Book Log 2010 #51: Beautiful Assassin by Michael White

A Russian sniper who kills to avenge those she's lost to the Nazis is plucked off the front lines and put into the murky world of espionage in this wartime thriller.

The assassin (who I keep picturing as Rachel Weisz in Enemy at the Gates) possesses a combination of physical beauty, Nazi-killing acumen, and devotion to the cause to make her a perfect propaganda tool, which the Soviet state exploits first by using her as a rallying figure for the Red Army, and secondly by sending her to a student conference in the US with an eye towards using her to spy on various figures, most notably Eleanor Roosevelt. Confusing matters is a burgeoning romance with the Air Force interpreter assigned to her.

I like that the book keeps the main character's spy work at a fairly appropriate level. While she has to deliver a couple of envelopes, and is pressured greatly to provide information gleaned from (and about) the First Lady, she's never put into the deep end of the pool, which many books in this genre would do to artificially build tension. It's not a perfect book - the main character seems almost clinically dense regarding espionage - it does provide an interesting glimpse into how wartime allies were already looking ahead to their inevitable clash, and how each willingly used individual lives to further national goals.