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One of Crimes Reads Best Espionage Novels of 2023
An Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense
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CIA agent Lyndsey Duncan has a new asset to turn, in order to prevent the most calculated global invasion of our time. But will their blossoming friendship get in the way?
After an explosive takedown of a well-placed mole within the CIA, agent Lyndsey Duncan has been tasked with keeping tabs on her newest Russian asset, deadly war criminal Dmitri Tarasenko. She arrives in London fully focused on the assignment at hand, until her MI6 counterpart, Davis Ranford, the very person responsible for ending her last mission overseas after they were caught in a whirlwind affair, personally calls for her.
After a suspicious attack on a powerful Russian oligarch’s property on Billionaires’ Row in the toniest neighborhood in London, Davis needs Lyndsey to cozy up to the billionaire’s aristocratic British wife, Emily Rotenberg. Lyndsey’s job is to obtain any and all information related to Emily’s husband, Mikhail Rotenberg, and his relationship with the new Russian president, whom CIA and MI6 believe is responsible for the sudden mysterious disappearance of his predecessor, the Hard Man. Fortunately for Lyndsey, there’s little to dissuade Emily from taking in a much-needed confidante. After all, misery needs company.
But before Lyndsey can cover much ground with her newfound friend, the CIA unveils a perturbing connection between Mikhail and Russia’s geopolitical past, one that could dangerously upend the world order as we know it. As the pressure to turn Emily becomes higher than ever, Lyndsey must walk a fine and ever-changing line to keep the oligarch’s fortune from falling into Russian hands and plunging the world into a new, disastrous geopolitical reality.
Red London is a nuanced, race-against-the-clock story that at times feels eerily set against today’s headlines, a testament to author Alma Katsu’s thirty-plus career in national security. It’s a rare spy novel written by an insider that feels as prescient as it is page-turning and utterly unforgettable.
Reviews
“Tense, smart, and surprising–from page one, RED LONDON draws you into a web of power, money, seduction, and betrayal. A top-notch espionage novel.” – Meg Gardiner, #1 NYT bestselling author
“Starring an outstanding, multidimensional protagonist… Katsu’s second book in this taut spy series is even better than the first… with the requisite suspense driving the twist-laden plot.” – Booklist (starred)
“Entertaining . . . Katsu knows her tradecraft. . . . A spy novel that focuses on relationships, women, and family is a refreshing change. . . . Katsu should win new fans with this one.” —Publishers Weekly
“Katsu, a former intelligence officer, shows us how intelligence-gathering works, how spies relate to each other, how intelligence agencies uneasily coexist. What sets the novel apart even more is the smoothness with which the author builds her tense narrative and characters—Lyndsey is unflashy but sensitive and principled and good at what she does, while Emily is one of the most sympathetically drawn victims in recent spy fiction.” — Kirkus
“Straight out of the headlines…It’ll have you sweating out every action, every move, every conversation until the final page is turned.” — Best Thriller Books
“Breathtaking international intrigue, Russian skullduggery, and old-fashioned Anglo-American intelligence cooperation… masterful in its character development.” — Cipher Brief
“Katsu transposes the traditional male heroes from the likes of John le Carre and Len Deighton in crafting a thriller that matches up to the best from both of them. Lyndsay is a post-modern, female version of George Smiley and Red London is every bit as much fun as his greatest adventures.” — Book Trib
“Well-written and fascinating…” — The Washington Times
“What makes a great spy novel stand out is, ironically, less about the tradecraft and far more about the human elements of human intelligence. It is the characters and their relationships. It is the subtle art of manipulation that underpins the dynamic between an officer and an agent… Katsu’s Red London should… be next to your passport as your jet off on summer holiday” – Diplomatic Courier