Alex Dryden Books In Order

Publication Order of Finn/Anna Resnikov Books

Alex Dryden is the pen name used by a British author who has served in the British security services. The author has had diverse first-hand experience with Russia for very many years. He is the author of the critically acclaimed series Anna Resnikov which began publication in 2008 after Red to Black the first novel in the series was published. Red to Black Red To Black kicks off with the story of Anna, once emerging personalities in the SVR, the new name adopted by the feared KGB. Anna is narrating this brilliant story while she is in exile and of course of the radar.

She begins with her meeting the British Second Secretary of the Trade and Investment based in Moscow named Finn. The two develop a relationship, and she also narrates her own life as she is incorporated into an elite political family of Russia and also her special connection with her grandmother- Nana. During this narration, we are exposed to the turbulent and changing political atmosphere of Russia under the rule of Gorbachev, Yeltsin and of course that of Vladimir Putin. We also experience the change of power from the politicians to the stronghold of the KGB and how the Russian mafia and the KGB make a pact with the devil. During the first couple of chapters, Anna describes Finn as the real and the only true love in her life. This starts of the strong but still intense love story between Anna and Finn propels a highly volatile political atmosphere.

The first phase of this brilliant novel ends with a man hunt for a mole suspected to be deep within the ranks of the Soviet power. Then phase two of the novel starts when the KGB confirms to our main character, Anna that there is a mole in the KGB and Finns supervisors denies the existence of such a mole. The novel then shifts to Finn as he goes rogue and starts a dangerous path of finding the truth on his own. He does this while still aware of the risks that could befall him. We also see Finn going alone and leaving trails for Anna to find him.

Meanwhile, Anna joins Finn and continues their mole hunt. The first novel in Anna Resnikov series is a superb one. The most gripping aspect of this book is the fact that both Finn and Anna finally work against their superiors for the sake of life to find the truth. This is a story about what happened in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. It begins in 1999 and takes the reader behind the scenes of Vladimir Putin rise to power and how he has managed to consolidate it. In this novel, you will not find James Bond shenanigans but it is a well-thought story brings forth what might be behind the world financial dealings. Deals organized by Russians in a cunning master plan with a scope that is frightening.

Moscow Sting Moscow Sting is the second novel in Anna Resnikov series. The series features Anna, who worked for SRV the new version of KGB. In this book, Finn, the British spy and the man who fell in love with Anna is brutally killed by a Russian Assassin, and the chief of M16 want revenge for Finn’s murder. Subsequently, he also wants answers that can only be revealed by Finn’s lover-Anna, the former KBG colonel who went rogue for the sake of love and now has vanished into thin air with her child.

Adrian is not the only person desperate to find Anna, Finn had access intelligence confidential information that the KGB are willing to eliminate anyone to protect it and everyone only wants to know what Russia is hiding beneath the veil of political approval. The second novel in the series portrays a new, contemporary Russia ruled by the KGB and led by the all powerful and dictatorial Vladimir Putin.

The book plot is brilliantly done, the ex-KGB colonel is hiding in rural France with her son, and they are under the protection of French intelligence service. The Russians poisoned her husband, a spy for the British after having ‘run’ an operative who was so close to Putin. Everyone wants to know who the spy was so that they can kill him while the Brits, American and American contractors want to extract vital information from the spy.

The plot is well detailed, and if you are a fan of spy novels, you will love this book. Moscow Sting is a brilliant modern spy novel sprinkled with a crucial understanding of the modern atmosphere of Russia and United States dependence on privatized intelligence companies. The plot is well crafted in tying strong characters to its global events. Anna is a great embodiment of the modern agent, a character who satisfies the need for readers to see characters driven objectives more human than global. Death in Siberia In Death, in Siberia, the Cold War is over.

However, Russia’s ambition still wages on; the West is under threat and Russia has given special access to the underwater Lomonosov Ridge found in the Arctic Ocean- the home to oil storages far greater than that of Saudi Arabia. The United States is focused on claiming a share of the oil riches, and so the CIA send the former KGB operative on a mission to the dangerous wilderness of Norilsk, the stronghold of Russia’s Arctic development and also a floating nuclear station. Anna must disrupt all their plans, but the intelligence reports are that the Russian group is already intending to destroy the power plant. But why could the Russians be risking everything to destroy their country’s resources?

Is the United States trying to force an outcome and still keep their heads off the hook? With the KGB on their pursuit, it is up to Anna Resnikov and the CIA to prevent an attack that could bring down the entire Arctic region and also its oil reserves forever. Anna Resnikov novels are brilliantly written, there are detailed descriptions that make characters come true and also set the mood of the surrounding. Alex Dryden brings his knowledge in security matters and weaves it into a brilliant writing. If you love spy novels, then this series is the one you’ve been missing all through.