Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Muse for my copy of A Shadow in Moscow by Katherine Reay in exchange for an honest review. It publishes June 13, 2023.
As usual, Katherine Reay writes another fantastic novel! I could not stop thinking about this one and kept coming back to it. It may be my favorite of hers so far! This book had my on the edge of my seat unlike some other cold war novels I've read.
I loved the overall theme of hope threaded throughout this and the epilogue was definitely perfect!

A Shadow in Moscow is a thrilling, heartstopping story that grabbed me from the first pages and never let go! Told in two separate story lines, first by Ingrid starting in the 1930's, and then by Anya in the 1980's, it's a story of love and self sacrifice, hidden within secrets and lies. Real historical events are deftly woven in further cementing the reality of the story. It's as spine chilling and suspenseful as The Red Sparrow, with an ending that will surprise you!

Wow was this good! An excellent cold-war, spy-centered thriller that I didn't know how much I was craving until I began this story. This gorgeously written historical thriller was amazing. It was absolutely lovely! Think Kate Quinn or Michelle Moran - that level of quality of writing. There are so many WWII books in the market nowadays, but this one stands out from the rest because of its unique setting (cold war) and the wonderful atmosphere of the novel. Every phrase was poetry, and the descriptions were so vivid it was like I was there. It short, it was unputdownable.
This book was everything I had been wanting and missing. Excellent dialogue, solid world building, an independent, likeable heroine. I just savored each page and was very sorry when it ended. I will definitely be buying this book in print! TEN STARS!

Well told story of two women - one from the 1950s and one from the present - who are spies and must do their best to stay alive and perform to their best.

Stunning. Gripping. Powerful. This novel had all of the intrigue and spy games that you want in a Cold War thriller mixed with the heartfelt and poignant relationships found in the best fiction. I was blown away by Reay’s masterful weaving of Ingrid and Anya’s storylines throughout the decades as the Iron Curtain slowly crushed their lives but not their spirits. I was captivated from the very beginning and couldn’t put the book down until I knew how it ended. We often associate men with the Cold War, but this book makes it clear that there were countless numbers of strong women who were the true unnamed heroes behind the scenes.

I especially loved the mother-daughter storyline as someone who was very close with my own mother. The power of a mother’s love cannot be broken, and I loved how Reay writes this special yet complex relationship full of misunderstandings and deep love. It was real and believable.

I love reading books about the Cold War time period and especially enjoyed the 1980s setting of this book. Usually Cold War books focus on the earlier time periods, but with the sweeping nature of this book, all of the Cold War time is described in wonderful detail.

Anyone who loves historical fiction about strong women in trying times will like this book.

I have loved every Katherine Reay book that I’ve read. This was a fascinating story of 2 women who were spies in different generations and of the KGB and what life was like. Two very strong women, taking risks, being innovative and resourceful. A horrible time in history showing the resilience of the human spirit.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I may have set the bar very high for this book since I adored The London House and The Bronte Plot. I feel like A Shadow in Moscow had unrealized potential. The premise sounded exciting and fraught with danger, but the story and characters fell flat for me. I found the pacing to be slow and although I read the entire book, at one point I was reading just in order to finish. I really wanted to love this as much as The London House but it just didn't do it for me. I keep seeing wonderful reviews...it's probably just me.

I love a good spy story and this one definitely qualifies! A riveting page-turner, Cold War era female spies!

An interesting story that incorporates several true events during the post WWII and Cold War eras. This is the story of two women - Ingrid and Anya. Ingrid Bauer is Austrian. She loses her family toward the end of WWII, they having been suspected of working for the Allies. When Austria is occupied by the Soviets after the war, she decides to marry Leo Kadinova and move to Moscow. While she suspects that her husband is a member of the KGB, he never says so. She gives birth to a daughter at which time she decides to reach out to Britain, the country of her mother’s birth, in the hope that her efforts will produce a better life for her child as well as the world in general. The second woman is Anya, her daughter, who is selected to be part of the Foreign Studies Initiative, a prestigious honor, where she goes to the US and studies at Georgetown. Enamored by America and in love with Scott, she must return to Russia after graduation in 1980. When her best friend from childhood is killed by the KGB, she reaches out to the CIA and given her job in a military research facility is able to provide invaluable information in the midst of some of the most terrifying times of the Cold War. A few years later, the KGB is provided with information from a mole in the US that will threaten both mother and daughter as well as many other undercover operatives. While truly a work of fiction, this book does a good job of pointing out the tensions between world superpowers during the Cold War including references to a couple of the most well-known traitors of the times - Kim Philby and Adridge Ames. The chapters alternate between the two women as their stories are both parallel and converging (at least in time). A captivating story that will hold your attention to the very end. My thanks to Harper Muse and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the compelling story Katherine Reay tells in A Shadow in Moscow. Both parts of the dual time line are well paced and very interesting. And the way they merge together in the end is flawless and captivating. I wouldn’t normally pick up a “spy story” but I loved the author’s The London House and the beautiful cover and title of this new book lured me in. So well written, researched and all around enjoyable I look forward to more.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the opportunity to read for my honest review.

Excellent! I loved A Shadow in Moscow by Author Katherine Reay! I was captivated from the start. From Anya Kadinova attending college in the United States in 1984, being exposed to other ideas and freedoms before returning to a job back home in Russia after graduation, to Ingrid Bauer who lost everyone she loved at the end of WWII, lives in Vienna, and in 1954 she marries a gentle Soviet man and moves to Moscow, deep within the Soviet Union's Totalitarian regime, I absolutely could not stop turning pages! I especially enjoyed turning pages to see if these two women's stories connected at all.

There is depth here. Depth of ideas, trying to make the world a better place, love, sacrifice, betrayals, propoganda, freedom, and choices.

The difference in freedom alone is staggering. In America, Anya could speak freely, debate ideas, and read what she wanted to, to her homeland where she has far fewer choices. These lessons remain with her.

She resonated with the idea that "we all have an 'end point', a point past which our consciences won't allow us to venture", based on Thomas More's philosophy.

In Moscow, Ingrid's home was frequently bugged by the KGB, and they were everywhere and seemed to know everything about everyone. She wants to make the world a better place for her daughter and starts working with MI6 to try to end the cold war. I love spy stories!

Ingrid shares her mother's phrase 'duc in altum' (into the deep) with her young daughter, teaching her daughter that she can find freedom and choices within those constraints.

I highly recommend this engaging story! Thank you to the publisher and net galley for allowing me to read an early copy of A Shadow in Moscow. All opinions are my own.

A Shadow in Moscow is a fascinating, compelling story of two women in the Cold War era of Soviet Russia who become disillusioned with their country's repressive regime and are recruited as spies for the West. The narrative alternates between their voices: Anya, a young woman sent by the Soviet government to college in 1980s America, and Ingrid, a young woman living in Vienna during the World War II Russian occupation, who marries a Russian soldier and then moves to Moscow with him.

Reay does an excellent job balancing various historical time periods, cultural norms, pivotal conversations, and interactions to bring each woman to life. Initially, I sometimes got lost as to which woman was the focus of a chapter. However, this concern disappeared as I got to know each character and became engrossed in her story.

The convergence of the two women's stories towards the end of the book was probably a bit far-fetched, but I still loved and totally bought into this plot twist. It was a catalyst for the subsequent climatic events, so was absolutely necessary.

The actual historical events of each era were seamlessly woven into the main narrative, providing a perfect backdrop for the story events. I grew up during the Cold War, so I have a child's memory that the possibility of nuclear war was a constant backdrop to daily life. This book taught me so much about historical events that had been whispers and fragments of conversations from my childhood.

At times all the conversations between each woman and her various handlers slowed the pace. However, in retrospect, these conversations were integral to understanding what it was like to be a spy: long periods of planning and waiting, then heart-stopping moments of terror. The conversations also provided the opportunity to muse on important themes like differences in the notions of freedom between Soviets and Americans, the significance of even small acts of defiance, individuality vs the collective and the necessity for sacrifice. There were many times I felt compelled to write down a pithy opinion or read aloud a beautifully written section to someone, just because the comments were so insightful.

If you are interested in the Cold War era, I highly recommend this book.



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This is an absolutely mesmerizing story! Women who silently supported freedom by spying on the Nazis and the USSR government. Unsung heroines who remained in the shadows. Ingrid AKA Inga, who worked against the Nazis. Anya, who has a taste of freedom while attending college in the U.S. and later on finds Russian life intolerable. The story pulled me in fast and I sympathized with the characters so completely. An incredible amount of research has to have gone into the story to make it so realistic.

After a bit of a slow start, this story grabbed me and I couldn’t stop reading it. Two points of view, two timelines; I didn’t see the connection as quickly as I probably should have, but when I did! Ingrid’s story starts in the post World War II era. She marries a Russian and ends up becoming a spy for the British. Anya’s story is told in the 1980s at the height of the Cold War. She ends up spying for the Americans. Both storylines were interesting, giving great insight into life in the Soviet Union as well as the whole spy network and how it worked. Fascinating stuff!

Big surprise... I read another historical fiction! It may (quite possibly) be turning into my favorite genre. While most of the historical fictions I read are during WWII (as the market is saturated with them), I was extremely excited to read one based during the Cold War era.

I really really enjoyed this book. I loved the familial ties, the longing for more and the courageousness of women represented in this story. And while the underlying love stories were beautiful, and I'm glad they were just an undercurrent to a more important story.

This book has also made me do my own research into the Cold Wars. My education was severely lacking in that area, though I believe this could be mostly attributed to the amount of secrecy surrounding that time in history. I wonder how much has not been openly shared with the public. It also makes me wonder how many agents and double agents there are across the globe. I believe that number is staggering.

But back to this novel, my only draw-back in awarding that final star comes with Ingrid's character. I wish we had more from her thoughts and actions, what she endured during her final stand. I feel like this would've been an excruciatingly emotional ride, but an important one. It would've pushed this story over the edge for me.

Again, this book was an absolute hit for me and one I would definitely recommend to historical fiction lovers! 4.5⭐️

This is not just another spy story!

It’s also:

✔️ an intelligent read set in the thick of the Cold War.

✔️a detailed look at life behind the Iron Curtain.

✔️ a focus on two women and their sacrifice, courage, resilience and determination in their fight for freedom.

✔️a dual timeline spanning 1944 - 1985 and from Washington, DC to Vienna to Moscow

✔️a well-paced, extremely interesting story about drama, tension, romance, secrets and the history of Cold War Moscow

Ingrid Bauer, MI6’s best Soviet spy, and Anya Kadinova, the CIA’s newest Moscow recruit, are at risk because they’ve been betrayed at the highest level. When the KGB closes in, they rely on a compromise made in a race against time to ensure each survives.

I just can’t imagine living a life where I could trust no one - not even my husband! This book really had me placing value on my friendships.

As much as I love this author’s books and writing style, I truly felt that I’d been thrown in the deep end with this book. It took quite a few chapters before I could even get a sense of what was going on. I finally figured out that it was a love story across the Iron Curtain! So, take it from someone who reads lots of dual timelines and lots of historical fiction - this book will make you work for it! I loved accessing the dictionary on my Kindle and increasing my vocabulary as much as I loved reaching for Google in almost every chapter. I love learning as I read and this book was a delight. Although secrets are forefront in both timelines and the plot is compelling in each one, I enjoyed Ingrid’s timeline because I liked her character a bit better.

I enjoyed this story and can’t wait for Reay’s next Cold War novel to be published in March 2024.

Congratulations on a fantastic cover - so mysterious!

I was gifted this copy by Harper Muse and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I've read and enjoyed other books by Reay, so I was looking forward to this one. The premise is interesting, but it missed the mark a bit compared to the author's prior books. There's a lot of details on Russian food, which was interesting but a bit too much. There is also an overabundance of dialogue, which isn't something I've ever noted in a review before. At times, it seemed endless, as well as pointless. It was well written, just too much without a balance of narrative. I also expected more about the Russian culture than just their food and drink. I did like the "then and now" format of the story.

This was a good book, particularly if you have an interest in spies, and Moscow. The majority of the book takes place in Moscow and is told through two female spies at different times. Anya is in the USA as part of a Soviet Union program aimed at young soviets learning about America (culture mostly) who then come back to the Soviet Union and share that knowledge. Anya is happy in America and considers staying permanently, but worries about her future, she decides to go back and hope that things have improved. She returns and is quickly disenchanted with the soviet way, long lines for any type of staple, restrictions on where you can go and being spied on. Ingrid's story starts in the 50's, she was in Britain, then meets and marries a Soviet and moves to Moscow. She too quickly becomes disillusioned, especially the bugs that are placed around their apartment. Both ladies come to a point where they decide the best way forward, for them and for Russia, is if they provide information to Britain (in Ingrid's case) or America (in Anya's). the timelines move closer together and that's when I realized a few things. The author does a magnificent job of doling our snippets of information that makes you turn the pages all the faster. I really enjoyed the book, though I appeared to be missing several sentences at the beginning of each Part, annoying but I was able to finish. I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgally and #Harper Muse for the ARC.

This is a fantastic read. It captures the nature of life 8n Moscow between 1955 and 1985, with all its fear and how the wrong word at a single moment could lead to your disappearance. It charts the lives of those involved in espionage and while fictional, is based on reality. As the book reaches its climax it ratchets up the suspense and has a dramatic, sacrificial ending. This book needs to be read by anyone interested in Cold War history

I have not been as drawn to historical fiction lately, but I always love a book by Katherine Reay, and this one was no exception. The dual timeline was compelling and when the two timelines intersected, even though I could see it coming, it was almost like a controlled explosion. I loved the twists and turns of the story and Reay's take on history and how the characters reacted and felt to the Cold War and all its implications. Having most of the book set in Moscow really made it different than most historical fiction books I have read, and it seemed to me that everything was true to life (although my experience of foreign cultures is admittedly limited). I read this entire book in two days, I could not put it down. Cannot wait for her next one.