blind from birth. Russia’s plan to take over Ukraine lies at the heart of the chess-like machinations that consume the characters in this intricate and deadly struggle for international domination. Agent: Peter Matson, Sterling Lord Literistic.

April 15, 2012
The U.S.S.R. has spun off into its various republics, but Putin's Russia is having second thoughts about its loss of the Ukraine. In the midst of a plot to find a pretext for re-conquest, a blind man named Balthasar spies for the Russians. Balthasar has considerable insights that amply compensate for his lack of vision. That he can sense who approaches him and that he knows when a particular person wears blue clothing strains credulity, but readers can suspend disbelief for a while. It's all about "the fallibility of those who trust their eyes," he says. A long-lost half sibling named Anna Resnikov is a more interesting character. She works for Cougar Intelligence Applications, a commercial firm that is CIA-like, right down to its abbreviation. She is a former KGB agent who defected to the West because...well, because. Author Dryden (a pseudonym) displays considerable knowledge of Russia and the Black Sea area and sketches believable pictures of cities like Sevastopol. He's wordy, though, and seems to have an ongoing love affair with adverbs, for example, "Burt said breezily," "Burt replied stolidly" and "Burt said magnanimously." But the characters and the plot are intelligent, with a series of twists and surprises right to the end. A climactic scene with Anna and a train is especially spectacular and satisfying. It's good to see an East-West spy game that's developed beyond the Cold War Clancy clashes of the last century. A decent book that could have been better, but thriller aficionados will enjoy the complex tale regardless.

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October 15, 2011

Team Putin wants to undermine Ukraine's independence, which doesn't make private intelligencer Burt Miller very happy, so he quickly enlists ex-KGB colonel Anna Resnikov to help scotch the plan. The first two Resnikov novels, Red to Black and Moscow Sting, got some rave reviews. Don't miss.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
The patriotiy, Russia's senior spies and soldiers, share a common rage at their Afghan defeat and the collapse of the USSR, so they decide that repossessing Ukraine will be a balm for their feelings. They hatch a circuitous plot to destabilize the country with the unwitting help of the CIA and the Brits. Former KGB Colonel Anna Resnikov, now working for the private intel company, Cougar Intelligence Applications, and Cougar's flamboyant owner, Burt Miller, are alone among Western spooks in sniffing out Russian intentions. As in Red to Black (2009) and Moscow Sting (2010), Dryden offers another tantalizingly plausible plot. The series' major characters all return, and they are joined by an intriguing, specially gifted Russian agent who has begun to question his calling. But descriptions of Miller's hubris and oft-repeated suggestions that Cougar has surpassed the CIA as the most powerful and resource-rich intelligence agency in the world may wear on veteran espionage readers. Even so, Dryden is building an impressive list of postCold War espionage fiction, and fans of the genre will find much to enjoy in his latest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)