The Eighth Sister, by Robert Dugoni

Robert Dugoni, who has written popular legal thrillers, mysteries, and other fiction, cuts his teeth on the spy genre in The Eighth Sister.  Charles Jenkins has been enjoying a quiet life on his farm, running a private security firm and raising his young family.  But then his old station chief, from the days decades earlier when Jenkins worked for the CIA in Mexico City, comes calling.

Jenkins, his former boss says, is uniquely situated for a mission to Moscow.  He's fluent in Russian, and his security firm does business in Moscow.  Desperate for funds for his struggling company, Jenkins agrees to go.  The mission: to aid a group of Russian women who have been spying for the US for decades, since the days of the USSR.  Of course, things don't always work out so well.  When his cover is blown, Jenkins has to rely on a Russian CIA informer to get out of the country.  Once back in the US, he learns that his old station chief may not have been working for the CIA after all, and Jenkins is accused of selling US secrets.

The best part of the book is the sequence with Paulina, the woman who comes to Jenkins's aid in Russia.  Their flight from Moscow and Jenkins's ultimate escape is gripping.  Then the legal case and courtroom drama back in the US brings the betrayals and back stories together.  This is a fun read, and Dugoni is on his way to being worthy of a spot on the bookshelf next to Robert Ludlum and John LeCarrè.