Widow of Desire

Ranging from Manhattan to Moscow and Leningrad, dipping into politics, business and espionage, Scott ( Rampage ) distinguishes this satisfying variation on the formulaic romantic suspense tale with details of corporate finance and the fur trade. Natalie Stuart left a career in investment banking to start a business with, and then marry, Wallace Nevsky, a dashing figure in the fur industry. They are wildly successful and happyuntil Wallace is shot by a beautiful young woman who calls him a traitor. Natalie musters all her skills and contacts to keep the business, determined to find out just whom Wallace had betrayed. Boardroom politics and her need to learn more about her husband's death and life take her to the Soviet Union where she is soon entangled in a multi-layered plot to put an end to Gorbachev, glasnost and perestroika. With elegance, intelligence and pluck, Natalie outwits the KGB, the Soviet militia, the CIA and the barons of Wall Street to thwart the coup, hold on to her company and serve her country. Like a female James Bond, Natalie Stuart Nevsky is utterly unbelievable and just as entertaining. (Apr.)