Moscow Sting

British author Dryden's poignant portrayal of Anna Resnikov, a KGB colonel who forsook her country to marry a former MI6 agent, Finn, powers this intense sequel to his 2009 debut, Red to Black. After a Russian assassin poisons Finn in Paris and delivers his body to the British embassy in Berlin three days later, Anna goes on the run with her young son by Finn. She becomes a pawn in a deadly game involving numerous intelligence agencies and contractors who recognize that only she knows the identity of Mikhail, a ghostlike double agent who's close to Vladimir Putin and possesses invaluable information about the "new" Russia—specifically its strategies to do with its substantial Siberian oil riches—that could dramatically affect the world's balance of power. While the breakneck pacing and serpentine plot will satisfy espionage fans, the ingenuity and insight that Anna displays in her desperate plight leave a more lasting impression than all the spy machinations. (Aug.)