Vodka Neat: A Faith Zanetti Thriller

British journalist Blundy’s brilliant thriller provides sharp insights into the new Russia vs. the old Soviet Union. Sixteen years after reporter Faith Zanetti left Russia, she returns to Moscow as a correspondent for a London newspaper only to be charged with a double murder her shady estranged husband, Dimitri Sakhnov, confessed to committing back in 1989. Faith learns Dimitri has recanted, fingering her as the killer. But when Faith visits the psychiatric prison where Dimitri is incarcerated, she discovers “Dimitri” is actually Adrian Smith, an old American friend gone Russian whom Dimitri has framed. While Adrian, who soon dies under suspicious circumstances, tells Faith Dimitri is dead, Faith suspects otherwise, and with the help of her boyfriend, a New Yorker staff writer on assignment in Russia, she gets on Dimitri’s trail. This bracing portrait of an alcoholic, chain-smoking career woman struggling to recover her balance will leave American readers eager for more of Faith Zanetti’s adventures. (May)