It

""It'' is Marshall Andrei Illich Itzhevnikov, defense minister, chief of the Soviet armed forces, member of the Politburo, who is shot in a mindless border dispute as he defects to the West. The CIA, however, secures his almost lifeless corpse and, with the aid of Naval Intelligence, secretes it in a ``safe'' house along the Maine seacoast. Parapsychologist Dr. Sarah Stuart agrees to read the last emanation of ``It'' 's brain to help the U.S. gain an advantage in the Cold War. Alas, her team from the Biotechnic Institute has been infiltrated by a Communist agent. More trouble ensues because Sarah has raised the ghost of Itzhevnikov, which promptly possesses the mind, heart and energies of the U.S. president. There may be a market for this book among those who believe in transsubstantiation, reincarnation and communication with the dead. But even for them the story will be unsatisfactory, since Sarah cannot exorcise the ghost, cannot subdue the evil spirit. (March)