Judas 62

The main action of Cumming’s ambitious sequel to 2021’s Box 88 opens with the assassination in Connecticut of 77-year-old Saul Kaszeta, a former Russian general. Kaszeta “had been a source for BOX 88, a top-secret Anglo-American spy agency, for the final nine years of his military career.” To Lachlan Kite, a career BOX 88 agent, this appears to be a reprisal hit carried out by the FSB, and it brings up a highly personal memory for Kite—his successful 1993 exfiltration of Yuri Aranov, a bioweapons scientist. Flashbacks provide a gripping account of Aranov’s exfiltration, which launched Kite’s BOX 88 career and earned him a lifelong enemy, Mikhail Gromik, a Russian intelligence officer who tried to prevent Aranov’s defection. Kite realizes that both he and Aranov are in danger—their names are on the JUDAS list, “targeted for reprisal assassinations by Moscow.” In a tour de force of tradecraft and suspense set in Dubai, the book’s second half follows an intricate plan to ensure Aranov’s safety and neutralize Gromik. Cumming does a superb job creating portraits of people, eras, and places. This powerful spy thriller should win the talented author new fans. Agent: Luke Janklow, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Nov.)