Soviet, American, Israeli, and French military and defense strategists race against the clock to prevent the detonation of a stolen nuclear weapon in Meslin’s thriller.

On August 27, 1991, a vicious battle erupts in the city of Tiraspol in Transnistria, an eastern region in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldavia. It’s the latest in a series of clashes between ethnically Romanian Moldavian nationalists and Russia-backed Transnistrian separatists seeking independence. This particular skirmish is notably different than past ones—both sides are heavily armed with military-grade weapons, and more casualties are reported, including more than 200 civilians. Even more importantly, a secure armory in Tiraspol is breached and a nuclear weapon is stolen. In an anonymous phone call to Aleksandr Miyokan, the defense attache in the USSR’s embassy in Paris, it’s revealed that the Moldavian Democratic Front is behind the theft. The MDF has a list of demands: Moldavian sovereignty, the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Moldavia, an end to Russian support of the Transnistrian separatists, and a formalized union with Romania. Failure to meet these demands by September 2nd, the caller says, will result in the nuclear weapon being detonated in Paris. Under the strain of this looming deadline, military tacticians, defense strategists, and politicians from around the world—notably KGB officer Sergei Rostov, retired Mossad Deputy Director Dov Ma’alat, and Nuclear Emergency Search Team leader Peter Grantham—must find the stolen weapon and prevent nuclear catastrophe. Meslin’s debut novel is an action-packed thriller featuring a robust cast of characters contending with sky-high stakes. The author’s background in defense and national security shines through in his detailed descriptions of West Wing operations, global affairs, and weapons. (“…the Mercedes disappeared behind a fireball as an armor-piercing projectile easily penetrated the right rear passenger door one-tenth of a second before detonating.”) While the book is engaging and immersive, the prose is occasionally overly-explanatory and repetitive, and some readers may find that the third-person omniscient narrative approach eliminates some elements of mystery. Additionally, the most prominently featured female character, Maria Colline, feels underdeveloped, even though her role in the plot proves pivotal. Still, the story is plausible and compelling.

An exciting and richly-detailed thriller set just before the fall of the Soviet Union.