Frederick Forsyth · 1979 · thriller

Frederick Forsyth's 1979 thriller. A ruined Soviet harvest brings the Kremlin to the brink of war, and a secret grain deal with Washington is the only way back. Then Ukrainian partisans seize the supertanker Freya in the North Sea, threatening to spill a million tons of crude - and every leader involved is left choosing between two evils.

1. 1
   Moscow

   In the Kremlin, a catastrophic harvest failure leaves the Politburo facing famine or war, and the moderates gamble everything on a secret grain agreement with Washington that the hardliners are waiting to destroy.

2. 2
   Kyiv

   In Ukraine, two nationalists strike back at the regime that murdered their families, killing the KGB chief and setting in motion a chain of events that will reach from the steppe to the boardrooms of the West.

3. 3
   The North Sea

   Out in the North Sea, the greatest tanker ever built, the Freya, is boarded and seized by men who threaten to blow her open and drown the coasts of Europe in a million tons of crude unless their comrades are freed.

4. 4
   Rotterdam

   With the Freya lying off the approaches to Rotterdam and the fate of the grain deal, the Kremlin and the sea itself hanging on her, the governments must weigh which of two unbearable choices costs the world least.