Long Shot: A Sniper Novel

In Coughlin and Davis's solid ninth Sniper novel (after 2015's The Night of the Cobra), defector Ivan Strakov, a Russian intelligence operative, walks into the U.S. embassy in Helsinki, Finland, and declares that he will talk to no one except CIA sniper Kyle Swanson. The two met briefly 20 years earlier when Kyle was in the Marines and Ivan was in the Russian naval infantry. After a first debriefing session, Ivan sends Kyle, posing as a Canadian journalist, to Narva, Estonia, on a recon mission. Kyle figures out that Ivangorod, the Russian town across the river from Narva, could be the jumping off point for a Russian incursion into Estonia and beyond. Kyle wants to terminate his relationship with Ivan, but his CIA boss won't let him, and the defector continues to manipulate Kyle, the CIA, and several other spy agencies like the genius spy that he is. Soon it's apparent that only Kyle can stop a third world war between NATO and Russia. Fans of military thrillers will enjoy the ride. (Aug.)