British author Dryden's poignant portrayal of Anna Resnikov, a KGB colonel who forsook her country to marry a former MI6 agent, Finn, powers this intense sequel to his 2009 debut, Red to Black. After a Russian assassin poisons Finn in Paris and delivers his body to the British embassy in Berlin three days later, Anna goes on the run with her young son by Finn. She becomes a pawn in a deadly game involving numerous intelligence agencies and contractors who recognize that only she knows the identity of Mikhail, a ghostlike double agent who's close to Vladimir Putin and possesses invaluable information about the "new" Russia-specifically its strategies to do with its substantial Siberian oil riches-that could dramatically affect the world's balance of power. While the breakneck pacing and serpentine plot will satisfy espionage fans, the ingenuity and insight that Anna displays in her desperate plight leave a more lasting impression than all the spy machinations. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Pseudonymous Brit journalist Dryden is back with another fine neoCold War spy thriller, the sequel toRed to Black(2009).The first novel was a throwback, a le Carrish espionage yarn that pitted ruthless Russia against the Westbut with the twist that this was not the Soviet regime but Putin's resurgent authoritarianism. This book stylishly carries the story forward. It's 2008. Former Russian agent Anna Bereft is bereft after the loss of her husband, Finn, to an assassin's poison in the last book's finale. She retires to a secluded Provenal village, where she lives under the French government's rather lax protection. She's being sought by the vengeful Russians, who want to punish her betrayal, and by the equally vengeful Brits, who want to kill the man responsible for the death of their ex-agent, Finn, and who can use her as an information source or a bargaining chip. When an American freelancer, a one-time rising star scapegoated and fired by the CIA, discovers her whereabouts and offers to divulge them to the highest bidder, Anna winds up under the protection (so-called) of American Burt Miller, head of one of the powerful private contractors to whom the United States is ceding control of intelligence-gathering and covert operations. The Americans try simultaneously to cultivate Anna and interrogate her, and the book's most intriguing section is the long middle one in which we watch two cool and cunning pros, Anna and Burt (with the connivance of various employees), spar, feel each other out, try to manipulate and use each other to accomplish agendas only partially revealed. She is an ever-shifting combination of friend, ally, asset, instrument and hostile captive, and Burt's job is to get her, more or less of her own volition and for her own reasons, to expose and bring over the highly placed Russian, Mikhail, who was her dead husband's trusted source in the Kremlin and whose identity he believes she knows.A twisty, persuasive, action-packed thriller, only slightly marred by a hurried ending.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Dryden follows up his superb debut, Red to Black (2009), with a riveting sequel. British spy Finn, who uncovered a Russian plan to control Europe's access to oil and natural gas, is dead, murdered by a KGB-trained Russian criminal. Anna, the beautiful KGB colonel assigned to seduce Finn, but who fell in love with him instead, is in hiding, raising her son, Little Finn. In the post-Bush era, both the U.S. and Britain have realized that Finn was right: Vladimir Putin is an enemy. Now they want Finn's source, a Kremlin insider known only as Mikhail. MI6 also wants revenge for Finn's murder. The Russians want Anna for her betrayal. Anna wants to shield Mikhail and keep herself and her son alive. Machinations by all the principals ensue, and Dryden, a longtime student of Russia and the world of intelligence, tosses a new player into the mix: Cougar, a private intelligence company run by Burt Miller, a former CIA spook extraordinaire. The larger-than-life Miller schemes against the CIA, MI6, the Russians, and Cougar's corporate competitors to hold on to Anna and reel in Mikhail. Red to Black reinvigorated the classic Cold War espionage genre. Moscow Sting with its clever, devious, conflicted characters; its tension and verisimilitude; and its complex but fully plausible plot is every bit as good.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2010 Booklist

This follow-up to Dryden's debut thriller, Red to Black, is a rarity: a sequel as good as its exceptional predecessor. In a world of high stakes and low ideals, no one can say with certainty what anyone else will do. Heroine Anna, former KGB colonel and widow of a former British spy, is back-she is now a unique asset in the covert battle between the West and a resurgent, aggressive Russia. Her adversary is Burt; he heads an American private intelligence company with U.S. contracts worth billions, and he is using Anna to conduct an end run around both MI6 and the CIA. No one but Anna cares about her safety or that of her child. If she wants to survive, she will have to engage in her own tricky endgame. VERDICT An exceptional spy story. Boy, is this good! [Audio CD ISBN 978-1-4001-1627-0; MP3-CD ISBN 978-1-4001-6627-5.]-David Keymer, Modesto, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.