The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak

I wanted to read The Helsinki Affair because it is a modern spy novel written by a woman! I love the espionage sub-genre of thrillers — I absolutely devour Daniel Silva and Charles Cumming, as I have John le Carré. And yet, I have found that espionage novels are almost exclusively the realm of men and male authors, leaving a missing piece of storytelling behind. The Female-centric espionage story.

The book’s heroine, Amanda Cole, is a young CIA officer following in the footsteps of her father, who was a spy during the Cold War. Unable to prove herself in the male dominated spy business, Amanda is lucky to be on duty one hot day in Rome, while the others are on vacation, when a Russian defector walks into the Embassy. Strangely, Amanda’s father is at the heart of the unfolding story she discovers. Bringing even more female energy into the story, Amanda’s partner is an older, seasoned female spy.

Amanda travels from Rome to London, and then from St. Petersburg to Helsinki where the story comes to fruition. I enjoyed the female point of view as the novel unfolded, though I would have preferred to have felt more of the various settings as we traveled with Pitoniak. Setting was essential in this story, and yet it took third place to character and plot. Both character and plot excel, however.

Pitoniak has written several other novels, though The Helsinki Affair is her first espionage novel. Let’s hope she sticks with the sub-genre of spy thrillers, and we see more of Amanda Cole.

My rating 4 of 5.

This ARC title was provided by Netgalley.com at no cost, and I am providing an unbiased review. The Helsinki Affair will be published on November 14, 2023.

The 9th Man by Steve Berry / Grant Blackwood

This is a tiny bit of a spoiler, but it was the plot line that pulled me in to The 9th Man so I am going to mention that the story involves the JFK assassination. I clearly remember the day after school in 1963 when my mother told me the President was shot, and I have been fascinated with the theories about the assassination ever since. Berry, who outlined the plot and then wrote the book along with Blackwood, has written many novels in the political thriller genre, but I have never picked up one of his books. I am happy to have done so now.

The 9th Man is the first lead outing for the character Luke Daniels. An agent in a clandestine organization within the government, Luke is called on by a friend who needs his help when her grandfather is killed in a home invasion. Secret papers are found which lead our duo across Europe, Louisiana, the Caribbean and Montana where there is a good amount of battling action everywhere they go.

Yes, it is an action thriller, but it is also a very thoughtful story about an historical moment and its impact on the present. The ending is not expected. The authors were able to turn what could have been a plain action thriller with bad guys chasing good guys for some abstract reason into a thriller that has a purpose. I will be reading more of Steve Berry.

My score 4 of 5.

This ARC title was provided by Netgalley.com at no cost, and I am providing an unbiased review. The 9th Man was published on June 27, 2023.

Flop Dead Gorgeous by David Rosenfelt

If you haven’t read the Andy Carpenter series, you have a lot of catching up to do. Rosenfelt began with his dog-loving attorney mysteries in 2002’s Open and Shut. The truth is I don’t really READ the Andy Carpenter mysteries — I enjoy them on audio, read by Grover Gardner who does an excellent job and his reading is the main reason I enjoy these books so much.

Normally, I don’t favor cute, dog-filled mysteries as they are too “cozy” for my tastes. But these mysteries are only somewhat cozy — there is no small group of suspects, the courtroom and investigation is mostly realistic, and the sleuths are professionals. But indeed there are dogs in every story line, no violence on the page and these are an “easy” read without gore but lots of laughs.

Flop Dead Gorgeous is as good as the twenty-six Andy Carpenter mysteries before it. In this outing, a famous actress who Andy once dated is accused of murdering her actor boyfriend in her kitchen. Andy has been trying to retire for about twelve books, but circumstances keep pulling him back in. All the familiar characters are there — Andy’s wife and son, big bruiser Marcus, the elderly computer nerds, and of course, all the dogs, though in Flop Dead they pay a smaller part then usual. Grover Gardner does a wonderful read of the novel per usual. Sometimes you just want a familiar cast playing out pretty much the same story.

Did I mention there are dogs?!

My score 4 of 5.

This ARC title was provided by Netgalley.com at no cost, and I am providing an unbiased review. Flop Dead Gorgeous was published on July 4, 2023.