Cover Story

Journalist Colin Burke may have escaped with his life at the end of Soviet Sources, but he hasn't gotten any savvier about protecting it. The regime in Moscow has changed, but the men in the corridors of power still have little interest in answering questions, and still employ an army of thugs to prevent people from asking them. For the moment, Burke's questions are benign: His bosses at the magazine in Washington want a feel-good piece about Moscow's Jewish community. However, what Burke discovers at a run-down synagogue is the possibility that Russia's nuclear scientists are now making bombs for Syria. Burke's got a hot story again, but he may not survive to collect the Pulitzer.

In Moscow, cynical journalist Colin Burke uncovers a horrifying secret involving Syrian and Russian nuclear scientists. The author is a former correspondent for Newsweek who won the Overseas Press Club Award for reporting from Moscow in 1983.

Journalist Colin Burke may have escaped with his life at the end of Soviet Sources, but he hasn't gotten any savvier about protecting it; he's still snooping around Moscow. True, the regime has changed - his sources aren't Soviets anymore - but the men in the corridors of power still have little interest in answering questions, and still employ an army of thugs to prevent people like Burke from asking them. For the moment, Burke's questions are almost painfully benign: His bosses at the magazine in Washington want a feel-good piece about Moscow's Jewish community. However, what Burke discovers at a run-down synagogue has little to do with latkes, and everything to do with the possibility that Russia's nuclear scientists are now making bombs for Syria. Burke's got a hot story again, and he couldn't be happier. But he may not survive to collect the Pulitzer. First rate . . . Comparisons to Gorky Park will be inevitable, but in many ways, Cover Story is a better book - Los Angeles Times

Publishers Weekly

A report of possible Syrian nuclear capability sends Colin Burke, the Moscow correspondent for America Weekly introduced in Soviet Sources , in search of a mysterious Middle Eastern businessman who may be hiring Russian atomic scientists. Also interested are the Israelis, represented by a beautiful Mossad agent, and the KGB. A prostitute leads Burke to a Russian scientist heading ``West.'' The prostitute is murdered; Burke is briefly jailed; the scientist disappears; and, when the dust clears, the bad guys are the official good guys. Cullen, Newsweek 's Moscow bureau chief in the mid-1980s, knows Moscow cold and offers a terrific tour of post-Soviet Russia and an insider's view of the newsmagazine biz. The Russian characters are vivid and believable, notably a crusty old Russian Army officer and a tough young woman working any street scam she can. Burke's awareness of his alcoholism may surface abruptly, but he's bright and appealingly scruffy--Moscow is ``the only town in the world where the natives made him look dapper.'' Readers will turn pages to the slightly forced ending. Film rights optioned by Alan Pakula. (June)