Red Station

British author Magson (No Kiss for the Devil) takes a break from crime fiction with this solid, suspenseful first of a new espionage series. When a drug bust on the Essex coast commanded by MI5 agent Harry Tate goes bad, resulting in the deaths of a member of his team and two civilians, Harry's superiors post him to Red Station (located in Georgia near South Ossetia), where agents who have committed serious errors are tucked away from the eyes of the press. Harry soon figures out that the job is a sham and that those agents who decide to try to return to England wind up dead. He manages to escape Red Station with some of his fellow black sheep just as the Russian army moves into the area, as it did in real life in August 2008. Harry is an intriguing addition to the ranks of the genre's reluctant spies, and readers will eagerly await his next adventure. (Dec.)