In ‘Need to Know’ you will meet CIA counterintelligence analyst Vivian Miller, also a wife and mother of four, whose job is to uncover Russian sleeper cells in America. But her seemingly perfect life and career start unraveling when she finds a picture of her husband, Matt, on the computer of a man the CIA suspects to be a handler. Then when her husband confesses that he has been a Russian spy for 22 years, Vivian gets further pulled into a web of lies and deceit that threatens both her personal and professional life.
Yes, the plotline isn’t original. You might have read many books with similar stories, especially if you are a fan of spy thrillers. But what makes Need to Know exceedingly refreshing is the fact that Karen Cleveland, the author, is a former CIA analyst herself and the inside knowledge with which she writes makes the story very nuanced. A year before publication, the novel was set to be adapted into a film with Charlize Theron starring in and producing the project.
The espionage element is spot-on and, as a working mom who wrote the debut novel during a yearlong unpaid maternity leave from the CIA, Cleveland also manages to get the domestic tension just right. The only downside is that Cleveland lacks writing flair. However, she adds an extra dose of suspense with Vivian finding out that there is a mole in the CIA. As Vivian desperately tries to figure out who she can trust, she becomes embroiled in something that could very well end in her losing her job and getting a jail sentence as well.
The confusion and chaos make up for the jarring writing. Matt, perfect husband and father, comes across as the perfect liar at times and as the perfect victim all the other times. The thrill of the suspense lies in finding out or rather deciding which one. Cleveland keeps you guessing till the end while also making you come to the realization that nothing in life is black or white but actually a shade of gray. Need to Know is a compulsive read that you will race to finish and when you do you will wish you could turn back time to relive the thrill.
NEED TO KNOW
Author: Karen Cleveland
Genre: Fiction
Published: January 2018 Publisher: Ballantine Books
Language: English
Pages: 310, paperback
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