"Losing everything changes you."
Jill Bailey, married to Drew, mother of two young children, is a CIA analyst who is responsible for vetting new intel sources. The new recruit, Falcon, is set to become a prize catch for the agency as he has information about Syria's plan to use anthrax as a bio weapon. Before she can do her due diligence and pass him up the chain, she gets a phone call at work. Someone has kidnapped her son and they are asking her to betray her country by doing just this one "small" thing. She's desperate and she does it.
Alex Charles is a reporter for the Washington Post and gets an anonymous tip that she can use to catapult her career with a Pulitzer if she can run it down. Her search leads her to Jill and they begin to investigate the claims and find the truth. NO SPOILERS.
This was another fast-paced espionage thriller from an author whose previous books thoroughly hooked me. Karen Cleveland writes about what she knows as she spent 8 years working for the CIA and it shows. Told in alternating points of view between Jill and Alex, the characters come alive and this becomes more than a spy story. Two determined women who have a lot to lose but who love their country and feel a deep responsibility to find those responsible for this conspiracy. Another great conclusion leaves the door open for another book, perhaps a sequel. This, however, is a standalone and you don't need to have read the other two books.
All three of these novels beg to be adapted into miniseries and I am still waiting for Need to Know to go into production. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - espionage thriller, family, CIA
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