Dispatch from a Cold Country

Gorky Park with an American protagonist and a nifty art-history element. *Third in the Colin Burke series *Enormously authoritative espionage; author was Newsweek's Moscow Bureau Chief for 15 years. *Critics have called the series better than Gorky Park. *A terrific combination of classic espionage and classic private-eye novel; additionally, the art-history angle will appeal to yet another audience (particularly women). *An intricately plotted thriller ... the stuff that keeps readers up well past bedtime - Los Angeles Times *More than an effective page-turner, this is good enough that one wishes to call it a fine novel - Kirkus *An excellent thriller, with clever twists and masterful styling - Publishers Weekly *Richly detailed and relentlessly suspenseful - West Coast Review of Books *...series hallmarks such as a strong sense of place and fast pacing make this a priority purchase for fiction collections. - Library Journal

Publishers Weekly

The guessing game starts early in this excellent thriller about art masterpieces, mayhem and military corruption in present-day Russia. Which priceless painting from the Hermitage is about to be secretly sold for $400 million? Evidence points to a rare Leonardo. The pending sale, moreover, seems to be connected to the death of Hermitage director Fyodor Vasiliev, as well as that of freelance reporter Jennifer Morelli, whose murder sends Colin Burke, the Washington Tribune's Russia expert, to St. Petersburg to investigate. Aided by black CIA agent Desdemona McCoy, who aims to prevent the Hermitage sale, Burke uncovers links among a ballet-loving Russian gangster, his hard-line military allies and the Cal drug cartel. Also in the thick is a talented Hermitage employee with an agenda of her own. Cullen (Cover Story, 1994) crams the narrative with acute observations on the former Soviet Union. He also packs in enough subplots to fill two average novels, including Burke's battle against alcohol, an assassination attempt relying on an American fall guy and the start of a new Cold War. But all these bonuses don't weaken the story line, which will keep readers tied up with its clever twists and sleek styling. (June)

A reporter abroad and in Washington, D.C., for two decades, Robert Cullen won an Overseas Press Club award for foreign reporting during his stint as Newsweek's Moscow correspondent. His novels include Cover Story and Soviet Sources, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He is also the author of The Killer Department, which was made into an HBO original movie under the title Citizen X. Cullen makes his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland.