Crowe's Bait

The circumstances of the April 26, 1986, explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine raises questions about its classification as "accidental."

This is quickly clarified when one of the plants' lead operators leaves the country with a "More to come" message.

Ed Crowe, part-time travel agent and part-time consultant with Britain's secret intelligence service (MI6), is on his way from Oakville, Canada, to England. His plans to serve as best man for his friends' wedding are interrupted by a call from Lord Stonebridge, head of MI6.

Ed and his fellow operatives must find the man responsible for the explosion; the man who knows when the next nuclear disaster will occur. He is from Chechnya, a Soviet republic that has been historically repressed by Russia.

Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev has asked MI6 to find the man before rogue members of the KGB find him in order to destabilize Gorbachev and his reforms.

The search leads to Istanbul, Turkey; a brief Mediterranean cruise; and KGB agents in Canada.

Personal relationships are complicated when Ed's ex-girlfriend is asked to work with him along with Carolyn Andrews, daughter of the head of MI6, who Ed is planning to ask for her hand in marriage following their friend's wedding.