MASKIROVKA - The Russian Science of Deception

<p><strong>It may have changed its name but the KGB is up to its old tricks only this time with a new puppet-the American Public! </strong></p><p>Steve Nguyen a newly minted homicide detective with the San Francisco Police Department is cut loose on his first solo case-the mysterious death of a young accountant with a public-interest foundation. Everything points to natural causes but Nguyen to the dismay of his chief isn't ready to close the book. With no motive means or opportunity the anxiety-racked law school dropout starts digging anyway. </p><p>Nguyen's tortuous investigation leads through the halls of Congress the gritty oil fields of the Siberian tundra stately Black Sea palaces of the petro-czars and the mean streets of San Francisco. Aided by his misfit cousins Tina Ngo an attorney with a special practice in feral law and Tommy Tran a computer geek straddling the tightrope of legality Nguyen unearths a malevolent alliance among a billionaire Russian oligarch a duplicitous foundation director and a renowned philanthropist hell-bent on tightening Russia's monopoly on the European energy market by choking-off American exports. If it means corrupting the American electoral system through illegal campaign contributions political blackmail and a few dead bodies so be it. </p><p>In this dark world of Russian deception Nguyen unravels a complex tangle of illegal offshore accounts shell corporations and front companies all while ducking the crosshairs of the SVR's most skilled assassins. He may solve a murder and maybe save a republic. </p>