These mostly contemporary titles are set in locales stretching across the vast territory of Russia and the former Soviet republics.
Blackmail
Rick Campbell (St. Martin’s, July)
The latest installment in the Trident Deception military thriller series from Campbell, a retired Navy commander, sees an emboldened Russia move to retake lands belonging to the former Soviet Union.
Matthew Palmer (Putnam, May)
As U.S. efforts to open an airbase in Kyrgyzstan get underway, American agent Kate Hollister infiltrates an underground Kyrgyz democratic movement. This is the fourth standalone thriller from Palmer, a veteran of the U.S. foreign service, whose previous books have been set in the Congo, South Asia, and the Balkans.
Lionel Davidson (Faber & Faber, Mar.)
When St. Martin’s released this thriller, set at a secret Siberian research lab, in 1994, PW’s starred review called it “shameless, wonderful, riveting entertainment.” Davidson (1922–2009) won multiple Golden Dagger awards in the U.K. and counted Graham Greene and Philip Pullman among his fans.
Moskva
Jack Grimwood (St. Martin’s/Dunne, July)
In British novelist Grimwood’s first thriller, a serial killer is on the loose in 1985 Moscow, and the 15-year-old daughter of the British ambassador has gone missing. British army intelligence officer Tom Fox is sent to retrieve her.
Red Sky
Chris Goff (Crooked Lane, June)
Goff’s second Raisa Jordan thriller finds the U.S. diplomatic security service agent on a mission to northeastern Ukraine to investigate a suspicious plane crash. The hundreds of passengers aboard the Chinese flight included an American diplomat escorting a prisoner and carrying sensitive documents.
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Initiative
Eric Van Lustbader (Grand Central, June)
The murder of a Russian general with close ties to Jason Bourne—and a seemingly unstoppable plan for stealing the U.S. nuclear launch codes—has the government convinced of Bourne’s treason.
Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Dark Zone
Jeff Rovin and George Galdorisi
(St. Martin’s Griffin, June)
The Op-Center team is monitoring a dangerous escalation between Russia and the Ukraine when critical new information comes to light.
