From the master of the novel of international intrigue comes a riveting new book as timely and unsettling as tomorrow's headlines.

It is summer 1999 in Russia, a country on the threshold of anarchy.An interim president sits powerless in Moscow as his nation is wracked by famine and inflation, crime and corruption, and seething hordes of the unemployed roam the streets.

For the West, Russia is a basket case.But for Igor Komarov, one-time army sergeant who has risen to leadership of the right-wing UPF party, the chaos is made to order.As he waits in the wings for the presidential election of January 2000, his striking voice rings out over the airwaves offering the roiling masses hope at last--not only for law, order, and prosperity, but for restoring the lost greatness of their land.

Who is this man with the golden tongue who is so quickly becoming the promise of a Russia reborn?A document stolen from party headquarters and smuggled to Washington and London sends nightmare chills through those who remember the past, for this Black Manifesto is pure Mein Kampf in a country with frightening parallels to the Germany of the Weimar Republic.

Officially the West can do nothing, but in secret a group of elder statesmen sends the only person who can expose the truth about Komarov into the heart of the inferno.Jason Monk, ex-CIA and "the best damn agent-runner we ever had," had sworn he would never return to Moscow, but one name changes his mind.Colonel Anatoli Grishin, the KGB officer who tortured and murdered four of Monk's agents after they had been betrayed by Aldrich Ames, is now Komarov's head of security.

Monk has a dual mission: to stop Komarov, whatever it takes, and to prepare the way for an icon worthy of the Russian people.But he has a personal mission as well: to settle the final score with Grishin.To do this he must stay alive--and the forces allied against him are ruthless, the time frighteningly short....

弗•福赛斯（Frederick Forsyth, 1938~）

国际政治惊悚小说大师，最受情报界推崇的间谍小说作家。他的小说用新闻写作的手法，以翔实的事实调查作为基础，充满了精确的技术细节。他笔下的人物具有高智商的逻辑思维、训练有素的专业性、坚决彻底的执行力、快速的危机处理和应变能力，堪称项目策划实施的至高典范。

福赛斯本人的经历很传奇：6岁就曾试图搭载美军坦克去诺曼底参战，16岁偷偷单独驾驶双翼飞机翱翔蓝天，19岁成为英国皇家空军史上最年轻的战斗机飞行员。他能讲英、法、德、俄、西班牙等多国语言，曾任英国路透社、BBC记者，深入局势动荡地区采访时，还曾与雇佣兵、职业刺客、军火贩子等打过交道，甚至多次在流弹中死里逃生。近日福赛斯坦言，他曾为英国军情六处工作二十多年，曾在冷战时期，为英国提供比亚法拉的前线报道。

福赛斯对世界各国的政治主张、历史恩怨、宗教矛盾、民俗风情、特种部队、间谍手法、武器装备等了如指掌，他的小说素有“杀手指南”“间谍培训手册”之称。他对国际阴谋和情报的敏感与前瞻性，让美国中情局、英国密情局、以色列摩萨德等情报机构不得不时时关注着他。

2012年2月16日，英国“犯罪小说作家协会”（CWA）授予福赛斯终身成就奖——“钻石匕首奖”(Cartier Diamond Dagger)。