American Spy
By Lauren Wilkinson
- Release Date: 2019-02-12
- Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Description
“American Spy updates the espionage thriller with blazing originality.”—Entertainment Weekly
“There has never been anything like it.”—Marlon James, GQ
“So much fun . . . Like the best of John le Carré, it’s extremely tough to put down.”—NPR
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Time • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • Esquire • BuzzFeed • Vulture • Real Simple • Good Housekeeping • The New York Public Library
What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love?
It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes. Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Sankara is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she’s being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent.
In the year that follows, Marie will observe Sankara, seduce him, and ultimately have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American.
Inspired by true events—Thomas Sankara is known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”—American Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you’ve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.
NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
“Spy fiction plus allegory, and a splash of pan-Africanism. What could go wrong? As it happens, very little. Clever, bracing, darkly funny, and really, really good.”—Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Inspired by real events, this espionage thriller ticks all the right boxes, delivering a sexually charged interrogation of both politics and race.”—Esquire
“Echoing the stoic cynicism of Hurston and Ellison, and the verve of Conan Doyle, American Spy lays our complicities—political, racial, and sexual—bare. Packed with unforgettable characters, it’s a stunning book, timely as it is timeless.”—Paul Beatty, Man Booker Prizewinning author of The Sellout
Reviews
American Spy
4By klopez963Slow to start, but overall enjoyed it.Good read
5By ResonationGood story. Clever. Le Carre-ish. Highly recommend.Great book !
5By Legrand BurkindiA must read by all Burkindis, it must be translated in French. The author did a thorough research about the events preceding the October 15th coup d’état in Burkina and about the coup itself . I was 13 then and can still remember exactly where I was ( lycée Zinda) when I heard the first gun fire. The book brought back some vivid imagery of my childhood in zogona / Wemtenga. Great work Lauren !Just ok!
3By TiffsheltThe story was slow and a little boring but good for a ‘first’ novel. I endured it.We
3By qw STCallLike it, didn’t love it
3By 58 PistolSee titleAmerican Spy
2By Jake WarFrustratingly slow at the beginning, picks up at the middle, extremely unsatisfying ending, cheap shot, wish I hadn’t bothered.American Spy
5By JoanabakeFive stars. Well written and engrossing all the way.American Spy
2By CW162Boring. Started with plenty of action but quickly fizzled to minute by minute account of daily life. Not ready for prime time. Save your money.