Need to Know

By Karen Cleveland

Ballentine Books     2018

304 pages     Spy Thriller

Karen Cleveland worked for several years as a CIA analyst, and she has used this experience, as well as her experience as a wife and mother, to craft a very credible spy thriller.

Vivian is the married mother of 4 young children, who is also devoted to her job as an analyst in the Russian intelligence office at the CIA. Her world turns upside down one day when she is probing the files of a known Russian agent and sees her husband’s pictures among the agent’s “friends.” As she tries to figure out how it was possible that she didn’t know this about her husband, she begins to believe that everything in her life may be a lie—except for her beloved children. The plot consists of how she and her husband conspire to get out of the mess they are in, all the time seeking to protect their children. There are surprises galore and a very fitting ending.

To say more would be to betray the plot, which is skillfully drawn, although rather slight. Many times Vivian makes a decision based on protecting her children, and that  wears a little thin after a while. To be fair, the decisions she makes are most likely the decisions any mother would make, but because they are reiterated over and over, the plot becomes bogged down a bit. On the other hand I had trouble putting the book down to tend to my own family. In one scene early in the book, Vivian is home from work tending to a sick daughter. I read that portion while tending to a sick granddaughter. The portions of the book that deal with family life are spot on, and Vivian is a believable character. The book probes issues of loyalty, duty, love and marriage, and work/family life balance.

The other part that rings very true is the infiltration of Russian operatives in American life. I was reading rapidly during the evening, when I looked up at the clock. 9:00—Rachel Maddow time. I turned on the TV only to find that Maddow was talking about how Carter Page, a Trump advisor, was apparently compromised by the Russians. Is art imitating life, or the other way around?

Of course, in this time of trial in the US, this book will be a big hit. Movie rights have been sold, and Cleveland is hard at work on another spy thriller. So, stay tuned.

Here is an interesting interview with Karen Cleveland.