Tripping the Ballerina

Book excerpt: Leningrad, July 1980. As the USSR gets bogged down in its invasion of Afghanistan, the KGB sees an opportunity to crack down on its opponents. Quiet, industrious scientist Mels Katz seems perfectly suited for the job--perfectly expendable, that is. But when Katz refuses to present a bogus technical paper at a conference just prior to the Moscow Olympics, the KGB´s vengeance will send him on a riverboat journey into the heart of darkness of the Soviet Union. Unwittingly involved in a plot to "Trip the Ballerina," lead by a mysterious KGB general, Katz tracks the author of the technical paper to the Caucasus. With no allies except an Armenian crime boss and the Uzbeki dancer who loves him, Mels must rescue his daughter from KGB headquarters. Rebuffed by the U.S. Consulate, whom he finds to be involved in the scheme, his only chance of escape is if he can swap identities with a young conscript en route to Kandahar.