ALIAS EMMA by Ava Glass

5 stars

Hello to a brilliant female version of OO7 – but more depth, toughness, vulnerability, and smarts than James Bond ever mastered. Ava Glass, a pseudonym of of author C.J. Daughtery, has created a fantastic intelligence agent with Emma Makepeace (itself a spy pseudonym).

Emma’s new being a British intelligence agent. She’s London born and bred, but her parents came from Russia where her high-ranking Dad served as a spy for the Brits. Uncovered, Emma and her Mom get whisked to the UK by British agents while her Dad gets jailed and killed for his treason. Emma’s motivated to become a spy to avenge her Dad’s death.

Emma, fresh out of training, has been languishing in a boring undercover role with environmental activists who have been up to nothing more than printing t-shirts. Unbeknownst to her, she’s been hidden away on this assignment by her mentor, who’s busy tracking down a revenge-seeking Russian agent who’s showed up on British soil. Her mentor wants to keep Emma unknown to the Russian as a reserve back-up if things go sideways.

And sideways they do. The Russian agents in Britain has started assassinating scientific defectors. They’ve now targeted Russian dissidents, who the Brits are moving to protective custody. Except for the fact that they’re only son, Michael, works as a compassionate cancer doctor and refuses to accept the risk is real. Emma’s pulled out of her undercover assignment to convince Michael of the threat and to deliver him to MI6 for protection. Only until Emma’s life in is danger in front of him does Michael realize that Russian assassins are truly after him.

What follows is a non-stop 24 hours in which everything that can goes sideways; Emma’s mentor gets side-lined, and only Emma’s ingenuity and wits can save the day. Heart-pounding action ensues, including a James Bond worthy boat chase and an escape to London’s underwater and long forgotten rivers. Plus, Emma’s got to evade the 500,000 CCTV cameras all over London that have been hacked by the Russians.

Cue the action movie this novel will surely be turned into.

Apparently, Alisa Emma 2 has already been drafted by the author, and I CANNOT WAIT!!

Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.