Bomb Grade

With the Cold War over, British agent Charlie Muffin, a wild card whose expertise is field work, expects to be fired from the service as a cost cutting measure. To his shock, he is instead sent to Moscow to work for the Russians in a futile attempt to protect the nuclear stockpile from criminals, which has been a cash crop export for years for the Russian Mafia and some members of the government. Upon reaching Moscow, Charlie immediately feels he is living in the roaring twenties in Chicago. The Russian Mafia rule over everything, though there is some dangerous in-fighting among the mob. ...... Charlie's beloved Natalia, a former Communist spy, is also working to clean up corruption within the government. However, before Charlie can pursue any relationship with Natalia, a gang boss steals 250 kilos of weapons-grade plutonium, fifty times greater than the atomic bombs dropped over Japan in World War II. Charlie risks his life by going undercover as an arms dealer in an attempt to recover the stolen nuclear material before it leaves the country for Iraq. ..... BOMB GRADE is one of the best Post Cold War espionage novels released in quite a while. The story line is as fast as Superman's top speed and Moscow comes alive as if the reader is actually there. Charlie is a great character and this novel brings in much of a personal nature, making him seem even more human and less Bondish. Readers who enjoy modern day espionage novels, need to read all of Brian Freemantle's works because no one does the genre with so much justice. .......Harriet Klausner