The Brute Streets — John Prebble

The enthralling story of a London office cleaner who learns that his Russian wife has been kidnapped in Moscow. Jimmy Yeo is concerned only with his love for dark-haired Nadia, but as events unfurl with mounting suspense, he learns that where the Cold War is concerned he is merely a cipher, helpless in the hands of merciless groups who see him only as a little man they can afford to knock around.