Synopsis
Greg Dinallo's previous novel, Final Answers, earned him accolades as a "suspense pro" from the Chicago Tribune; The New York Times heralded his "sharp insight into character," proclaiming, "Mr. Dinallo makes us believe." Now, in a breathtaking novel of suspense and intrigue, Dinallo introduces his most memorable characters yet: an unlikely Russian-American pair of investigators pitted against the world's newest axis of international organized crime. Their chase will lead them from Moscow to Washington; from small-time scams to greed of unparalleled magnitude....
When onetime dissident jounalist Nikolai Katkov is tipped off to the murder of a highly placed government official, he doesn't count on the trail twisting into the lurid world of Moscow mafiya casino-owner Arkady Barkhin. After Katkov's relentless digging almost gets him gunned down, he receives an unexpected appeal for help from the striking Gabby Scotto, a U.S. Treasury Special Agent. She's been tracking laudered money flowing out of the U.S. - an investigation that has led to Barkhin's casino, and a similar dead end. But then Katkov obtains a sensitive government document that could shatter Russia's fragile and newly free economy - and joins Scotto in Washington to pick up the trail.
Katkov's tenaciousness in pursuit of a story has been honed by decades of KGB harassment, and his survival instincts - notwithstanding a penchant for vodka and American cigarettes - by a few hard years in the Gulag. He senses a kindred spirit in the vivacious Brooklynite whose bravado is matched by her investigative savvy - and who leaps at the chance to lead some down-and-dirty field work. Scotto has doubts about sharing privileged information with a journalist, but they are squelched when Katkov makes a critical discovery about a shipping container heading south on I-95 - one that they suspect is filled with $2 billion badly in need of laundering.
As Katkov and Scotto's pursuit races from freeways to freight cars, from Baltimore to Miami, they are shadowed by American entrepreneur Michael Rubineau, a man intent upon seeing the container safely to its ultimate destination. A frequent VIP guest at Arkady Barkhin's Moscow nightclub, Rubineau has devised a scheme of stunning brilliance and unprecedented greed and venality. But as Scotto prepares to take him down, and Katkov composes his front-page headlines, they're forced into a gambit of extreme peril. Heading into the last oupost of communism, Katkov is about to discover that love of country and lust for money can crumble even the fiercest loyalties....
Reviews
Nikolai Katkov is a freelance journalist in Moscow, short on work and money, an ex-political prisoner pushing 40 and probably an alcoholic to boot. The mysterious murder of an Interior Ministry bureaucrat promises him a big story: Was the victim about to blow a whistle? Was he involved in smuggling money out of Russia? Hunting down leads, dogged Niko is soon followed, threatened by local mafiya types, thrown in jail and shot at. He loses his story to an ambitious young reporter possibly allied to a devious Moscow Militia officer, only to be contacted by brassy Gabriella Scotto, a U.S. Treasury agent hot on the money-laundering trail of a Russian-born American billionaire, a case that ties in directly with Niko's lost story. The duo's quest for the truth takes Niko to Washington, Florida and Cuba before returning him to Moscow. Dinallo ( Final Answers ) neatly shows the turmoil and hand-to-mouth desperation of Moscow life (the near impossibility of obtaining coffee; Scientology classes offered at Moscow State Univ.), and his pacing is properly frenetic, but he can't seem to decide if Niko, who narrates, is Woody Allen or Bruce Willis. The surprise ending may look like waffling to some readers, but all will enjoy the breakneck roller-coaster ride getting there. Reader's Digest Condensed Book Club selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Dinallo (Final Answers, 1992) doesn't stop once to catch his breath as his tale of modern Russia whisks readers from Moscow to Cuba and back to Moscow. Nikolai Katkov, an ex-alcoholic Moscow journalist, learns that an official named Vorontsov has been murdered and robbed of valuable medals. He submits a story on the crime to Pravda, only to see it rewritten by a staff member who deletes the most juicy detail--a hint that the murder may have been tied to international organized crime. The trail of Katkov's continued investigation leads to a local gangster who guides the journalist through the Moscow underworld. While poking around, Katkov barely avoids a hit man's bullets. A tough, sexy US Treasury agent named Gabriella Scotto becomes interested in his search when she reads his article; it turns out that she is working on the same case. After perusing some of Vorontsov's personal documents, Scotto and Katkov discover a connection between the dead man and Michael Rubineau (short for Rubinowitz), a Russian-American racketeer/embezzler who is shipping two billion missing dollars to a Baltimore warehouse, from which it will ultimately be sent to Rubineau's resort in Cuba. The pair follow the loot, and Katkov discovers that his close friend Yuri and the reporter who mangled his story are both in on the scheme. Scotto and Katkov confront Rubineau with his crimes; after a lengthy shootout, Katkov returns to Moscow to settle accounts with Yuri. Although Yuri reveals that he saved Katkov's life several times, their friendship ends. The chemistry between Scotto and Katkov--sexual but unconsummated--gradually proves memorable. Suspenseful, fast-paced throughout, a surprising entertainment and a riveting read. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Dinallo (Final Answers, LJ 7/92) delivers an insightful and entertaining slice of post-Cold War life in Russia. Dissident journalist Nikolai Katkov is tipped off to the murder of a high-level Russian bureaucrat. While investigating, he stumbles upon an international money-laundering scheme by the Moscow "mafiya." With the help of U.S. Treasury agent Gabby Scotto, who becomes a solid friend and partner, he tracks down a Russian expatriate gangster who has engineered a scheme to invest organized crime money into Russian businesses. Soon, a hidden government document leads them on a dangerous ride through the underworld from Moscow to Washington, Miami, and Havana. Dinallo resembles Martin Cruz Smith in his stark and realisitic depictions of the cold streets of Moscow and in the Russians' comical reactions to American culture. As narrator, Katkov is sardonic, self-deprecating, and completely believable, and the dialog is fast-paced, amusing, and scintillating. Highly recommended for espionage and adventure readers.
Stacie Browne Chandler, Plymouth P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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