A fast paced yet fairly traditional spy thriller: the Russians are killing their own scientists who defected to the UK. The top target is Elena Primalov, who’s in a safe house. But her son, a British pediatrician, refuses to join his parents. Emma Makepeace’s assignment: protect him. “Rescuing someone who doesn’t want to be saved isn’t easy.” And, in true spy novel fashion, her agency has been compromised, her boss is missing, and the vast saturated CCTV system of London has been hacked. From north London to Vauxhall across the Thames, Emma has to stealthily deliver Michael to MI6. But how do you avoid technology without the use of technology? Welcome to race through London heaths, old Victorian streets and a subterranean river. London is as much a character as Emma and Michael. The novel plays out like an action film all the way to the end with intense scenes and twists.

Ava Glass is apparently a pseudonym for “an internationally bestselling author who has sold over two and a half million copies of her books worldwide”. Well, whoever you really are (and I think you give it away in the acknowledgements), Alias Ms. Glass, your talent shines through. I hope we see more of Emma Makepeace. 5 stars!

Thank you to Random House/ Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Brown and ice-blue and ce-cold eyes only.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just six foot tall vases of unnamed exotic flowers.

I loved this fast paced thriller about a young MI6 agent assigned to deliver the son of a Russian defector. to MI6 for protection on her own while eluding Russian operatives as they race across London.

Emma Makepeace, not her real name, is a 20 something ex military British spy. Her mentor pulls her into the office to give her an assignment of pulling in the son of Russian defectors. Unfortunately, once she makes contact, her mentor and the office goes silent, she is on her own, and she needs to cross London with her assigned person at night, avoiding all cameras as they have been hacked, and not get caught. London has cameras just about every few feet, so crossing town without getting caught is nearly impossible and the bad guys have eyes everywhere. The majority of the story takes place during that one night with flashbacks to Emma's back story which is a spy story on its own. Either this story ended with a few too many loose ends or the author is setting this up for a series. I'd be okay with that and would be interested to see where Emma heads next.

My thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy for an honest review.

British spy Emma Makepeace is assigned her biggest job yet - getting her asset across London in twelve hours. When she quickly finds that no one can be trusted and that Russians have hacked the CCTV in the city, you’ll find yourself holding your breath at every development in the story.

Alias Emma is a fast-paced spy novel that left me feeling like I was in London racing against the clock with the spy and her asset. While the book was a little less thriller and a little more spy action than I typically pick up, I found myself really enjoying the change in genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ava Glass has given us a wholly original and thrilling spy novel. Emma Makepeace is charged with getting an asset across London to the safety of MI6. There’s one big problem with this: he’s being hunted by Russia’s GRU, and they’ve hacked the city’s cctv cameras. Dodging the ubiquitous cameras is almost impossible in the most covered city on the planet, but Emma is determined to keep him safe. Readers will be turning pages all night long to find out if she succeeds. This reader wants more of Emma Makepeace. Highly recommended. #Alias Emma #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthors

I loved these fast-moving good old days spy thrillers! Emma has been working undercover when she finally gets the call she has been waiting for – her first major assignment! And it is a doozy! She needs to find and protect Michael, the son of a Russian spy rebel who has bee3n targeted, along with her family, for death. Michael, however, is a well-respected doctor, and does not want to be protected, nor does he think he needs to be. He soon learns otherwise, and to make matters worse, all of Emma’s backup has disappeared and the other side is looking to kill both her and Michael. She proceeds to keep Michael safe, and they are running on foot and avoiding any cameras, but the Russians always seem to be a step ahead of her. I loved the story and the characters and hope to read more3 about Emma in the future. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this fun read!

If you’re an enjoyer of fast paced and easy to read spy novels then this is your type of book! Emma is a new secret agent given her first mission that is of massive importance and will be difficult. Through this enjoyable page turner, we learn what led her into becoming an agent as well as how much of a badass she is to take on what she does! This one was enjoyable from start to finish and I’m hoping to see more about what the future has in store for one of my new favorite characters!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an advanced copy of this espionage thriller.

Spy novels that are quest stories are hard to write. A writer has to balance not only the spycraft, but has to keep the story moving and filled with tension and doubt. And that doubt not only has to be about the success of the mission, but what the mission is doing to the character's morality and ideals. God, Political Leader and Country is fine, but what about when a person has always wanted to be an agent for good, to avenge the wrongs of the past, only to find that not much separates the good guys from the bad guys, and both will sacrifice their own players just to win. In Alias Emma, by Ava Glass, an agent with ideals if given an impossible task, remain off the grid in the most surveilled city in the free world, and trust no one not even her own people.

Emma Makepeace, not her real name, is an intelligence agent working in her home country of London, doing the difficult work of infiltrating small local protest groups and investigating if they are security risks, or just puppies yapping. She is called in to help protect the son of a Russian defector, as kill teams seem to running rampant in London killing other defectors and so called enemies of the state. She makes contact just in time to stop an assassination attempt, that leaves her beat up and suddenly alone when she calls in to report. Her handler has disappeared and the London CCTV which covers the capital have been co-opted by the opposition, and she is alone. Emma has to move her protectee, without being spotted, by either foe or even friend.

A good story with plenty twists, and lots of tension. And spycraft. Emma is not Jason Bourne, at least not movie Bourne, she feels the hits, the lack of sleep, food and the pressure, but moves on and does what she does. Emma's backstory fits the plot well, and it is nice to have a character in a spy thriller that's not just a female bond, or movie character. The other characters are well portrayed, and actions no matter how dumb make sense. Again something that is rare, and not used just to advance the plot. There is plenty of action, and plenty of spy terminology, and the plot never bogs down. Everything moves well and gets going quite quickly.

A good story that would make a good NETFLIX series. A thriller in the Eric Ambler tradition, more than John le Carré, with a plot that plays fair and doesn't falter. I liked that a lot of the names seem to come from British spies famous from TV and movies, or that might be my inner nerd. I look forward to more adventures with Emma Makepeace and other books by Ava Glass, also not her real name.

Emma — not her real name, as indicated by the title, is an English spy. She works for the Agency and has been given her first big job. She needs to bring an English citizen into safety before the Russians take him. The book goes between past and present as the reader learns about Emma’s past and the reasons she becomes a spy. Full of action and thrills, the book ends in a way that points to the need for a sequel. or a series featuring Emma? I look forward to Emma’s return and more by Ava Glass. Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for the digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House Publishing- Ballantine. This book was a thrilling ride!

Emma is a newly minted secret agent and her first big assignment is huge. She must convince the son of someone else in hiding to go with her. Several people connected to his mother have turned up dead. She has to get him somewhere in London, one of the most watched cities in the world.

This book was fantastic! I couldn't put it down until I finished. Emma is a bad ass, and it awesome reading about such a strong, physical character. I really hope there is a sequel!

ALIAS EMMA by Ava Glass is a relatively fast and easy to read spy novel. Emma, a young British spy, is the central character of the novel. After graduating from college, Emma served in the military before she was recruited by Ripley, her British spy boss. The plot revolves around increasingly dangerous Russian Secret Service activity in London and danger to a former Russian informant and her family. Ripley assigns Emma to convince Michael Primalov, the son of a former Russian spy, to agree to join his parents in protective custody. Moving Michael across London to MI6 while avoiding Russians trying to kill them proves to be harrowing. This well written story pulled me in and kept my attention all the way to the end. The characters were well developed and the plot quite believable, especially if you believe Russian spys are active in our world today. I would love to see this novel optioned as a film, and hope Ms. Glass writes a second novel with Emma, Ripley and his team of skilled agents.

Emma Makepeace has put it all on the line for her country multiple times. But when she is given a special assignment from her boss, who tells her she is the only person for the job, she takes it very seriously. She’s assigned to take a Russian pediatric cancer doctor to safety, and when he refuses to go with her, she realizes he is in more danger than she first thought. As they travel through London avoiding cameras, Russian spies, and without help, they realize they have a lot more in common than they first thought. Follow their journey through London in this heart stopping, fast paced novel.

3.5/5 Overall a fast and fun thriller as we follow the main characters through London as they try to hide from the group chasing them. I was expecting some kind of big twist or reveal that one of the characters was actually a double agent or something, but that never came. Still a fun book to read, but lacked the complexity I've become used to in spy thrillers.

I'm not normally a spy/espionage story person, but this one caught my eye. It was enjoyable, pretty well-written, but seemed to end abruptly (setting up a sequel?). Action-packed with a bad-ass heroine, Alias Emma delivers what was promised.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Emma is such a badass!! Super fast paced and I blinked and it was over. This book most definitely needs a sequel based on the ending. Thank you Net Galley & the publisher for the ARC!

Some books promise to be action packed, but this book delivers twenty times over. I can’t say enough about how persistent the breakneck pace of this book is. I could not put this book down - literally. I read it in one afternoon/evening and felt inconvenienced by needing to eat dinner.

Emma is tasked with bringing in Michael after it becomes clear that Russian operatives are coming for him and his family. Michael is resistant at first, but once he sees the danger he is really in, he agrees to go with Emma to MI6. But after she convinces him, Emma discovers her agency has been compromised, and now she needs tog ear him across London without help, all while avoiding CCTV. The terrifying cat and mouse night that follows will have you on the very edge of your seat for hours. Add this to your TBR RIGHT NOW.

this is such a fun book with a great sense of pacing/action
emma is pretty complex as a character but the book felt like it needed to be longer to truly flesh out both main characters
ending was a little too ambiguous for my taste (hello sequel) but i thought the main storyline was fine
kickass woman points: 4/5

Emma Makepeace isn’t her birth name. That’s Alexandra, born in London of a Russian widow. Her father was a fairly high-up Russian government employee whose love of country and hatred of the Russian leaders led him to work for the British to help save his country. The KGB were coming after him, so he got his wife out to the UK before he was arrested, tortured, and killed. Alex was born in the UK, went to University, joined the military (intelligence), and plucked by Charles Ripley into ‘The Vernon Institute,’ a secretive counter intelligence unit of MI6. She had wanted to be a spy since childhood.

Michael Primalov is a pediatric oncologist. Elana, his mother was considered a traitor to mother Russia. She was Russia’s top nuclear physicist, but managed to get out of Russia when Mikhail was but a baby and MI6 settled the family in their version of witness protection. He too grew up English, but rejected living in secrecy, went to med school and became an oncologist.

The KGB/GRU is not known for being very forgiving. They will hunt down traitors until the traitor has paid the dues. Four former colleagues of Elena, also living in the UK, have been murdered recently. Elana is the sole surviving member of this research group but her whereabouts are unknown. But Michal/Mikhail is living and practicing medicine in London. The Russians want to get him to draw out his mother from hiding.

Ripley assigns Emma to contact Michael to convince him to come with her and return to protective custody. Previous attempts have failed so Ripley thinks someone closer to Michael’s age might fare better, especially now that the Russians are getting terribly close.

A couple of attempts at talking with Michael have failed, but Emma sort of ambushes him on a morning jog. That didn’t go well, but she did identify a couple Russian agents on the same jogging path. She goes a bit undercover as a hospital nurse to talk further and now sees one of the thugs dressed as an orderly. Too close. Michael begrudgingly must go with her.

Off they go, on foot, trying to get to the MI6 offices on the Thames River. The cross-town route degenerates into a deadly cat and mouse game pushing Emma and Michael though sewers, the Thames, dumpsters, drunk night owls, multiple Land Rovers tracking their movements and a ton more.

You can probably guess that Emma eventually gets Michael to MI6, but the real story is the ‘why’ behind the Russians dogged hunt for Michael. That you’ll have to find out for yourself. I didn’t see it coming.

Looks like Alias Emma is Ava Glass’ first novel and it’s a barn burner. Just in her late 20s, Emma is a boss. She takes on each attempt on Michael’s life head on. Sometimes she wins, other times she has to slither out to fight later. Each contact with the Russians is worse than the previous. I’d guess that 80% or more of the book is the 24hr pursuit by the Russians.

I liked this and I hope that it’s just the beginning of an Emma Makepeace series. It’s that good. But it did remind me of a movie. In the late 1970s, a cult movie of sorts was in wide release. The Warriors. About a NYC street gang leader who tried to organize all the street gangs and control the city streets. But he gets assassinated, and The Warriors are blamed. The movie was a string of street fights between the Warriors and the gangs chasing them down the streets and subways as they fight their way home to Coney Island. My roommate at the time was a Bronx native and he just blasted the movie as being entirely unrealistic. He said if anything like this story every did happen, the Warriors would’ve just stolen a car and driven home. Case closed. On one level, that’s this book. Emma and Michael fighting their way across London instead of just stealing a car and driving to MI6.

But that wouldn’t have been any fun. Ava Glass’ version is fun.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy. Due to be released Aug 22, 2022.

Reading this book took me back to when I was a young child. Growing up, I was OBSESSED with spies. It got to the point where, after wanting to dress up as Carmen Sandiego for Halloween for the fourth year in a row, my mother had to put her foot down. So, when I read the synopsis of this novel, I was super excited! And, it did not disappoint, for the most part. Emma Makepeace (a spy name if I ever heard one) is a fantastic character with a detailed and twisty back story. I loved that the main character was a badass female spy who used her wits and sometimes her physical abilities to take down her enemies. Michael was cool too, I guess lol. I also think Ripley was one of my favorite characters in the novel even though we don't get to see too much of him. He just had that dark allure about him that every spy needs. I liked the action scenes and the setting. I never got bored with the novel and finished it within a few days of picking it up. My only complaint is that the ending was very open-ended; it felt like there were a lot of plot holes that were left unresolved at the end. However, I feel like Ava Glass was leaving it open in order to be able to write a sequel, and if that is the case, then I view the ending as more of a positive than a negative. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and was so glad to get to go back to my childhood obsession with the trade.

British secret agent Emma Makepeace is tasked with her first solo assignment: to guide a young, handsome doctor to safety across the dark London night and protect him from being kidnapped by Russian agents. This novel has big-screen movie written all through it. Good minor plots include Emma's reasons for wanting to be an agent and her mentoring relationship with her supervisor.