Alias Emma by Ava Glass (2022)
Honestly and truly, I could rave about "Alias Emma" all day. It's the kind of book I'm always on the hunt for - a non-stop thrill ride that keeps you so glued to it that you literally can't stop furious page-turning until it's done. And for any action and spy story fan who groans at the thought of having wait years and years until film producers figure out how to make another James Bond movie, here's the next best thing. I can only hope it's the kickoff to a series, since it functions as an origin story for young Emma Makepeace, a fledgling agent on her majesty's secret service. She's the refugee daughter of a Russian father who turned on his country's brutal regime, spied for the West and paid with his life. So now Emma, ex-military and freshly trained in spycraft, is more than ready to take on any mission that'll help her exact some much desired payback. And that's precisely what's handed to her when she's tasked by "The Agency" (apparently an amalgam of MI5 and MI56) to escort Michael Primalov, a pediatric oncologist, to a safe house. Because his mother's a prominent defector from Russia, that country's brutal, unforgiving GRU assassins have put him on the top of their hit list.......and they've already been able to murder other defecting escapees right on the streets of London. From that point on, this book's off and running at maximum speed. A breathless, suspenseful all night chase ensues, as teams of armed GRU operatives pursue Emma and Michael through almost every London nook and cranny. Even worse for the imperiled duo,, the Russians have hacked into the city's vast CCTV system - so now they've got eyes on their targets everywhere, rendering the city a virtual no-man's land for a desperate but still resourceful Emma. There's no way I could even stop reading this until all the fights, chases, hairbreadth escapes and twists played out to the very end..........and if "Alias Emma' is in fact the start of a series, I really wish the next one would come out.......well, how about yesterday? For anyone who can't get enough of action-packed espionage heroics (especially directed against the rogue, terrorist state of today's Russia), this one's a 5 star (*****) up-all-night treasure, an all-out BQ FIND OF FINDS. | ||
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