Moscow X — David McCloskey

Following his highly-praised debut novel, Demascus Station, author David McCloskey returns for another cat-and-mouse espionage thriller written in the same vein as genre classics The Russia House (John le Carre, 1989) and Red Sparrow (Jason Matthews, 2013).

Set following the events of last year's book, CIA officers Sia and Max are sent to Russia for the purpose of getting close to the man Vladimir Putin trusts with his money. That plan is first hatched by a CIA station chief in Tajikistan, who believes it may be the only way to disrupt and counter Putin and whatever plans he may be breathing life into. It's a daring operation that, if successful, could cause chaos throughout the Kremlin, but getting close to the moneyman won't be easy, a complicated task that becomes infinitely more laborious when another deep-cover agent comes into play.

As fate would have it, after making contact with their mark, Sia and Max quickly realize that their greatest chance of succeeding is through the banker's wife, Anna. What they don't know, though, and quickly becomes news to the CIA, is that Anna is actually a deep-cover Russian intelligence agent assigned to the bank. She has her own game to play, and as each party attempts to carry out their mission, McCloskey takes readers on a wild adventure that explores themes such as loyalty, truth, and vengeance, all while painting the raw picture of life as a spy that's woven into a brilliant, complex plot that moves from Mexico to Langley to Moscow with a level of authority and confidence that is simply unmatched by anyone else in the genre today.