Lydbøker

It is the third summer of perestroika. Barley Blair, London publisher, receives a smuggled document from Moscow. Blair, jazz-loving, drink-marinated, dishevelled, is hardly to the taste of the spymasters, yet he has to be used ¿ sent to the Soviet Union to make contact. Katya, the Moscow intermediary, is beautiful, thoughtful, equally sceptical of all state ideology.Together, as the safe clichés of hostility disintegrate, they may represent the future ¿ an idea that is anathema to the entrenched espionage professionals on both sides.

Jockey Kelly Hughes and trainer Dexter Cranfield had been barred from racing ¿ a devastating event for them both. The charge at the secret enquiry? Throwing a race for personal profit. It was a vicious frame-up and, worse, they had nowhere to turn to clear their names. Still Hughes refused to take the phony verdict lying down ¿ even though his quest to clear his name might have him lying down permanently.