Date first published	25 August 2005
ISBN Number	0 7528 7689 9
Page Count	536 p/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

A deadly outbreak occurs in the Moscow tenements, non infectious but deadly to those that contract the illness. As the bodies mount dissident doctors try to seek help from Western doctors, but all are intercepted, and terminated. Jon Smith has met one of the doctors, and narrowly escapes being killed.

The crisis spreads, leading politicians and military personnel in the Russian satellite states succumb to this deadly killer, spreading fear amongst those remaining. The West is not immune, leading Soviet analysts, in America, and Europe mysteriously die. What is the connection and what is the reason for there deaths.

With rumours of a massive Soviet military backup, Jon Smith finds himself in a race against time to stop the Soviet military machine marching again.

Review

Unlike earlier stories, where Jon Smith has been in at the start of the story, the problem he faces, has actually reached the final stage of the operation. Once again faced with a medical conundrum, it takes quite a long while for the missing link to appear. When the link does appear it is because Jon Smith and his Covert One companions have been researching, and tracking down links, following up trails, a trait which is missing in a lot of books currently being published.

The book does have one or two minor flaws, obtaining scraps of DNA from the foreign targets would be difficult, and I would have thought, almost impossible as many appear to have been analysts not field agents.

The fact that the Russians allowed Fiona Devin to live, is I think improbable. Given the nature of the disease, she could have simply become an unfortunate victim. After all, the illness appeared at random.

The appearance of Randi Russell is also somewhat repetitive. As a covert CIA operative, she is already alert to Jons strange habit of appearing in the oddest of places with the best equipment. I would have thought that she was a major risk to Covert One. Why not make her a team member?

However the gripes are relatively minor. The action is well detailed, the pace is fairly constant, and Jon and his team have a difficult time staying alive. The political intrigue level is about right. Enough to set the scene and for the reader to see what is at stake, without the author pontificating on the rights and wrongs of the situation, unlike Tom Clancy in The Bear and the Dragon.

What ever your political thoughts, for a story the bad guys, have to believe in what they are doing, and know it's right. If they didn't they probably wouldn't set out on the task.

The writing style now that Patrick Larkin is writing the books has evened out, and the characters have become more consistent.

A good old style 'Cold War' scenario, which makes a pleasant change from all the Muslim terrorist stuff which is currently in vogue.

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