The Fall of Moscow Station is the first of the Stryker/Burke series by Mark Henshaw I've read, so I'm out of sequence already. I plan to cycle through the earlier episodes, but I had a few fundamental problems with this novel. I'll get into those later.

Henshaw is a former CIA analyst. As usual with thrillers written by ex-spies, the best part for me is the almost chess-like thinking of several moves ahead, as well as the thought process that goes into interpreting the actions of counterparts on the opposing team. Henshaw does nicely in that regard, and there are numerous opportunities since the action in non-stop. The plot is pretty intricate: a disgruntled CIA spy decides to defect to the Russians at their embassy in Germany. An effort to grab him back before he burns all of the CIA's Russian assets is undertaken by the CIA, and it escalates from there.

The writing is fairly pedestrian. Henshaw is no John LeCarre, Robert Littell, or even Charles Cumming, but he gets the job done. The dialogue is decent and believable, and the plot is action-packed but, in the end, a bit unbelievable. Here are a examples why (SPOILER ALERT!!!!):
- CIA's Kara Stryker talks her way into the Russian embassy and is actually allowed to have a private conversation with the spy who defected. I doubt that would ever happen.
- During her conversation with the defector, she agrees to a plan to communicate his demands to the president of the US and also agrees to a method on how to signal the result of her conversation to the defector. Of course, the Russians electronically overheard the entire conversation. Why 2 experienced CIA employees thought they could have a private conversation in what is probably one of the most electronically engaged facilities in the world is just mind boggling.
- The conclusion is just not very realistic. The good guys win, of course, but how it happened just doesn't pass the smell test.

All in all, a decent read if you look past the obvious issues. ( )

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I felt that a few of the elements didn't fit together well. The book is different from the previous two in that we the story is more tightly focused on one character. I guess my biggest complaints would be that a few elements seemed sort of ... um ... really? and the last quarter of the book felt a bit rushed. ( )

This third book in author Mark Henshaw's The Red Cell series, is a heart-pounding, suspense-filled story of Russian & American covert ops at their finest. When greed tantalizes, corruption often results. This yarn is well spun given Henshaw's imaginative premise and his well honed craft of fine writing. The book's heroine, agent Kyra Stryker, is bold, audacious and brilliant in her role. However, running a solo operation in a foreign country, the language of which you do not know, might not be the brightest career move. Yet, so much hung in the balance. This is fast-paced all the way to the very end leaving the reader with lingering thoughts on the nature of the balance of power and effecting equilibrium in the world.

I am grateful to publisher Touchstone and Goodreads First Reads for having provided a free copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone. ( )