Neha Patil (Editor)

Trapped in the USSR

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Language
  
English

Media type
  
Print (Paperback)

Originally published
  
1984

Series
  
Race Against Time

Followed by
  
Journey to Atlantis

3.9/5
Goodreads

Publication date
  
1984

Pages
  
142 pp (paperback)

Author
  
J. J Fortune

Genre
  
Children's literature

Country
  
United States of America

Trapped in the USSR httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumbd

Illustrator
  
Bill Sienkiewicz (map by Giorgetta Bell McRee)

Publisher
  
Dell Publishing (US), Armada (UK)

Similar
  
Race Against Time books, Other books

Trapped in the U.S.S.R. is book 8 of the Race Against Time series written by J. J. Fortune. It is notable for poor characterization, and ludicrous plot involving a teenage boy who has to escape the Russians, but seems more worried that his parents might find out he's away. At one point due to his lack of Russian fluency he has to pretend to be deaf and mute, but keeps talking anyway.

Contents

Plot summary

Richard Duffy promised Stephen an uneventful week when the latter's parents went for a week-long trip to Clearwater, Florida, for business. Reasoning if they were not home, they would not receive emergency phone calls or visitors asking for help, the uncle-nephew duo went out for dinner. Yet barely a block from their residence, they were surrounded by 4 heavy-set men who forced them into a limousine, driven directly to an airport runway and made to board a waiting plane, bypassing all normal customs, immigration and security channels.

They were flown to Estonia, and transferred to a submarine where a past adversary of Richard, Igor Borisov of the KGB, forced Richard to carry out a secret investigation into a plot by Soviet officials in the highest circle. Igor selected Richard because he could trust few people, and one of his own reliable men had been killed recently.

In order to get himself and Stephen safely home, Richard had to agree, and even had to work with the beautiful Natasha Golovina whom Richard had outmanoeuvred in the past in Paris. To make things worse, Stephen had to mention Michelle LeBlanc whom he met in the previous story Pursuit of the Deadly Diamonds, arousing Natasha's jealousy.

Convinced too that the plot Igor was facing was a threat to his own country and the world as a whole, they undertook feverish trips across the USSR, from Leningrad, to Moscow, to Tashkent, Bratsk, and finally, Odessa. Their assignment was to steal vital documents kept by five men identified as being chief conspirators in the plot.

Non-recurring Characters

  • Igor Borisov - General in the KGB, in charge of internal security of the USSR. He was a major when Richard encountered him in the past when Richard salvaged information from a sunken Russian submarine.
  • Natasha Golovina - KGB, Paris Section, one of the few staff trusted by Igor. She was assigned to the same mission, to pose as husband and wife with Richard Duffy.
  • Ivan Plakhovsky - Described as having the appearance of a clever man, high cheekbones, receding hairline and a neat little beard.
  • Grigori Volodkin - Described as expressionless, broad stiff face and hair that stood straight up.
  • Feodor Chuvashkov - Described as having Asian eyes and high cheekbones.
  • Josip Lavrochev - Described as having thin, intense face, with a mane of slicked black hair, almost-handsome with attractive features and exuding confidence.
  • Yuri Donskoi - Described as trying to look professional, carefully trimmed white beard, hearty face, heavy eyeglasses, with eyes suggesting unreliability.
  • Viktor Duvinov - Cover for Richard Duffy for the mission, colonel in the KGB.
  • Stefan Duvinov - Cover for Stephen Lane, supposed to be rendered deaf and dumb after an accident, and brought by Viktor to medical institutes around the USSR for treatment.
  • Olga Zakharovna - Old schoolfriend of Natasha, professor of Literature at a University.
  • Korsky - Captain of a hydrofoil in Odessa.
  • Calvin Fairborne - Commander of US airforce base in Turkey

    • Chapter headings

    1. A Chilly Welcome, Saturday, 7:18 A.M., Baltic Sea
    2. A Long, Long Walk, Friday, 6:47 P.M., New York City
    3. Dark Doings, Saturday, 8:03 A.M., Leningrad
    4. The First Step, Saturday, 8:52 A.M., Leningrad
    5. Breaking and Entering, Saturday, 9:27 A.M., Leningrad
    6. The Puzzle Begins, Saturday, 10:36 A.M., Leningrad
    7. In the Shadow of the Kremlin, Saturday, 1:05 P.M., Moscow
    8. A House in the Country, Saturday, 11:21 P.M., Moscow
    9. Go East, Young Man, Sunday, 1:03 A.M., Moscow
    10. Afternoon of the Knife, Sunday, 3:53 P.M., Tashkent
    11. Off to Siberia, Sunday, 4:10 P.M., Tashkent
    12. Trouble in the Taiga, Tuesday, 2:43 A.M., Bratsk
    13. Up In Smoke, Tuesday, 6:26 A.M., Bratsk
    14. The Trans-Siberian Railroad, Tuesday, 7:13 A.M., Siberia
    15. Going Crazy, Thursday, 8:09 A.M., Odessa
    16. Countdown to Disaster, Thursday, 8:17 P.M., Odessa
    17. The Deep Black Sea, Thursday, 11:31 P.M., Odessa
    18. Coming Home — A Little Late, Friday, 9:54 A.M., Turkey

    References

    Trapped in the USSR Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA