The Bucharest Legacy: The Rise of the Oligarchs

Maz takes CIA analyst Bill Hefflin back to Bucharest in this patchy sequel to 2022’s The Bucharest Dossier. It’s 1993, and Hefflin’s mission to escort a defecting KGB officer out of Romania immediately goes sideways, plunging him into a cauldron of pursuit, deception, and intrigue as he’s suspected of being a KGB mole. After ensuring their son’s safety, Hefflin and his wife (a French intelligence operative) join forces to identify the real mole and solve the enduring riddle of Hefflin’s late mentor, a KGB agent named Boris whom Hefflin often turned to as a CIA source, and whose shadow hangs over the spy hunt. Hefflin and Catherine are well-drawn, complex characters, but the narrative lacks polish, periodically repeating information readers have already been told and running far longer than necessary. Boris is an intriguing phantom, though, and Maz has a good feel for action scenes, including a memorable Eastern Promises–style nude battle between Hefflin and a beautiful woman. Though Maz has yet to hit his stride, there’s plenty here for fans of spy fiction to enjoy. (June)