The Mayakovski Assignment

by Colin Webster

The winds of change are beginning to blow through the musty corridors of power in the Kremlin, heralding the prospect of a thaw in East-West relations during the Cold War and bringing to the Russian people the promise of hope for the future. But for some, freedom is as elusive as ever. Dr Andrei Mayakovski, a top Russian scientist whose successful research is hijacked by the war-mongers of the military, finds himself reluctantly working on a new secret weapon capable of upsetting the fragile balance of power between East and West. Wishing to join his wife Anna, who had successfully sought asylum in the USA a year earlier, failed in his attempt to join her and now the KGB keep him under constant guard, forcing him to work against his will. Western intelligence agencies, fearing the Russians may be close to developing a weapon superior to the American star wars system, desperately need to know its secrets. Patrick Kane, working for British intelligence MI6, is given the job of helping Dr Mayakovski escape to the West. Once inside Russia, and with only the help of Dr Mayakovski’s closest friends, Dmitri Vasyuchenko and his beautiful daughter Irina, he must first gain his trust and then, in a desperate bid for freedom, lead the aging scientist across the vast expanse that is Russia. The KGB, alerted by a security leak in Washington, try to discover what it is the West have planned. When Dr Mayakovski is snatched from right under their noses they begin a desperate race against time to prevent him from leaving the country. Led by young and ambitious Comrade Major Yuri Valuyev, the KGB pursue them across the country. Sensing the opportunity to capture a British intelligence operative, the KGB close in until they have their quarry cornered on the northern coast of Russia where Patrick Kane finally comes face to face with his pursuers in an explosive climax. Will Patrick Kane’s cunning be enough to save them from capture?

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2012

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

So apparently I'm not allowed to just copy and paste my review I wrote for the author into Goodreads because it's only for the author.... Whoops. So I'll just write a short review here and hopefully it'll be enough to convince you to read this book.

This book is good. It's a typical action, spy thriller taking place in communist Russia. There is a lot of action that starts right at the beginning and doesn't let up until the end.

I enjoyed the characters in this book, especially Irina. They are all realistic, relatable, and likable. I enjoyed reading about all of them.

The authors writing style was also very enjoyable. The author keeps the description to a minimum, still allowing the reader to visualize the places/events but not being overbearing.

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars. It's an enjoyable, light spy-read that you will certainly enjoy if you like reading books of that genre already.

That's basically the 500 word review I submitted to the author scaled down to roughly nine sentences.