My problem with this book is varied. I began with high hopes, liking the premise of the book (CIA agent learns incriminating news about her much loved husband and father of her four children - what should she do?) I love spy novels so figured this one was in my wheelhouse. Unfortunately, I tend to be fairly critical, as I have read many government-type thrillers (ie. Child 44 if you want a seriously good Russian spy novel) and I also tend to be fairly feminist in my desire for more timely portrayals of women in today's world. The female lead, Vivian, has been with the CIA for years and we are supposed to believe that she is an important and valued member of the spy team vs. Russia. Yet she consistently behaves in an outrageously naive, might I even call it 'stupid,' manner. I found her behavior to be completely unbelievable in the context of the story. Why is it necessary to have the men be wily, manipulative, and brilliant spymasters, and yet leave the female to be shown as gullible and unintelligent, allowing her emotions to rule the day? Aargh, very frustrating and not at all what I want in my lead female roles in a spy novel. I understand the author was likely playing to her audience; I think I am just not part of that crowd. It is a page turner, but in the end I don't want a man to 'save' the woman from herself; I want Cinderella to kick some serious ass and show that brains and wile can outsmart anyone.

Meh. That's how I felt after I finished this novel. It wasn't great but it wasn't terrible. It was just meh. I couldn't sympathize with the character of Vivian, and the flashbacks were driving me crazy. I was expecting a spy thriller and to me this just did not deliver.

At first I was afraid a novel about Russian spies would be dry and overwhelmingly technical. Never fear with Karen Cleveland’s debut political thriller NEED TO KNOW. It’s hard to put down. The pace keeps pushing you forward through Vivian Miller’s first person perspective. Vivian is a mother of four, happily married to the seemingly perfect man, and she’s been assigned the best job a CIA analyst can get: Russia. Ballantine Books didn’t have to gamble too much in Cleveland as a debut author with this pitch. She also worked for years at the CIA and is a mother clearly with a talent for writing thrilling fiction.

I also worried that today’s political climate with evidence of Putin’s Russia fixing our 2016 Presidential election, that I would perhaps carry my real life anxiety over to my reading hours. I was fortunate. I was completely immersed in Cleveland’s version of the US and the metro DC area. I didn’t think I’d see Russia become our enemy again after we got past the 1980s, but here we are.

Vivian’s self doubt about every single choice she makes in life is heartfelt and honestly was tangible. I felt Vivian’s stress at work. I felt her stress at home. I understood her desire to want to believe the words spoken by people she cared for in her daily life.

There’s a mole in her office and the signs start to point directly back at Vivian. When her Top Secret software application called Athena finally breaks into a Russian’s computer, Vivian’s world is never the same again. She finds exactly what she set out to find: the identities of sleepers in Yury Yakov’s cell. Russians who have been in the states for so many decades that they blend in. They have jobs, families, retirement funds. All the things people are expected to have. Her findings are so painful when she recognizes one of the faces in the photos.

You the reader will volley back and forth just as Vivian does with wanting to believe in the good in people. Everything comes to a head the moment Yury and his ringleader begin to threaten Vivian and Matt’s children. Viv may hate guns and spend long days behind a desk, but no one, absolutely no one gets away with threatening her children. She questions how she could be so naive trusting people. It begins to look like every single person she’s had in her life has crossed a line to betrayal — either against her directly or the country.

The questions and doubt keep right on coming all the way through the Epilogue to the last page. It’s magnificent in its portrayal of anxiety, stress, and I will caution here for sensitive readers: a flashback about a miscarriage.

This book definitely gives you many exciting moments and while there are parts that you look at and can possibly see coming there are plenty that you won't. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone as the writer did a phenomenal job of setting the story up and delivering. I can't wait to see what comes next especially with the ending.

Holy guacamole, this 📚 is off the charts!

Whether you are into political thrillers or not, I highly recommend you grab this book, as it is so much more than that! I typically shy away from this genre, unless it comes highly recommended or has high ratings, which this absolutely does. This has to be one of my top 5 fav books for this year.

It reads quick like a novella, (my ebook came in at 219 pages) and there isn't a wasted word in these pages. The subject matter is so relevant to our world today, and being able to take a peek into what goes on in the CIA felt very real. And a bit scary, to be honest. <i>*The author was a former CIA Analyst, specializing in counter-terrorism, so her insight is hands on and it shows. *</i>

But that's the nuts and bolts of this story. What really got me hooked was how the author was able to create the tension and paranoia, so that I was right there with Vivian questioning everything I was reading. What is the truth? Who can you believe? Who can you count on for help? Do you go with your heart, or do you listen to your gut?

This plot is intricately woven, every possible scenario well thought out and executed perfectly. Every time I thought I found a loop hole, that door was quickly shut and another opened, taking me down a new path of possibilities. And the ending? Absolutely brilliant!!

I can't believe this is a debut novel. Coming this strong out of the gate, she has big shoes to fill for book #2, which I will be eagerly anticipating!

ARC provided by NetGalley

She works for the CIA and works on detecting spies. She's married, has children and life is good. At least it is until she finds out her husband is a Russian sleeper. She should turn him in but she can't. She loves him...

Ballantine Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published January 23rd.

When she talks to him about it, he admits it. Her world falls apart. It just gets worse. She tries to protect him and then the Russians begin to blackmail her into being an inside person in the CIA. She does something that won't damage much, but the threats escalate.

This is a cat and mouse world with death hovering around the edges. She believes in him but I'm not sure she should. They live through this crisis but I don't think her troubles are over yet.

With lots of suspense and tension throughout the story, this author keeps you reading. It's a scary look at how things can turn out even with the best of intentions. Who do you trust?

The protagonist is too wishy washy. She's an analyst yet misses the most obvious clues. And the ending is overly contrved. The premise is good it just didn't meet its full potential.

I loved this novel but I hope "Viv" does not become another "Sally Serial". With that said this is the "Americans" tv series but twice as good!! I loved it

I am so conflicted about this book. There was a lot I liked about it but at the same time, so much I really didn’t.

I thought the book was well written and the basic plot of the story was interesting. The fact that the author herself was a CIA analyst for several years added an air of authenticity to the book. And at times the suspense was incredibly intense.

Unfortunately, there was a flip side to all the good. I really disliked all the emphasis on the main character’s family. I understand why it was part of the story but it changed the whole feel of the book. I thought this book was going to be more of a straightforward thriller but instead it was more of a mashup of a thriller and a women’s fiction book. It was so touchy feely. All the flashbacks of her pregnancies, how much she loved her husband and kids, etc; it just droned on and on. But, I gritted my teeth and read on.

I am glad I finished the book because the ending made slogging through all the silliness worthwhile.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Karen Cleveland offers a master plot of counterintelligence impacting marriage and motherhood in Need to Know. Vivian Miller, a CIC analyst, is married to Matt. When her husband's picture pop up in a collection of photographs of an American sleeper cell, she's upset. Can she keep her secret to herself? Will her marriage suffer now she knows she's sleeping with the enemy? Can she protect their four children?

Vivian's faithfulness to what she promised to her employer is challenged once a single solution remains open. Will she betray her country in order to keep herself and her children alive? A convincing plot with psychological development way beyond an average crime fiction title.

Wow! This might be the first spy novel I have truly enjoyed from cover to cover. It is more than just your typical spy story with complex family dynamics. The protagonist is put in a situation where she must choose what is more important to her - family or the very country she serves. The plot is fast-paced with an addictive quality to the writing. This is being made into a movie to be starring Charlize Theron. Sure to be a hit. Highly recommended to readers of thrilling fiction.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

The book’s narrator is Vivian, who alternates her perspective between the past and present. Vivian is a CIA analyst whose algorithm uncovers secrets of Russian sleeper cells in the US. Unfortunately, she soons finds that this means her family (husband and four children) and life as they know it is in jeopardy. How does she choose between family and country? Well, at times she doesn’t do a good job of making decisions. Once this is made into a movie, we’ll be yelling at the on-screen Vivian, “no, don’t do it, ah geez, what were you thinking?” Then again, once you place yourself in her position, you wonder what choice you would have made and it will raise some questions. What choices do our CIA operatives make? How do you separate love of country from love of family? Which is more important? Does it depend on the situation? How will you live with the consequences of the choices you make?

This was an entertaining and page-turning thriller, which you had to keep reading to see what happens next. The book starts off with a bang and the remainder deals with the fallout. The characters and their dialog were realistic, the plot was well-thought out and the ending was perfect! This is a great book to curl up with on a cold and snowy weekend spent indoors.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/need-to-know-by-karen-cleveland-4-stars/

Not usually a fan of spy novels, I loved Need to Know. Karen Cleveland has written a wonderful spy novel that I couldn't stop reading. Vivian, CIA analyst and mother of four, is thrown into a world of espionage and mystery when she learns that her husband of ten years is a Russian spy. Faced with the choice to betray her country or her family, she will do everything she can to keep her family safe, despite the consequences. Fast paced and addictive, this novel will not disappoint.

As an introductory book, Karen Cleveland’s book about a CIA analyst’s family and her investigation into Russian moles in the CIA was really entertaining. It was a spy story but also a family’s struggle with accusations about whether one of the family is a Russian mole or is it someone else within the CIA department where the analyst works. I thought I knew who was the bad guy(s) but I didn’t know the extent of the conspiracy. Nicely done all the way to the end.

An excellent book that was hard to put down. Vivian is a criminal analysis for the CIA and it’s her job to track down Russian sleeper spies. While hacking into a Russians computer she soon discovers that one of the spies has close ties with her and finds that her whole life has been based on lies.

A great work by Cleveland!

Vivian is an analyst at the CIA who has moved up in the ranks and is finally on the Russia team, trying to find the sleeper cell that has infiltrated the U.S. Her husband Matt works, but doesn’t seem to work very much, as he mostly helps at home with their four children. Vivian has wanted to stay home with the children for years and just be a mom, but their finances limit her choices. When the book starts, Vivian is working on her computer on a program that she has developed to mirror the computer of a known Russian agent named Yury. What she discovers horrifies her and threatens her job and her freedom. Pictured on her screen, as a sleeper agent, is her husband Matt. The action in this book is very fast and very believable since it is written by a former CIA agent. Vivian has to save her family as well as her marriage, if she can. But the Russians are closing in and demanding that she betray her nation. What will her choice be? Is there anyone she can turn to for help, or she is on her own to make sure that her family survives her husband’s betrayal? This was an excellent read with a twist at the end that I did not see coming and that left me saying, “What just happened?!?”

Good grief. Don't start this book unless you're prepared to read it in one sitting.
CIA counterintelligence analyst Vivian Miller is confronted with information that puts her whole family in danger. This incredible story explodes in the first chapter and the intensity doesn't stop until you put it all together - on the very last page.

I've stayed up late finishing other stories because I wanted to know what happened. But this book is different. The writing literally compels your progress through the pages. The plot is well conceived with twists and turns. The characters are realistically drawn and the dialogue very natural. Just when you think you've got a handle on the situation it shifts. Need to Know is one of the best examples of the expression, "a real page turner", that I've read.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was well-written and it was easy for the reader to get involved in the main character's actions and identify with her. It was set up for a sequel, which I would read.

A great plot has to also be told by a great writer. I think the writing of the book distracts from the plot’s telling. I found too much repetition, too many simple sentences, and too little character development. I expect that there may be a second outing from this author in which I hope she addresses some of these flaws.

As others have said, it very well could make a better movie than book. In the meantime, perhaps the reader willing to experiment with the work of a new author will be sufficiently drawn into the story to find it of interest and be able to hold their interest - I was some of the time, but just not enough of the time.
______________
This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

*3.75/5.00 stars

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


If you watch the FX series The Americans and the NBC's The Blacklist, the concept of this book is not new to you but it urges you to read because you want some bad-ass spy thing and some mastermind killing plot.

Vivian, a CIA employee unraveled a classified documents about Russian sleepers in the US soil, whereas one of the photos taken includes here lifetime partner, Matt. Conflicts in her marriage arise as she connects all her time with her husband are all lies. The most haunting question that shattered her life is choosing her family or her duty.

Well, I like the story because it resembles Tom and Elizabeth Keen of the The Blacklist. I also love reading thriller/spy/mystery novels. I saw this book on my email because it was promoted by Netgalley. I tried to check it out but it was piled under my TBR books.

No doubt that I enjoy this book because of its fast-paced plot. No boring moments for me. But I gave it 3.75 star rating because:

The fact that Vivian chose her family over her duty. I hate Matt. Really!? You didn't even protect your family no matter what the threats are? What about Vivian? She should be the one doing what you are f*ucking doing.

Even though the plot was fast-paced but the story was predictable. Nothing new about the plot. It doesn't differ from other novels like this. I expected more of the tensions between Vivian and Matt. Vivian with her children. Vivian with her job.

Over-all Need To Know is a great and fun read.