Vivian Miller is a CIA analyst assigned to uncover Russian sleeper cells in the USA. After accessing the computer of a potential Russian spy, she stumbles on a secret dossier of deep-cover agents living in her own country. Five seemingly normal people living in plain sight.
A few clicks later, everything that matters to Vivian is threatened - her job, her husband, even her four children . . .
Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she's facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust?
Will her next move be the right one?
Need To Know by Karen Cleveland is published by Bantam / Transworld in hardback on 25 January 2018 and is the author's debut novel.
When Becky Short, the publicist at Transworld Books rushed up to me at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in July this year and thrust a brown box at me, I was taken by surprise to say the least. When I opened up the box and found a pre-publication copy of Need To Know inside, I was intrigued; as where the bunch of book bloggers surrounding me, I could tell from the gasps and sighs!
I heard the author talk about Need To Know at the Transworld event earlier this year. She was fascinating and made her book sound so compelling. Finally, I've read it, and what a whirlwind of a read it is. Utterly compelling, I was frantically turning the pages to see what would happen next. Put aside a whole day for this one, you just won't be able to put it down.
Vivan Miller is a CIA agent, working on 'Russia'. Her job involves long hours staring at a computer screen, creating programmes that allow her and her colleagues to hack into the computers of the Russians. It's demanding, but essential work, and Vivian is good at it.
Vivian's home life is stressful and chaotic. With four small children, she and her husband Matt are constantly juggling time and resources, she is often exhausted by the demands of her job and her family.
Vivian has accessed the computer of a Russian spy and what she finds in his files is both shocking and devastating. Her discovery changes her whole world, turning everything that she worked for on its head. The only stable and steady things in her life; her marriage and her family have suddenly turned into the most dangerous and potentially damaging. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this.
Karen Cleveland draws on her experience as a CIA analyst, and has created a story that is so fast-paced, so full of twists and reveals and unexpected events, that it can be quite an exhausting read. Every short chapter ends on a cliff hanging hook, ensuring that the reader continues to read and read and read.
However, this is not just a spy thriller, this is also a very insightful and detailed glimpse into a modern marriage that is built on lies. The strength of relationships are tested to the limits and the levels of deceit and betrayals are brilliantly gripping.
Need To Know is a complex, tense and utterly compelling story that throbs with tension. Fabulous writing and a very clever plot. I'd recommend this one highly and really look forward to seeing what this talented author comes up with next.
She has master’s degrees from Trinity College Dublin, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar, and from Harvard University.
She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and two young kids.
Find out more at www.karen-cleveland.com
Find her Author page on Facebook
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