The Poet's Game, Vidich - B+

                     This is the seventh novel by the former CIA agent, and it is set in 2018. Alex Matthews has retired from the agency, but is asked by the director to meet with an agent Matthews had recruited, but who hasn't been heard from in a decade. Now an international venture capitalist who frequently travels to Moscow, Matthews asks 'why' and is told his former agent, Byron, has 'kompromat' on the president. When he meets Byron, he is told that the quid for the kompromat quo is somehow getting Byron out of Russia. The same day, the FSB tells Matthew that if he gives up Byron, they'll pull the phony tax charge against his business.  Matthews flies home and Moscow issues an arrest warrant for him as he liquidates his Russian assets. He returns to Moscow under an assumed name with the false papers necessary to extract Byron. In a dazzling finish with twists, turns, and deceptions, Matthews eventually returns home.