MASKIROVKA—The Russian Science of Deception
It may have changed its name, but the KGB is up to its old tricks, only this time with a new puppet—the American Public!
Steve Nguyen, a newly minted homicide detective with the San Francisco Police Department, is cut loose on his first solo case—the mysterious death of a young accountant who worked for a public-interest foundation. Everything points to natural causes, but Nguyen, to the dismay of his chief, isn’t ready to close the book. With no proof of motive, means, or opportunity, the anxiety-racked law school drop-out starts digging anyway.
Nguyen’s tortuous investigation leads him to the halls of Congress, the gritty oil fields of the Siberian tundra, the stately Black Sea palaces of the petro-czars, and the mean streets of San Francisco. He unearths a malevolent alliance among a billionaire Russian oligarch, a duplicitous foundation director, and a renowned philanthropist hell-bent on tightening Russia’s monopoly on the European energy market by choking-off American exports. If it means corrupting the American electoral system through illegal campaign contributions, political blackmail, and a few dead bodies, so be it.
Addled by self-doubt, Nguyen relies only on his misfit cousins, Tina Ngo, an attorney with a special proficiency in federal law, and Tommy Tran, a computer geek straddling the tightrope of legality, Nguyen must learn, and learn fast, the Russian rules of international deception, while in the crosshairs of the SVR’s most skilled assassins. His unraveling of a complex tangle of offshore accounts, dummy corporations, front companies, and shell corporations, might, just might, save a republic.
What Reviewers Are Saying...
"Shrewdly plotted with twists you won't see coming, Richard Meredith's Maskirovka takes unbridled greed, oil futures, and Russian interference in domestic affairs, turning it up to boil until it explodes off the page." - James L'Etoile, author of At What Cost, Black Label, and Dead Drop
"A freshly minted police detective doesn't believe a man died of natural causes, and his investigation leads all the way to Russia ... Meredith's characters are intriguing, fresh, and flawed ... The plot, laced with deception and betrayal, seems frighteningly possible ... A taut, timely, terrific thriller." - Kirkus Starred Review
"One of the more realistic spy thrillers in recent memory, Maskirovka employs patient, meticulous storytelling that should earn Richard Meredith a loyal following. A recommended read that will leave you wanting more." - Terry Shepherd, author of the Jessica Ramirez Thrillers
"Chilling and terrifyingly prescient, Maskirovka updates the U.S.-Russian spy thriller as both sides play to win a sinister new Cold War. Covert influence has never been so deadly. Richard Meredith packs a punch and gives readers a terrific ride." - Claire Booth, author of the Sheriff Hank Worth Mysteries
"One of the more realistic spy thrillers in recent memory, Maskirovka employs patient, meticulous storytelling that should earn Richard Meredith a loyal following." - Best Thrillers Review
"Richard Meredith seriously delivers the goods in Maskirovka through his ability to wrap up an intense investigation and the personalities and motivations of the characters who circle around it exceptionally well. The best, best, best part of everything that Maskirovka gave me as a reader who is Asian are the strong, authentic characters that I can identify with. It shouldn't come as a shock that these are a rarity and when all these are tied together, Meredith's footprint in the crime fiction genre is assured. Very highly recommended. - Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite - Five Stars
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