Robert Ludlum's The Moscow Vector: A Covert-One Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Robert Ludlum (Author), (Author) "Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan "Jon" Smith, M.D., paused in the shadowed arch of the ancient Gothic tower at the eastern end of the Charles Bridge..." (more)
Key Phrases: nodded coolly, weapons scientist, Fiona Devin, Wulf Renke, Jon Smith (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One might think that time would have taken its toll on the crusty, disgruntled Soviet dinosaurs who want to return Russia to its Communist glory days, but evidently not. Larkin, helming Ludlum's Covert One series, has dreamed up a new bunch of hard-liners, armed with HYDRA, a designer poison that singles out and kills victims based on DNA. With HYDRA having dispatched numerous U.S. and allied intelligence agents, Russian President Viktor Dudarev is poised to launch Operation ZHUKOV, a takeover strike against Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and half of Ukraine. Leading a covert investigation of HYDRA is series regular Lt. Col. Jonathan Smith, U.S. Army molecular biologist and chief operative of supersecret spy agency Covert One. There's nothing particularly new—HYDRA is an unwieldy weapon (it must be tailor-made for each victim), and super-sleuth Jon spends far too much time ferreting out information that readers have known for hundreds of pages. The threat of a Russian takeover of lost territory may not raise the temperature high enough, and various subplots, such as an attempted assassination of the U.S. president, don't amount to much. There are plenty of excellent shoot-outs, but Larkin's last outing, The Lazarus Vendetta, was far more cutting edge. (On sale Aug. 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Although Larkin is the actual author of this novel, "Robert Ludlum" novels now include 26 books, the latter ones, of course, written after his death but in the strong tradition of the novels he wrote himself. This new one falls in the Covert-One Novel series, now numbering six; Larkin also wrote The Lazarus Vendetta (2004), also part of this series. Moscow is the setting, and Larkin occasionally uses Russian expressions to remind readers of the locale. But like other tales of espionage, the action spans the globe, here including Prague; several cities in the Ukraine; other Russian cities; Washington, D.C.; Baghdad; Dresden; and Berlin. The plot concerns a biological weapon called HYDRA, "the ultimate, precision-guided silent killer." Months of preparation have gone into selecting targets for the first HYDRA variants and then finding ways to deliver them undetected to the chosen victims. Russia's aim is to kill America's most competent intelligence analysts. There's plenty of action here and some suspense, but don't the good guys always prevail in the end? George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312990715
• ISBN-13: 978-0312990718
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,169 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An ingenious and frightening continuation to the Covert-One series, August 2, 2005

By	Bookreporter.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Ludlum's The Moscow Vector: A Covert-One Novel (Paperback)

Robert Ludlum lives. There were those who believed that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ludlum and other spy craft practitioners would quietly fade away, having no credible villain to frame a novel around. Such true believers forgot that evil always exists; it merely takes different forms. Ludlum's work continued apace and --- as is amply evident by THE MOSCOW VECTOR and its predecessors --- even survived his passing, with the able assistance of Patrick Larkin.

THE MOSCOW VECTOR is the latest of the Covert-One novels. Covert-One arose from a concept created by Ludlum shortly before his death. It is a secret organization answering only to the President of the United States, a group that quietly goes about the business of protecting the government and the documents and principles upon which it is built while operating outside of it. THE MOSCOW VECTOR arguably is the best volume in the series to date, and not because of the principals involved, who include the reliably competent Dr. Jon Smith and the quietly enchanting but dangerous Fiona Devlin. Nor is the startle factor of this tale provided by Wulf Renke, the mad scientist who is the method by which Victor Dudarev, the President of Russia, intends to bring about the reinstitution of the Soviet Union with the involuntary involvement of the former member states.

Rather, the real star of THE MOSCOW VECTOR is the ingeniously dangerous weapon that Dudarev is using to put his plan into motion. It is a bio-weapon (not a virus) tailored to strike a particular individual's DNA, destroying silently and insidiously from within, while leaving no trace of its passage. It's a brilliant concept that's frightening in its potential. The targets of this lethal instrument are U.S. intelligence analysts, the duly-elected leaders of the former Soviet satellites --- and a certain leader of the free world who sits in the highest office of the U.S. government. Dudarev's plan is to remove everyone capable of stopping his invasion before it takes place.

Smith, Devlin, and a couple of surprising but familiar assistants are in a race against time, not only to prevent Dudarev from hatching his plot, but also to stop the implementation of the bio-weapon as it moves, slowly but quietly, into place in the White House.

Larkin's always competent and reliable storytelling abilities are augmented here by an ingenious weapons concept that is all the more frightening because of its believability. Those who have never sampled a Covert-One novel will find THE MOSCOW VECTOR an excellent place to begin, as Larkin brings Ludlum's Cold War villains full circle with a 21st century weapon to boot. Recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delivered much more than I was expecting, September 18, 2006

By	N. Burkart (Wailuku, HI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Robert Ludlum's The Moscow Vector : A Covert-One Novel (A Covert-One Novel) (Paperback)

I was dubious when a friend passed this novel on to me. Tom Clancy's "Op Center" series was a big disappointment, and I figured that the "Covert One" series would be the same - an effort to sell inferior novels written by second rate authors by cashing in on a "big name" author on the cover who probably did no more than provide an outline and possibly some technical advice to the writer who actually did the grunt work. What a surprise - I was hooked from page one and the action never let up. In fact, I was motivated to order the rest of the "Covert One" books after finishing this one. Hopefully, the rest of them will live up to the standard of "The Moscow Vector".

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Medical Mystery, August 7, 2005

By	Christine Lockwitz (Lake Orion, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Robert Ludlum's The Moscow Vector: A Covert-One Novel (Paperback)

The Moscow Vector: A Covert One Novel is an excellent book: part detective story and part medical mystery, with lots of twists and turns. The characters are well-developed, and the ending is well-done. I enjoyed it immensely, and will continue to read Robert Ludlum's books.