Moscow X, McCloskey - B+

                      Moscow X is the name of a unit at Langley whose job it is to initiate non-traditional operations against the Russians. Artemis is in charge. She opens an email from Sia, a London lawyer who happens to be an officer under non official cover (NOC). Sia has been approached by, Anna, a highly placed Russian, whose father is an FSB general and whose husband Vadim is Putin's bagman. Anna knows that Sia's law firm washes money for oligarchs and Anna is trying to recapture funds taken from her father. Anna's dad is on the outs with the Kremlin and is soon under arrest. Because Anna and Vadim own a horse farm, Artemis comes up with a plan to try to compromise them at the Mexican ranch of a foreign national officer (FNO). So Sia and Max, the owner of the ranch, entertain the Russian couple. Anna realizes that she is dealing with professional operatives. Anna is so discouraged by the brutality of her father's treatment that she wants CIA help to embarrass those roughing up her dad. The CIA cooperates, but has plans to fool the intelligence agencies into believing that a number of Putin's cronies are plotting against him. The operation is under way when the FSB comes very close to killing/capturing Sia and Max, who manage to escape. Anna is imprisoned but eventually released, and most importantly, the operation convinces Putin that there is a plot against him and he takes the necessary steps to rectify the sins of the oligarchs. I'm not sure this is a classic, but I really enjoyed it. It's long and has quite a few twists and turns. Reading this, I thought back to some of LeCarre's earlier novels and realized that we've come so, so far from the great old stories. Today's are just as intriguing, but they're completely driven by the massive technological changes we've seen over the decades.