The Russia Account

Bestseller Coonts uneasily mixes classic thriller action and partisan axe-grinding in his ninth thriller featuring CIA director Jake Grafton and Jake’s stalwart aide, Tommy Carmellini (after 2017’s Armageddon File). When Jake learns that a tiny bank in Estonia has been laundering money, possibly hundreds of billions of dollars, he sends Tommy to investigate. Tommy gets on the trail of Russian multibillionaire Yegan Korjev, a Putin crony, whom Jake approves for rendition to a safe house in Utah for interrogation. The money-laundering operation they uncover ensnares politicians, philanthropists, investors, and criminals in a complex plan to destabilize Western society with “imaginary money.” Coonts is on sure ground when handling assassination attempts, shoot-outs, plane attacks, and investigative field work, and Tommy’s world-weary persona shines, but the long rants against community organizer Saul Alinsky and the evils of liberalism will have less conservative readers skimming the pages for a return to the action. Longtime Coonts fans who share his political leanings will best appreciate this outing. Agent: Deborah C. Grosvenor, Grosvenor Literary. (Aug.)