Earlier this year I read and reviewed “Damascus Station” by former CIA officer David McCloskey. I thought it a competent thriller and enjoyed it. I looked forward to reading the second book in the series, “Moscow X”, when it would be published. Well, it’s now been published, I’ve read it and I didn’t like it. First of all, it feels like a very long book. My Kindle kept telling me that I had so many more hours left that I nearly gave up. The plot is both convoluted and plodding — not a good combination. There’s lots of violence and by the end, central characters have lost their arms, toes and, in some cases, their lives. The plot, as I understood it, revolves around Russian oligarchs and horse breeding. I’m not entirely sure what the CIA was attempting to do other than stir up trouble in Moscow. In that sense, maybe this makes it a more accurate spy thriller than most. But ‘accurate’ does not mean good, and I struggled to maintain interest in the story until the end.