The Moscow Club

The abrupt raising of the Iron Curtain, it would appear, has released a thousand intriguing ghosts from the past and given the spy novel a whole new lease on life. If Finder's fiction debut doesn't outdo Frederick Forsyth in grace of style, it surpasses both Forsyth and Ludlum in density of mystery and swirl of action. At the same time--not entirely surprisingly, coming from the author of Red Carpet, a study of the intricate connections between the Kremlin and U.S. big business--the plot is crammed with and even a little overwhelmed by details regarding the darker side of Soviet history and the workings of Soviet and U.S. intelligence. Assigned to examine a portentous tape sneaked out of Moscow by a mole, CIA Kremlinologist Charlie Stone finds himself in an espionage investigation of staggering complexity. As he hops among three continents, often the target of both the KGB and the CIA, Stone succeeds in vindicating his father, branded a traitor by McCarthy, while nosing out a plot by the head of the KGB to stage a violent coup during a Moscow summit that will end glasnost and set the world on its ear. The story contains as many chases, murders, conspiracies and uncloseted ghosts as any thriller maven could want, as well as a credible love interest; in all, it's a superbly exciting read. 75,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo. (Feb.)