The Moscow Vector (Anti-Pirate): A Covert-One Novel - Softcover

Robert Ludlum; Patrick Larkin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752877038 ISBN 13: 9780752877037

Publisher: Orion, 2005

Synopsis

For the past three decades Robert Ludlum’s bestselling novels have been enjoyed by hundreds of millions of readers worldwide and have set the standard against which all other thrillers are measured.  His Covert-One series has been among his most beloved creations. Now comes the latest thrilling novel in the series:

Robert Ludlum’s The Moscow Vector

 

At an international conference in Prague, Lt. Col. Jon Smith, an Army research doctor specializing in infectious diseases and secretly an agent attached to Covert-One, is contacted by a Russian colleague, Dr. Valentine Petrenko. Petrenko is concerned about a small cluster of mysterious deaths in Moscow and about the Russian government’s refusal to release publicly any information or data on the outbreak. When the two meet, they are attacked by a group of mysterious men and Petrenko is killed. His notes and medical samples are lost, and Smith barely escapes with his life.

 At the same time, a series of government officials around the world are coming down with a mysterious, fast-acting virus with a 100% fatality rate.  These deaths are somehow related to the increasing militarism from the new Russian government, headed by the autocratic and ambitious President Victor Dudarev.  With few clues and precious little time, Smith and Covert-One must unravel this mysterious plot and find the mysterious figure who stands at the center of it all.

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About this title

About the Author

ROBERT LUDLUM was the creator of the Covert-One series as well as the author of more than twenty international bestsellers including The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy--the books on which the international hit movies were based.

PATRICK LARKIN is the author of Robert Ludlum's The Lazarus Vendetta and The Tribune, as well as the co-author of five bestselling thrillers with Larry Bond. He lives in northern California with his family.

From the Back Cover

For the past three decades Robert Ludlum's bestselling novels have been enjoyed by hundreds of millions of readers worldwide and have set the standard against which all other thrillers are measured. His Covert-One series has been among his most beloved creations and now comes the latest thrilling novel in the series:

THE MOSCOW VECTOR

At an international conference in Prague, Lt. Col. Jon Smith, an Army research doctor specializing in infectious diseases and secretly an agent attached to Covert-One, is contacted by a Russian colleague, Dr. Valentine Petrenko. Petrenko is concerned about a small cluster of mysterious deaths in Moscow and about the Russian government's refusal to release publicly any information or data on the outbreak. When the two meet, they are attacked by a group of mysterious men and Petrenko is killed, his notes and medical samples are lost, and Smith barely escapes with his life.

At the same time, a series of government officials around the world are coming down with a mysterious, fast-acting virus with a 100% fatality rate. These deaths are somehow related to the increasing militarism from the new Russian government, headed by the autocratic and ambitious President Victor Dudarev. With few clues and precious little time, Smith and Covert-One must unravel this mysterious plot and find the mysterious figure who stands at the center of it all…

Visit the Covert-One Web-Site at www.CovertOne.com

Reviews

One might think that time would have taken its toll on the crusty, disgruntled Soviet dinosaurs who want to return Russia to its Communist glory days, but evidently not. Larkin, helming Ludlum's Covert One series, has dreamed up a new bunch of hard-liners, armed with HYDRA, a designer poison that singles out and kills victims based on DNA. With HYDRA having dispatched numerous U.S. and allied intelligence agents, Russian President Viktor Dudarev is poised to launch Operation ZHUKOV, a takeover strike against Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and half of Ukraine. Leading a covert investigation of HYDRA is series regular Lt. Col. Jonathan Smith, U.S. Army molecular biologist and chief operative of supersecret spy agency Covert One. There's nothing particularly new—HYDRA is an unwieldy weapon (it must be tailor-made for each victim), and super-sleuth Jon spends far too much time ferreting out information that readers have known for hundreds of pages. The threat of a Russian takeover of lost territory may not raise the temperature high enough, and various subplots, such as an attempted assassination of the U.S. president, don't amount to much. There are plenty of excellent shoot-outs, but Larkin's last outing, The Lazarus Vendetta, was far more cutting edge. (On sale Aug. 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Although Larkin is the actual author of this novel, "Robert Ludlum" novels now include 26 books, the latter ones, of course, written after his death but in the strong tradition of the novels he wrote himself. This new one falls in the Covert-One Novel series, now numbering six; Larkin also wrote The Lazarus Vendetta (2004), also part of this series. Moscow is the setting, and Larkin occasionally uses Russian expressions to remind readers of the locale. But like other tales of espionage, the action spans the globe, here including Prague; several cities in the Ukraine; other Russian cities; Washington, D.C.; Baghdad; Dresden; and Berlin. The plot concerns a biological weapon called HYDRA, "the ultimate, precision-guided silent killer." Months of preparation have gone into selecting targets for the first HYDRA variants and then finding ways to deliver them undetected to the chosen victims. Russia's aim is to kill America's most competent intelligence analysts. There's plenty of action here and some suspense, but don't the good guys always prevail in the end? George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Sixth in the Covert One series, this offering resurrects Russian hardliners and pits them against U.S. intelligence. There's a new biological weapon, named Hydra, whose sophistication is its ability to target specific individuals through their DNA. The delivery is simple, the end result--death. The setting is Moscow, but the action spans the globe. Erik Bergmann narrates this thriller with a calm, no-nonsense tone. He portrays Lieutenant Colonel Jon Smith, specialist in infectious diseases and a Covert One operative, as skillful and deliberate. He also slips into thick Russian accents, then back to American slang with seamless ease, and ratchets up the tension with staccato delivery in tense situations. This is a must for Ludlum fans. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752877038
• ISBN 13: 9780752877037
• Binding: Paperback