Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Traitor by Ava Glass Series: Alias Emma #2
Published by Ballantine on September 19, 2023
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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When an MI6 operative is discovered murdered in his London apartment - killed with a nerve agent, his body folded inside a locked suitcase - fellow spy Emma Makepeace knows the killer was professional.
The dead spy had been investigating two Russian oligarchs suspected of selling chemical weapons from within the UK, and it seems likely there was a third man in the conspiracy - someone working from deep within the British government.
To find the truth, Emma is sent undercover on a superyacht owned by one of the oligarchs. Codenamed GOLD DUST, the operation takes her from the billionaire enclaves of the Cote d'Azur to the fashionable hotels of Barcelona, where she comes close to discovering what the Russians are planning - until her identity is discovered, and she barely escapes with her life.
Emma knows that someone inside the government has betrayed her, and it soon transpires that the elusive third man is closer than any of them imagined.
The Traitor was fun to read even though it felt a bit unrealistic. Those aspects didn’t make it less enjoyable though. It was easy to read as I knew the characters and some of the situations from the previous book. The story is still mainly told by Emma.
Emma is healed from her last outing physically. Mentally, I suspect things like being shot stay with you. However, she is eager enough to go undercover in a very dangerous situation to gain more information. The Russian oligarchs are hard to penetrate in their circles but she takes a role as a server on the yacht. She hopes to also learn more about the suspected British traitor. She befriends the oligarch’s mistress and feels sorry for her.
Emma really doesn’t learn very much on the boat, although she does take pictures of some documents. Her big break comes when she follows them to a meeting in town but it also gets her caught. She is in dire straits. She fights her way out but she is burned and can’t go back to the boat.
Emma is determined to unmask the traitor. So she offers to go undercover again with the other oligarch’s mistress at the gym. This oligarch hasn’t seen her and her appearance has been changed. The mistress really likes her and invites her to a party. Emma is fearless to the point of too stupid to live, pushing into a meeting of the villains.
Somehow Emma manages to not die, gather information or people as needed, and her team comes in to arrest or clean up bodies. I just don’t find it probable she could do some things or fight large men as well as she manages. The Alias Emma series is a lot of fun to read though.
About Ava Glass
Ava Glass is the author of the espionage series Alias Emma. A former civil servant and journalist, she once worked closely with spies, and that experience fuels her writing. Ava is the pseudonym for an international bestselling author who has written more than ten crime novels under another name. Her books have been bestsellers in multiple countries, and have been published in more than twenty languages. Alias Emma is currently being developed for television by The Ink Factory.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 23-COYER
Just added this yesterday as I’m waiting for the first book to free up at the library.
I hope you enjoy them. They are a little something, not as realistic maybe, or simple storylines. They are fun. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Alias Emma.
I could go for a female James Bond type story. This sounds good and I get what you mean about realistic.
These are definitely fun. Emma needs some of those James Bond type of tech gadgets!
I don’t need it to be realistic as long as it is a fun and exciting read. This sounds like something that I would enjoy. Great review!
Well then you would enjoy these I enjoyed them also. Somehow I am always looking at how realistic something feels and reminding myself I am reading fiction after all.
A too stupid to live character gets on my nerves at times but this sounds like an exciting read.
yes that’s right. It can pull me out of the story because it’s too ridiculous sometimes.
Having some unrealistic aspects and a too stupid to live character can detract from the enjoyment, but sounds like you ended up liking it anyhow.
yes, I still enjoyed it. I did some eye-rolling though.
I would’ve totally been eye rolling, lol!
I need more mysteries/actions. But I would’ve eye rolled too
I realize it is fiction but it just wasn’t realistic enough for me in places.