FROM THE COVER:

Every spy has a beginning, and for Colonel Aleksandr Talanov of the KGB, who became America's legendary deep-cover spy, November Echo, that moment occurs one summery night in 1985 on the Costa del Sol, at the height of Cold War tensions between the Americans and Soviets.

As a signatory to the Biological Weapons Treaty of 1972, the United States had already destroyed its stockpiles of weaponized pathogens. The Soviets, however, responded differently to the signing of that treaty. They created a network of eighteen top-secret production facilities spread across Russia. Called Biopreparat, it was the largest biological weapons initiative in the history of mankind. And the West had no idea of its existence.

So when a scientist from the Sverdlovsk weaponized anthrax facility decides to defect, Talanov has the assigned task of bringing him back before he can share Russia's horrific secret with the world.

Talanov tracks down the scientist and his family in Spain. But the scientist and his family are murdered before Talanov can transport them to a waiting Russian freighter. The only survivor is the scientist's teenage daughter -- Noya -- short for Noyabŕ -- "November," in Russian -- and what happens in a single impulsive moment changes the course of Talanov's life by placing him in a desperate race to save Noya from the deadliest and most vicious adversary he will ever encounter.

Colonel Aleksandr Talanov -- the “ice man” -- is married to a woman he wishes he could love. But he can’t, and it's an ugly consequence of his training with the KGB. Even so, no one should have to experience what Talanov experiences: the brutal murder of his wife in front of his eyes.

Wracked with guilt and suspected of plotting her death, Talanov spirals downward on a path of self-destruction. He  should have been killed, not her.  He was the one whose violent past would not leave them alone.  Months tick by and Talanov hits rock bottom on the mean streets of Los Angeles, where he meets a hooker named Larisa, who drugs and robs him.

But in the seedy world of prostitution and human trafficking ruled by the Russian mafia, this hooker made the big mistake of stealing the ice man’s wallet. In it was Talanov’s sole possession of value: his wedding photo. Talanov tracks Larisa down to get that photo because it reminds him of everything that should have been but never was, and never would be because an assassin’s bullet had mistakenly killed his wife.

Or was it a mistake?

The answer lies in Greco’s Game, a chess match played in 1619 that is famous for its Queen sacrifice and checkmate in only eight moves. In an unusual alliance, Talanov and Larisa team up to begin unraveling the mystery of what Talanov’s old KGB chess instructor regarded as the most brilliant example of how to trap and kill an opponent.

The question is: who was the target?

   PRAISE FOR GRECO'S GAME 

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       •   Sneak Peeks
             1. The Set-Up
             2. The Fight
             3. Floating
             4. Escape
             5. The Human Shield
             6. Excerpt: Chapter 1
             7. The Shirt
             8. Slam-D