I enjoyed parts of this book, though I found it to be overly long and at times the writing was very dense. Anna is a Russian spy who's working for a bank in an undercover op. Her husband and her own a farm where they raise horses, thoroughbreds. On the CIA side there is Sia (don't call her Hortensia her real first name!), and Max a Mexican national who's family has worked for the CIA for many years, he also owns a farm that breeds and sells thoroughbreds. Proctor, a CIA handler, arranges for Anna and her hubby to visit the Mexican horse farm to look at and maybe buy a horse, one that has a very good pedigree. That leads to an invitation to Sia and Max (not a couple but playing one) to come visit their horse farm in Russia which of course they do. Things go sideways from there and there is a lot of trying to arrange for Sia and Max to get out of Russia safely. This story does go on, and contains some violence towards women (and men), and although I found parts of this story to be engaging, overall I found it was very slow. I will look for the next book for this author, he does have talent. Thanks to #Netgalley and #WW Horton and CO. for the ARC.

David McCloskey writes like a former CIA desk officer who worked for McKinsey. Wait a minute, he is a former CIA desk officer who worked for McKenzie and Company. I really wanted to like this book but it proves again that not everyone is John le Carre or Charles Cumming or AlanFurst . Not everyone who’s been in the business and decides to write a book about spies, tradecraft, and the thrill of espionage is successful, but this book is well below the average failure.

Lawyer Sia Fox was assigned the task of helping Vassily Gusev, an associate of Putin, to hide the money that he has smuggled out of Russia through a series of business transactions. Several weeks later she is contacted by Anna Agapov, the daughter of Gusev’s rival. She would like Sia to represent her own interests in financial dealings. Sia’s position is a cover for her CIA activities, while Anna is a member of Russian Intelligence. It is a spy vs spy situation where Sia would like to recruit Anna, while Anna is looking to force Sia to help her against Gusev. Anna’s husband Vadim is one of Putin’s bankers and Moscow X, a secret department within the CIA, would love to gain access to his records.

This is David McCloskey’s follow up to the excellent Damascus Station and he has once again written a page-turner. He takes you through the planning and training for an operation that becomes a game of cat and mouse. Vadim is the owner of a horse farm and Max Castillo, a Mexican breeder, is enlisted to draw him in. Sia poses as his girlfriend to assess the possibility of enlisting Anna. When they are invited to Russia, Sia is caught in a set-up to force her to work with Anna. Things turn very quickly when Gusev arranges the arrest of Anna’s father. While McCloskey spends much of the beginning developing his characters and providing their backstories, the action takes off once Sia and Max arrive in Russia. This is a spy thriller that allows you to become fully invested in the characters and leaves you hoping for their return in the future. It is highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Co. for providing this book for my review.

Wow. An endless game of cat and mouse. Intertwined stories to spies on both side. Who is hunting whom, who is running whom? Absolutely thrilling. David does an amazing job bringing the reader to Russia/USA conflict today, that read as an old timey Cold War spy thriller.

Character development is spectacular, and it leaves you wanting to learn more. Will there be a sequel to this novel?

Many spy novels omit the burdens that bureaucrats can place on their operations, but in Moscow X those burdens are there for all to see. Realistic? Probably. But they did interrupt the action of the novel. Moscow X is very entertaining but rather long. Too much detail slows its pace. I stuck with it, though, and would definitely read the author's next book.
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Following the success of his debut, Damascus Station, which happens to be one of the best debut spy novels written, David McCloskey had a lot to live up to. Not only is Moscow X a worthy follow-up, it proves McCloskey is not just a one-hit wonder nor just a pretty face. The CIA believes they have a way to get to Putin’s private banker– through the man’s wife, Anna. She is stunning, smart and absolutely hates her husband. Seems like a solid plan. But there’s a lot more to Anna. A dangerous game of cat-and-mouse ensues with dire consequences not only for the cats and mice, but holds worldwide ramifications.

Shit, Moscow X is good. Real good. Recency bias aside, Damascus Station is in my top three spy novels written. Moscow X is probably top ten. Who does that? Daniel Silva aside, no one.

If you are looking for a read that flies out of the gate, Moscow X isn’t it. It is a cat-and-mouse game of the highest order. McCloskey uses the first ~30% to set his table just right. When he arrives at that point, Moscow X takes off and there is no looking back.

McCloskey knows the intelligence arena as well as anyone today but he is head-and-shoulders above most on character development, their backstories and how he employs said characters. The “bad” guys are typically smart, devious, and dastardly. The “good” guys are where he strays from our perception of what intelligence assets “should” be. Characters who would look more at home at an AA or Sex Anonymous meeting rather than at Langley. McCloskey’s talent at putting unlikely people in unlikely organizations and/or in extraordinary circumstances is the secret sauce.

It’s not fair to the rest of us mortals to be so good at something from the start. I also saw where McCloskey said he had a dickens of a time with Moscow X. Which doesn’t help my self-esteem because you would never know it if he hadn’t said it. I mean, who does that? Apparently David McCloskey. I don’t have to say it but Moscow X gets my highest recommendation.

Thank you to W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of Moscow X!

Very gripping spy vs spy thriller between CIA operatives and their associates and Russian oligarchs who are in charge of Russia’s (and Putin’s) fortunes. Much geography is covered from Mexico to the UK, to Russia. and its northern neighbors, and the ins and outs of the tactics of espionage are fascinating. Seems very realistic!

Thanks to Net Galley for the early read. This is one of those books that pushes aside the so-called sophomore slump stigma. But be warned, it is not a fast read. The narrative takes a while to develop, sprinkled with interesting and complex characters. But once it takes off, it’s spy gold that only a seasoned and experienced author could produce. Fans of Damascus Station will not be disappointed in Moscow X. Can’t wait for book 3.

This is a fast paced, espionage novel full of fascinating characters. I have not read David McCloskey's other novel but it is now on the top of my TBR list. I loved the strong female characters, the plot was as intriguing as it was captivating. I literally could not put this down. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for an advanced reader copy.

An instant contender for the best thriller of 2023! Moscow X is phenomenal and enters the pantheon of all-time great USA/Russia espionage novels, joining the likes of DeMille’s The Charm School, Matthew’s Red Sparrow and Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October. David McCloskey has crafted a remarkable story brimming with intrigue and suspense that will leave you completely spent and astounded.

Sia Fox is a lawyer for a London law firm that specializes in hiding dirty money for the ultra-wealthy. Max Castillo runs the family business breeding racehorses in Mexico. They are also CIA officers in the middle of a daring operation designed by the CIA’s Moscow X division leader Artemis Proctor to sow chaos in Russia. Their mission is to recruit Vadim, one of Putin’s moneymen, and his wife Anna to get access and information on the Russian leader’s finances. But Anna is a SVR agent and is simultaneously trying to recruit Sia as part of a private operation to find where Putin’s right-hand man, a ruthless man everyone calls Goose, has secreted away hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from Anna’s father. The big question is - who is running who? The game is afoot. No one can be trusted and with the prospect of being tortured and killed in a Russian prison a very real possibility for all involved, is it worth winning the game if the cost is your life?

Reading Moscow X is a full body experience. You sweat, shake, yell and deal with growing paranoia alongside the characters as the ever-increasing danger takes shape and the inevitability of what is going to happen next reveals itself with you powerless to alter the outcome. That’s not to say it’s predictable, which it most certainly is not. There are enough twists and proceedings you don’t expect that will leave you feeling as if you were run over by a truck. Furthermore, the storytelling is immaculate, the characters are perfectly constructed, and the plot is so realistic and audacious that it’ll leave you shell-shocked as you turn the pages. It’s a brilliant piece of writing that you won’t be able to easily shake after completion.

Fans of dark, gritty, intense spy novels will fall in love with Moscow X. It’s got all the hallmarks of classic espionage stories with a timeless feel that would work equally well in today’s world or if it had been published during the height of the cold war. And with cinematic storytelling, it’s easy to picture this on the silver screen one day. It’s something else! David McCloskey strikes gold with this book. Do not miss it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC and provide a review.

The debut novel, Damascus Station, by this author was so good that I wondered if he would suffer a sophomore slump. Quite frankly, there was nothing to worry about as I absolutely loved this novel and just couldn't put it down. There are quite a few characters, but I found myself becoming completely engrossed in the story. I feel that we Americans do not have a good grasp of what life must be like for Russians, even those in higher positions within the government, and this made me feel like I could understand them a little better. Anyways, I found this to be one of the better espionage novels that believably wove the various different and complex alliances that are a daily part of fascist Russian life. I wonder if there is any chance we will see these characters in a follow up novel as I became totally invested in them. Definitely a page turner that should be picked up. 5-stars!!!!

The pressure to follow-up a well received debut novel with an equally good, if not better, second must be excruciating. Jason Matthews, a CIA lifer turned spy novelist, wrote some of the best tradecraft I’ve read in Red Sparrow, only to continue with two subsequent books that were a bit of a letdown when compared with his first.
That’s not the case with Moscow X, David McCloskey’s newest due out in October. Those who haven’t read Damascus Station should heed the advice of many Spybrarian’s and add it to the top of the TBR file. Moscow X is just as good.

This is a stand-alone set in present day, and features the attempted recruitment of Putin’s money man by Max and Sia, who pose as a couple to entice the banker Vadim and his wife Anna, a Russian intelligence officer unbeknownst to them. Russia has returned as the new in-vogue bad guy after the War on Terror grew thin, and I can understand how readers may be tired of Putin and his escapades by now. But McCloskey writes about the infighting and internal politics well, without the characters becoming caricatures. Everything here is grounded in reality, and he spins his tale of espionage with aplomb. I enjoyed all of the characters, and found them to be authentic.

Mick Herron’s The Secret Hours has been the best book I’ve read this year, and one I recommend to read as soon as it’s released; you won’t go wrong by following that up with Moscow X.

David McCloskey paints a stylish and gritty depiction of espionage in the modern era running on disinformation, coercion, and brutal wanton acts taking place behind the scenes as much as out in the open. If you enjoyed Jason Matthews’ Red Sparrow series, then you’re undoubtedly going to devour Moscow X.

After running amok of Russian operatives in Tajisktan, the CIA Station Chief of Dushanbe hatches a daring plot to deal a devastating blow against the Russian President. Pulling CIA officers Sia and Max into a dangerous mission of recruiting Putin’s moneyman. There, they’re introduced to the moneyman’s wife and what was already quite difficult becomes even more dastardly daunting as Anna seems to be on a mission of her own. With conflicting and volatile allegiances, taut wire-walk of undercover work, and nerve-wrecking mind games, Moscow X is one of the most intense and authentic spy thrillers that muddle the waters so much that you’d think twice before this fiction at all.

Whether it’s money laundering, dirty politics, gut-wrenching consequences of shadowy espionage, or horse racing, every element in this thriller is laced with concentrated doses of realism that translates into sheer excitement for readers who enjoy learning about the world is more than how they’d like it to be. McCloskey paints his characters with a flawed brush that exhibits their vulnerabilities in unsettling colors and later turned into strengths for them to fight their way out of the most dangerous situations. It’s perhaps because of this reason that we can’t fully put our trust in the characters, wanting to believe in their inane goodness but wary of the cold calculated nature of spies that darkly appeals to fans of cerebral spy thrillers. In the midst of ideological warfare, McCloskey sows just enough seeds for quiet contemplation that ultimately it boils down to the individuals.

With paranoia plaguing every move the characters make, the narrative keeps the flow riveting and enjoyable even during the slower moments that are indeed important to advance the story. The ending leaves room for a future with these characters and I really hope McCloskey brings them back in the future.

Full review on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/Kashif-Hussain

McCloskey's first thriller was excellent, but I was skeptical that he'd be able to pull of a second of equal appeal, especially when writing about a part of the world (Russia) that he didn't know as well. In fact, he did pull it off. Moscow X is excellent! it's much recommended as a literary thriller with strong plot but also strong plausibility -- and that goes to the author's own background as an analyst for CIA. Periodically i come across a thriller in which the intelligence community is so caricatured and the plot so implausible that it's hard to get engaged. This is the opposite. A terrific read, and it makes me think that McCloskey is the successor to John LeCarre as the master of spy fiction.

Moscow X is an excellent follow up to McCloskey's first novel, Damascus Station. This novel is interesting the entire read, keeps you engaged and hoping for a resolution. I found it enjoyable, believable and wanting more.

David McCloskey is well on his way to becoming the preeminent American spy novelist of our time. Okay, this is only his second book, but that's already abundantly clear. The cliche that some author is 'le Carre for our times' is greatly overused, but in McCloskey's case it just might be merited.

The plot of Moscow X is dense, layered, and complex with shifting points of view that require your full attention. The atmosphere is grey and dripping with menace. The violence, when it comes, is all the more shocking because it comes so seldom, but instead seems always to hover somewhere just out of reach.

I have one serious gripe, but it's not with McCloskey. It's with his publisher. The ebook ARC they provided for Kindle was an embarrassment. It was so littered with lines of pure gibberish, random capitalization, missing capitalization, run together paragraphs, missing paragraphing, and passages rendered in bold for no apparent reason that reading it was difficult and unpleasant.

How is it possible that thousands of self-published authors can upload their books to Amazon with perfect formatting using cheap, readily available off-the-shelf software, but a major publisher distributes an ARC with the formatting so badly botched up that it is difficult to read? Didn't they even bother to review the version of the ARC they distributed? Mr. McCloskey deserves far greater respect than this kind of careless, half-assed effort from his publisher suggests he is getting.