July 6, 1989
Winner of an Edgar for his debut in Chiefs, basis of a six-hour TV series, Woods presents another potential bestseller, vibrating with tensions created by covert operations in the CIA and the KGB. The heroine is Kate Rule, member of the team at Langley Field assigned to keep tabs on Soviet moves. Emulating male machismo, Rule grows impatient with her colleagues' caution and flies to Europe, on the trail of a Russian agent who has recently disappeared. The narrative switches alternately between fraught events in Russia and America, as Rule's suspect masterminds an invasion of Sweden. The story is packed with horrors and close calls, up to and including the demand for the Swedish government to surrender at the threat of a blast from a nuclear submarine. All the way, Rule and her few allies are caught in seemingly inescapable death traps set by traitors, trusted officials in Sweden and in Washington. An outsized cast of well-defined characters, nonstop action and clearly rendered locales make the novel a genuine if not entirely credible thriller. Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection. February 24
