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Dr. Derrick Stillwater works as a troubleshooter for the department
of Homeland Security, his specialty is chemical and biological
weapons. While taking a break between assignments he receives
a letter from a lady with whom he shared a romantic interlude
after encountering her on a previous adventure. Her name is
Irina Khournikova and she’s an agent in the Russian
intelligence service. The letter begins… “If you
are reading this, I am dead.”
The letter goes on to reveal that Stillwater
is the father of a young son whose name is Lev Arkany Khournikova.
Stillwater feels the need to connect with his newly discovered
offspring and seeks the aid of his friend Robert Mandalevo,
the Secretary of State in expediting an emergency trip to
Moscow. He is also very curious about the details of Irina’s
death.
It doesn’t
take very long for Stillwater to land in trouble once he arrives
in Russia . Almost as soon as he steps off the plane he is
kidnapped by members of the FSB, Russia ’s equivalent
of our FBI. He is warned to leave the country and not to try
investigating anything. Stillwater is unaware that his very
presence creates problems for the FSB’s investigation
into a domestic terror movement. It seems that a group known
as “The Red Hand” led by disgruntled government
insiders, has designs on the overthrow of the ruling party.
The Red Hand is aware of Stillwater’s arrival as well.
He eventually
manages to land at the American Embassy where he is greeted
by his “tour guide” Erica Kirov. Once there, he
receives a message from the Secretary of State that it would
be appreciated if, as long as he’s in Russia he’d
look into the apparent suicide of a weapons inspector. Now
Stillwater has three missions; meet his son, find out what
happened to his former lover Irina, and see if the weapons
inspector did indeed take his own life. Seems like plenty
of work to do and then somebody bombs the Embassy. Stillwater
immediately identifies the bomb as a biological weapon and
knows that his problems have just gotten bigger. When he begins
to sniff around, the Red Hand hires an assassin to take him
out.
Stillwater finds an unexpected ally in Konstantin
Nikitinov an FSB agent who is more concerned with results
than protocol. They form a secret alliance and work together
to answer the questions. Along the way, Stillwater discovers
that Konstantin has become very close to Irina Khournikova
and believes that she may still be alive.
As with all Derrick Stillwater novels, this
book is non-stop action from beginning to end. Author Mark
Terry knows his subject very well and finds more challenging
ways to test him with every new story. I have to admit that
I always look forward to reviewing this series and I’ve
never been disappointed. Mark Terry’s techno-thrillers
are among the best I’ve ever read.
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