A royally connected candidate is going for gold at the Moscow Olympic Games. But a mysterious 'Aloysha' has threatened to turn it into an international incident.

Ex-steeplechaser Randall Drew knows more about horses than Russians - and more about farming than spying. Yet he still finds himself Moscow-bound, armed only with a vague brief and an invisible opposition.

It's time for a winter crash course in Soviet diplomacy . . .

'Trial Run is entirely enjoyable' New York Times