The Spy with a Clean Face

Russell Miller has adeptly applied fictional flesh to a factual skeleton in a far-ranging tale of deceit and betrayal. The narrative twists and turns through Latin American and Asian locales as the search for a rogue agent ultimately leads to the Chernobyl dead zone; while the newly independent Ukrainian Government teeters precariously between East and West. Charlie Connelly is an average corporate executive, with three children and a home in the suburbs-as well as almost forgotten ties to the Central Intelligence Agency. He is unexpectedly reminded of this past association when approached by his former recruiter, accompanied by a stunning female agent. Their seemingly innocent request for assistance eventually leads Connelly, Ludlum-like, through the brightly lighted board-rooms and dimly lit backstreets of Maracaibo, Medellin, Tianjin, and Kiev as he becomes inexorably enmeshed in a murky realm of foreign intrigue. Eventually betrayed by the political maneuverings of a besieged intelligence agency, and abandoned by his own company, Charlie finds himself working on a NGO project in recently independent Ukraine during the Orange Revolution. Once there, he is again contacted by the Agency, and tasked to locate and eliminate a defecting American spy before he can conclude the sale to Iran of Ukrainian owned missiles.