An intense and engaging edge-of-your-seat thriller, Red London is an uber-realistic espionage tale that feels ripped from the headlines. Alma Katsu leverages her extraordinary national security experience to deliver a spy novel that puts you in the middle of an operation with vital global implications. It’ll have you sweating out every action, every conversation and every move until the final page is turned.
CIA agent Lyndsey Duncan is in London on a new assignment to handle Russian asset and war criminal Dmitri Tarasenko, when MI6 (and an old flame) asks for her help on another case involving Russian Oligarch Mikhail Rotenberg whose home was just attacked. Lyndsey goes undercover to befriend Rotenberg’s wife Emily to find out who might be behind this suspicious attack and what they are after. Entering a den of mistrust, subterfuge and danger, Lyndsey has her hands full successfully completing her mission and not blowing her cover. With time running out and Mikhail in the Kremlin’s crosshairs, Lyndsey will have to go all-in and take necessary but perilous risks to ensure the CIA and MI6 get come out ahead in this battle between geopolitical superpowers.
Crafted with extreme care for details big and small, Red London isn’t about non-stop violence with guns blazing in the streets for 300 pages (though it has its share of heart-pounding action). Rather, this book takes the time to properly set up the operation, to cultivate sources, to conduct proper research, and to establish critical decision points before taking the next step…presumably like a real-life espionage operation. It puts you in the head of an undercover agent, giving a glimpse into the crucial moments and split-second judgment calls they need to make while in stressful situations. And there’s no rulebook or certainty of outcome to guide them. All in all, it’s quite fascinating!
Espionage thriller fans will want to get their hands on this book ASAP upon release. Kudos to Alma Katsu for a stellar story that is captivating, exciting and mentally stimulating from start to finish.
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