I liked this story.  The story itself had plenty of twists and turns and kept you guessing as to what would happen next.  However, the main character, Vivian, could act so dumb at times.  It made it harder to sympathize with her.  Adding to the situation for me was her job.  Vivian works as a CIA analyst.  I expected better choices from her.

The writing was done well.  This author has potential.  I would read future books by her in case it was just me thinking the main character was dumb.  Because, as I have already stated the story itself was good.  I love a fast paced read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

I loved this - read it in one day! Fast-paced DC thriller!

Loved this book. Engaged me right from the first few pages. The author's insight into the world of the CIA and associated activities comes through in this exciting story.

This is the debut novel for Cleveland, a former CIA analyst. Vivian Miller is a CIA analyst working on the Russian counterintelligence desk. She has developed an algorithm to ferret out Russian sleeper agents. When she makes a breakthrough, she discovers that her husband, Matt, has been a Russian agent for some 22 years. What should she do - protect her family (her children) or expose her husband? And once the choice is made, what are the consequences? I really had a difficult time rating this book. While the premise was good, the amount of time spent on describing the children became tedious at time. The decisions Vivian makes are often almost childish. And I did not like the main characters. But I must confess the ending kept the rating up.

I thought this was going to be a great spy book, with a kickass female character. Sadly, it was a spy book but I found myself rolling my eyes through most of it. The protagonist, Vivian, is a talented counter-intelligence analyst. After facing a huge betrayal by someone close to her she has to figure out what to do, where to go for help and who to trust. The answer should have been "no one", but that's not how this went. If I could have reached into the book and smacked her upside the head I would have done so,

A fast-paced spy novel, but not in the traditional vein. A CIA agent learns at work that her husband is not who she thought he was, he’s a sleeper agent for the Russians. With elements of The Americans, it’s a fun read, if quite predictable.

A woman works for the CIA as a Russian Analyst. Her husband works at home and is also caretaker for their four children. She is looking into sleeper cells of Russian agents, their handlers and their leaders. In doing this she hacks into the computer of a suspected handler and learns something she does not want to know. I won’t go any further into the plot because of spoilers, but will say it is gripping and the ending will make the reader sit up. This is well worth reading. Thanks to Net Galley and Ballantine for an ARC for an honest review.

Well this one kept me up all night reading! Great spy thriller set in the US. Vivian Miller is an analyst working for the CIA with a focus on Russian sleeper cells. She has a wonderful life with a loving husband and four children. Her world is tilted on when she clicks open a folder in a computer of someone the government is tracking. Life changes fast and Viv needs to figured out what is the truth, how much we can trust those we love, and how to survive this world of espionage. Great story and characters, this reads like a movie and I hope the rumors are true that it is being made into one! Thank you netgalley for a chance to read this for my honest opinion.

Ignorance is bliss. Just ask Vivian Miller. Poised at the pinnacle of a career making intelligence project, she soon finds that same project threatens to tear apart the most important part of her life. Already logging late hours and struggling with guilt at the amount of time she is away from her four kids, what Vivian learns could destroy her tenuous grasp on her family life with her children and husband. With suspenseful pacing and strong plotline reminiscent of the hit NBC drama Blacklist, author Karen Cleveland delivers a sure fire hit that is impossible to put down from the first page to the last. Cleveland’s own background in intelligence adds to the realism of the setting and its issues while she deftly balances a very honest representation of motherhood for the working mom.

Need to Know is a sleek and well-honed suspense story with a great balance of plotline and character development. It is hinted that the movie may be adapted into a Charlize Theron movie and it is a perfect fit for such an adaptation. I look forward to reading more of Cleveland’s stories in the future!

My thanks to the publisher, Ballantine Books for the opportunity of an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vivian Miller, a CIA analyst on the Russian desk, discovers her husband is a sleeper agent for the Russians and that the number of sleepers in the US is much higher than the agency suspected. She realizes that she cannot turn him in - they have four kids, they need both of them and both of their incomes to maintain their household, and she loves him.

After not turning him in, she endangers herself erasing his record as a sleeper and by taking additional steps that get her in deeper and deeper.

She has betrayed her oath and is worried about putting the US at risk. She also cannot trust Matt. Is he being truthful with her, or is their entire life part of a managed campaign to put her in the right place at the right time?

The story is well written and plausible regardless of which part of the paranoia you come down on, but stories where characters make one inadvisable move after another, digging themselves in more deeply each day, make me uncomfortable. The entanglements increase; Viv has to lie to more friends and colleagues; the tasks set by the Russians get more and more costly. The suspense and pressure are relentless.

Reminds me in a way of Sophie’s Choice - there is no good answer and no way out.

/ I didn’t like it so much.
Matt has, since their first meeting, manipulated his relationship with Viv and the progress of her career as an analyst for the CIA - switching to the Russia desk, moving up the ladder of espionage analyses projects.

The Russians threaten Viv’s kids when she doesn’t manipulate CIA data as they ordered. She determines that she can only protect them by finding Yury. Viv finally locates Yury the handler and discovers that her mentor Peter was the mole. His wife Katherine was not accepted into a cancer clinical trial. The Russians provided the medicine until Peter refused to continue to do their bidding. They withdrew the meds, and she died a few weeks later.

Viv discovers Matt at Yury’s house; Matt shoots Yury; Peter takes the blame and suicides. Omar helps get them into Witness Protection, including Viv’s parents. Viv forgives Matt for being a sleeper and for his lies. At the end, Viv decides to return to a higher post in the CIA; Omar is promoted to a deputy director position at the FBI.

In the last few paragraphs, in spite of Vivian’s belief that they have escaped the Russians, she is returning to the CIA and Matt and Omar are both active agents for the Russians.

Readalikes/Similar Authors:
Chris Pavone – The Expats; Dennis Lehane – Since We Fell; Chris Bohjalian – Guest Room; Lisa Scottoline – Don’t Go; James Patterson – Guilty Wives; Iris Johansen – Bonnie; Stuart Woods – Hothouse Orchid; John Sandford – Dead Watch; Mary Higgins Clark – No Place Like Home.

CIA. Suspense. Things have gone all wrong, that's the start of a very dramatic and suspenseful read. This could be a movie, easily. The author has a lot of experience in the CIA and it shows in this book. I happen to like another series where the author has real-life experience in the field she writes in. (Bones for example.) The situation was plausible, the story, good enough to keep me reading. Try this one and see what you think, I think it's a really good first book!

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

This book was fabulous for a debut novel. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and can't wait for the next installment. Vivian is a CIA analyst searching for Russian sleeper cells in the U.S. The plot twists and turns with surprises at every corner. I couldn't put the book down.

Book Title: Need To Know
Author: Karen Cleveland
Publish Date: January 23, 2018
Buy Link: TBG

Book Blurb: The thought of publicly admitting there were sleepers in the USA admitting our inability to find them, was already barely palatable to Bureau Services.

I liked this novel. To summarize it is a story about a wife, Viv, who finds out her husband, Matt, is an agent for Russian intelligence. She works for the CIA. On her computer at home, she finds a folder entitled Friends. In it are pictures of her husband. But he looks different. He also has a different name. Alexander Lenkov. He along with a friend are persons of interest in an investigation into sleeper agents in American soil. What started as a routine investigation into a computer glitch became a full-blown investigation into why two days’ worth of files were erased from the terminal of the CIA. All employees were looked into and Vivian became a person of interest.
Throughout the investigation, she questions everything her husband told her during their life together. But, she had to make a decision. Protect her family and risk going to prison or turn her husband, the man she married, into the authorities of the CIA. The man behind the whole sleeper group wanted her to upload documents taken from the headquarters of the CIA. If she didn't agree it would risk her family.
Needless to say, she doesn't give the names of the sleeper agents due to her family. But she finds the mastermind behind the whole group. Upon catching him the sleeper agents have been neutralized. The family starts a new chapter.
I give this five bookmarks for an easy read, easy follow and keeps you turning the page. You can read this on the train... or in the bathtub while you are soaking. It will keep you engrossed in the novel. With just the right amount of information in each chapter, it is indeed a page-turner. I believe that this author is one that you and other readers will follow in the future. I highly recommend you purchase this novel.
Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher.

Fast-paced thriller about a Russian sleeper cell. CIA analyst Vivian uncovers a secret that will affect her family and her job. This novel is hard to put down!

This has all the makings of a fast paced read. We have so much happening on the internet... our lives are all out there to see. Imagine a CIA operative discovering something she wasn't supposed to see...
With a few clicks, her life, has been wiped out and changed... The journey and chase will take you for a ride.

4.5 stars

What a book! Need to Know is a simply fantastic. I loved the premise (a bit like the TV show The Americans but in a book). With Russian interference in American politics constantly in the news, the story is timely and somewhat terrifying; the idea that Russian sleepers (Russian agents disguised as ordinary Americans) could be anywhere and everywhere in the United States is quite frightening. I really do not want to say much about the plot because I do not want to risk spoiling any detail in a fabulous book that contains many twists and turns and a completely AMAZING ending – certainly the best ending I have read in ages. The one caveat I have (hence the 4.5 stars versus 5) is that it did take me a while to get into the story so if you are struggling early on, keep reading because you will be glad you did. I highly recommend this book, and I hope Karen Cleveland is busy working on her next novel. I received this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Read this book. If you do one thing for yourself, it should be to read this book. It is a fantastic story which is going to be made into a movie which is so exciting! The author told the story of CIA agent Viv beautifully and you could not help but be dragged into her world. I hope there's a sequel as I cannot wait to find out what happens to Viv moving forward!

‘Need to Know’ by Karen Cleveland is an outstanding debut novel! I highly recommend that you read this book. I am not typically drawn to this genre but when I read the synopsis on NetGalley I had to ask for a copy. Ms. Cleveland had me into this book before the end of the first chapter! She writes beautifully and has a wonderful command of the English language. Her subject is current events and extremely relative to the world we live in.

Karen Cleveland was a former CIA analyst, specializing in counter-terrorism. Her insights are incredible and spot on! This only makes her book that more credible and intriguing. I am not going to give any spoilers but the main character Vivian is a CIA analyst specializing in counter-terrorism. The depth of Vivian’s character is obviously drawn from Ms. Cleveland’s experiences. Which is nail biting at best.

I think the author created such suspense, paranoia, tension and a whole host of other spy novel adjectives that I was hooked immediately. Who do you trust? Who do you believe? What is the truth? Who can you ask to help? Can you trust your gut? I just couldn’t put this book down.
The ending is brilliant! It leaves the door open for what I hope is the sequel which I will be eagerly awaiting to read!

While rumors float around Hollywood, I hear some brilliant director has chosen this book to appear on the silver screen! Kudos to Ms. Cleveland for having her DEBUT novel chosen for a movie! I am telling you - READ this book!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Karen Cleveland and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC.

I had high hopes for this book and was thrilled to have been given an advance copy by Netgalley and the publisher. The thoughts that follow are my own.

I'm always interested in espionage related stories, especially those involved with the CIA and Russia, since I grew up during the cold war. When I first heard of this book and read the synopsis I was instantly intrigued and anxious to get a copy.

The story is centered around a CIA analyst who has developed algorithms to locate Russian sleeper cells in America. Vivian is a smart, dedicated analyst who is rolling out her new software in attempts to prove it to the higher-ups of the CIA. What she finds shocks her to the core, and all that she holds dear, her family, is thrown into chaos and danger. From here, the story takes off and is a string of missteps, mistakes, and bad judgements ny Vivian.

I was left disappointed in the book because all of the choices made by Vivian seemed completely opposite of those I'd expect from someone in her profession and intelligence portrayed in the early pages of the book. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll leave it here, I was let down after my early expectations. I will also say, the last chapter of the book made sticking it out entirely worth it. I LOVED the ending! If I could give half stars, the last chapter would have easily bumped this to a 3.4 star review.

All in all, I think this would be an entertaining movie, and one of the rare cases where the film is better than the book. I have heard rumors that rights have been purchased to turn this into a motion picture. I'm hopeful, and I would definitely see it.