In this absorbing third novel, Meek draws on his experiences as a journalist in Russia and the Ukraine to evoke the isolation and changing fate of Siberia. Set in 1919 in the last days of the revolution, the book opens with a stranger wandering from the frozen tundra into an isolated town dominated by a obscure Christian sect and occupied by marooned Czech troops. With the twists and turns of the plot, Meek has fashioned a fable and literary page-turner.  (SIB52, $14.95)