Very well written thriller with a strong, resourceful, courageous female protagonist. I felt as if I was living the nightmare along with Vivian, a CIA agent, as she gets more and more tangled in a web of deception and blackmail by the Russian spies she is assigned to investigate.
Vivian is a conflicted working mother of four children under 10 years old and seems to be the main breadwinner of the family.
Her career is important, but she feels pulled between work and family every day.
There are exciting and unexpected plot twists and a very good ending to this well thought out story that keep you engaged from the beginning to the end.

Vivian has a wonderful husband, two beautiful children, and a job that she loves as a CIA analyst chasing down Russian sleeper cells. But her world comes crashing down when she discovers a file of deep-cover agents with her husband's picture in it. Stunned and panicked, she deletes it. Rather than deny it, her husband admits to his involvement and spins a tale Vivian so desperately wants to believe. She's betrayed her country in deleting the photo, she's literally living with the enemy, and now his handler wants more. Vivian must choose between family and country. 
Wonderfully written, there are more twists in this story than a mountain trail and you will love it until the very end.

Wow! What a great read! I did not want to put this book down. Try as I might, I could not sort through the lies any quicker than Vivian, the main character. Fast paced, suspenseful - what a journey! I'm certainly looking forward to more novels by Karen Cleveland.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the privilege of reading and reviewing this superb novel!

WOW, just wow. This is a spy thriller. Not much guts and gore but oh so many thrills. You get stopped in your tracks when the author drops a surprise, a shock right on your head and then you read along and all of a sudden, you get another dumped on your head and then another and when you think it is all over yet ANOTHER.

While this is a spy thriller, it is also a book about family. About doing whatever it takes to keep your kids safe. Definitely a book worth reading. You will not be able to put it down.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

Highly recommend! Any fan of fast moving spy/political thrillers will lose at least one night of sleep on this one! I have already told my friends to just buy this one now. Looking forward to her next one. Don’t hesitate on this one, 5 Stars.

Need to Know is a suspenseful riveting novel. There are definite times when you know decisions made are going to get you in worse trouble, but the fixes are fantastic.

What can you trust?

That is truly the central question of this very strong debut novel from author Karen Cleveland.

Need to Know is a book about a woman whose life is completely torn apart by a revelation about someone she is close to. And the twists keep coming as more and more layers are pulled back. It is difficult to write more and not give away parts of the story.

I recommend the read. It is very quick, has details without being too technical or bogged down with descriptions, and you may find yourself staying up way past bedtime to finish.

A remarkably entertaining entry in the political suspense genre: Amazingly plotted, with central characters that prove to be realistic and engaging. The author's own career experience with the CIA makes this book sing, and the complicated plot unwinds into a satisfying conclusion. Move this to the top of your TBR list.

I've read a lot of spy novels over the years. This is definitely one of the good ones. Tension is maintained throughout the story. The ending is realistic if not fairytale. The idea of an average government employee being forced into betraying her country is very well managed. Definitely worth the read.

a hit movie waiting to be made. Vivian, a CIA counter-terrorism analyst has discovered her husband Matt is a Russian spy. her decision to protect her family by not revealing this has consequences that fall like dominoes, each one putting her and her children into greater danger. while i found much of the plot far fetched the real tension came from always wondering which side Matt truly was on...Vivian's or Russia's. the author kept the suspense up throughout and the ending was awesome.
i want to thank NetGalley for allowing me to rad this book before it was offered to the public.

All I could think about as I started reading this amazing thriller was Margo Channing's quote from the movie All About Eve: “Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.” Need to Know grabs you from the very beginning, and it is almost impossible to put down. Almost anything I could say about it would be a spoiler, but I can say that this book has a cohesive, intricate and "oh my gosh, did that just happen?" plot with a great cast of characters. This book reminded me of Nelson DeMille's book, The Charm School, which is one of my very favorite books ever, and just like The Charm School, Need to Know, does not let you down and keeps the tension ramped up throughout.

I highly recommend this book, and dare you to try to put it down!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The story throws you a hook in the prologue, then baits it a couple of chapters later, and then you’re reeled in for a fast moving, twisty spy thriller. Like other reviewers, I found I couldn’t put it down and read it in three short sessions over two days.

Thinking about it after, to write this review, I can say it was certainly an entertaining book, but I had some problems with the main character, Vivian. I would expect a seasoned CIA analyst to be analytical and skeptical – and Vivian was really neither. She had a history of making poor decisions, and seemed impulsive and naïve – arguably because she kept focus on what was best for her kids instead of what was the right thing for her job and country. I remember thinking that I hope REAL CIA employees serve us better than she did.

I would recommend the book nonetheless – you always have to suspend disbelief when reading fiction – and the issues I had with Vivian did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. I would read this author again.

I want to thank NetGallery, Random House and the author for allowing me to have a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I really need to thank my Goodreads friends for writing such stellar reviews for this novel because I would of never requested this one otherwise. Political thrillers just aren't my thing. I saw this on NetGalley and kept passing it by but then all the reviews started pouring in and I became intrigued. I am glad I did or I was going to miss out on an amazing thriller.

What happens when the man you've been married to for over a decade turns out to be someone you don't even know? Vivian's life is about to change forever and that's all I'll say about the plot.

This is a fast paced wild ride right to the very end. And that ending,WOW, best epilogue EVER!

READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for proving me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Need to Know is an excellent spy thriller written by author Karen Cleveland. There's many layers of intrigue and deception in this book. Almost impossible to stop reading once you start. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the advance copy.

Karen Cleveland's debut novel is a stunningly compelling story about a CIA analyst caught up in a moral conundrum. It is fast-paced, tautly-constructed, and utterly un-put-downable! I devoured it in a single day and then was left wanting more. Despite the unusual setting, readers will find themselves relating to and empathizing with Vivan Miller as she navigates the ethical implications of her circumstances and actions as she desperately seeks to protect her young children, as well as the life she and her husband have constructed. Who can she trust? Where can she turn for help? Can she make choices that ensure the safety and well-being of her children? Every chapter reveals another complication, more questions and demands that Vivian make more calculated choices. Cleveland smartly keeps her readers on edge along with Vivian, equally unable to discern whether Vivian should trust any of the cleverly-constructed supporting characters, most notably, Vivian's beloved husband, Tom. Cleveland has penned an instant classic thriller that deserves to be a wildly successful bestseller. I can't wait to read more from her!
(Thanks to NetGalley for the Advance Reader's Copy of the book.)

A very good book. It has strong characters and a gripping story. A definite must read!

Within the first few pages, I knew this would be a book I couldn’t put down. CIA analysis Vivian searches for spies, cells, etc. connected to Russia. She’s making great progress until she opens a folder with five pictures, one of which is a person very close to her. This information is so unbelievable to her that she’s not sure how to proceed with the information. Protect this person, which will mean that she has committed treason or turn them in as her job dictates? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
And just when you think you have figured everything out, the ending will completely blow you away.

Should she tell. Should she not. What would I do?

Vivian, a CIA analyst, is ten years into her marriage, with heavy debt, four kids — one of the twin babies with a heart condition — and no relatives nearby, when she discovers that her husband is a Russian operative.

Should she tell?

She is coerced into cooperating with Yury, the Russian agent. The steps she takes to fix her dilemma snowball and make her situation go from bad to worse. She is quickly in over her head.

Should she tell?

The characters and story, especially, are extremely well developed. As I read this book, I summarized along the way to my husband who was a linguist and ASA analyst years ago while in the Army. He said the author is spot on with her knowledge of the CIA and it’s workings. She knows her stuff.

Intrigue and espionage fill the pages of this book. Three quarters of the way through I wondered how the author was ever going to bring this to a believable ending. She very successfully does. Well done, Ms. Cleveland. I highly recommend this book to my reading friends. I would give it more than five stars if I could.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. I look forward to the author’s next endeavor.

Wow. I was completely blown away by Need to Know by Karen Cleveland! While I wanted to dislike the main character of the book, Viv, for seeming to have the perfect life, her discovery as a CIA analyst had me shaken (especially because, as a mother, I imagined myself in her position). This book was interesting, especially as Karen Cleveland really knows her stuff. I was not only hooked, but it was also cool to learn about things from an expert's perspective. Overall, a great read. I look forward to reading more by Karen Cleveland!

This book grabbed my attention immediately and pulled me in. Vivian, married, mother of four, works for the CIA in the Russia division. When she makes a startling discovery that her husband is a Russian agent, her life as she knows it, begins to crumble. She truly does not know who to believe and who she can trust, at work or at home. Ultimately, she recognizes the need to protect her children. How she manages that becomes complicated.
I kept waiting for the 'twist' to take place. It still comes but not in the way I expected.