The Charm School Yes, this is an old book (1988) and another of Mr. D’s long, detailed stories. It’s very interesting (overlooking the tongue-twisting Russian names is OK) and moves along surprisingly well in spite of all the details. A young American, Greg Fisher, is on a tour of Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc nations in his TransAm, trip and car compliments of Mom and Dad upon completion of his MBA at Yale. He makes it to Moscow, makes a desperate call to the American embassy, and disappears. Greg had gotten off the beaten path on his way to Moscow and happened upon an American POW on the run from The Charm School. Greg relayed what the POW had told him, but shortly thereafter had an unfortunate ‘accident’. Col. Sam Hollis, the American air attaché at the embassy (a DOD guy), and Lisa Rhodes, a journalist with the Foreign Service Office at the embassy, go to pick up Greg’s body to send him home. Once they’re safely back at the embassy, Seth Alevy, the CIA station chief in Moscow, starts to run the show. After a few other undiplomatic activities on their part, Lisa and Sam are kicked out of Russia. But before they leave Moscow, Sam and Seth get more info about The Charm School’s real purpose. Sam becomes suspicious of everyone. The American housekeeping couple at the embassy is the first to be discovered. When their flight from Moscow to Frankfurt is diverted to Minsk, others are suspected of being false Americans. Lisa and Sam’s deaths are faked and they’re taken to The Charm School…for interrogation, torture, death…or all three? Then the already fast-moving story really picks up the pace and it was hard to put the book down. There are suspenseful moments throughout the story to keep your interest. Presumably Mr. D visited Russia in the 80’s or did a ton of research. His detailed descriptions of peasant life paint a bleak picture; the Muscovites are controlled and blasé. The KGB is portrayed as ruthless and brutal. I’m sure glad I was born in America. |