📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
Alias Emma by Ava Glass
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 288 / Genre: Mystery & Thriller

Wow, wow, wow! Alias Emma by Ava Glass gets one of my rare 5⭐️ ratings! This fast-paced, non-stop thrill ride was so exciting and engaging I couldn’t read it fast enough.

All Emma Makepeace has ever wanted to do was to become a spy like her father so she could find the person who executed him and to hurt Russia any way she can. On her first big assignment, Emma is tasked with bringing in the son of a Russian scientist who divulged secrets to the UK. Michael Promalov is a successful pediatrician who refuses to believe his life is in danger. Once Emma finally convinces him to let her bring him in, she quickly discovers that her boss has gone missing and that she’s out on her own without any assistance. Through one long eventful night, she and Michael must make their way across London without being caught on CCT cameras with a team of highly trained Russian agents hot on their trail. The action is so vivid and exciting you feel like you’re watching it on the big screen rather than reading it.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advance copy of this book. I loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Alias Emma” is a fast-paced old school action adventure of a novel featuring a James Bond type protagonist. The twist is that it’s a female spy trying to rescue a handsome male doctor from the Russians. I could picture the scenes as if they were already a movie - and I hope that’s coming! I was also heartened to see that this is being billed as “Alias Emma book one” which makes me hope that there’s a book two coming soon. Nice first adult fiction outing for Ava Glass, the pseudonym of a best selling YA writer. Recommended. Four stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I could not put this one down until I found out how it ended. Glass wrote the most exciting foot chase I've ever read and made it compelling by creating a character I could instantly connect with despite the fact that only thing we have in common is our gender.
Emma works for an intelligence agency so secret that it's not even as unofficially off the books as MI6, and she gets her first major assignment to bring in the son of a former Russian top scientist when a plot to kill her and her family is discovered. What begins as a simple pick up quickly becomes a race against time with the Russians hot on their heels and all the surveillance of London against them.
The fact that it left me with so many questions is perhaps one of the reasons why I'm recommending it so highly. It lends a serious degree of reality for the newbie spy to end her most epic assignment with almost as many questions as when she began it. I'm sure the desire to wrap everything up in a nice bow was there, but props to Glass for leaving certain things up in the air.
Overall, it's an action-packed spy thriller that makes a pulse-pounding story out of a simple foot chase. Now, that's impressive.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the exciting read!

Alias Emma follows Emma Makepiece, an operative working for ‘The Agency’, a subset of the British Government. She’s assigned to track down and save an innocent doctor wanted by the Russian government but given very little information on why. As the day unfolds she learns more about who she is protecting, and how badly the Russians are trying to thwart her efforts.

This is marketed as Killing Eve meets James Bond and while I found it to be entertaining, I also thought that there were many loose threads that were never tied up while the action popped up when expected and wrapped up quickly or as expected.

This was a perfect book to read in a day or two - I enjoyed it but also wanted a lot more from it in terms of the story and writing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review - Alias Emma is out now!

Published by ‎ Bantam on August 2, 2022

Russian assassins have been killing former Russian scientists who were once affiliated with Elena Primolov, a Russian nuclear physicist who was an asset of MI6. Charles Ripley was once Elena’s handler and perhaps her lover. Ripley spirited Elena and her family out of Russia just before the KGB was going to swoop down upon her. Years later, Ripley has a senior position in the Secret Intelligence Service. When he learns that Russians who were once close to Elena are being targeted, Ripley moves Elena to a secure location. Just how secure it might be is open to question. Another Russian lodged in a safe house was just killed, leading Ripley to suspect that a Russian mole is working in the SIS.

Ripley is training a young agent whose code name is Emma Makepeace. He gives her a meaningless assignment to get her out of the way, then tasks her with persuading Elena’s son Michael to stay with his protected mother. Michael is a pediatric oncologist in London and wants nothing to do with cloak-and-dagger shenanigans until he changes his mind after the second time Emma saves his life.

Ed Masterson wants Ripley’s job. Does he undermine Ripley and Emma because he is a double agent or is he merely ambitious? Ripley’s future is unclear by novel’s end, as is the identity of the mole, assuming one exists (and in spy fiction, one always exists).

Most of Emma’s adventure involves an extended chase scene. To get Michael to safety, Emma must tamp down her growing lust for the doctor while navigating their way through London as they are being pursued by Russian assassins. The tour of London’s back alleys and underground waterway (to avoid the city’s network of cameras that the Russians have somehow hijacked) adds atmosphere to a story that is competent but unremarkable.

Emma is a bit of a lightweight as fictional spies go, likeable enough but not memorable. The reader doesn’t spend enough time with other characters to learn anything about them, apart from one-dimensional Michael, who is a stereotype of a perfect man. He loves kids and saves them from cancer. What could be better? How sad for Emma that her duty is to Queen and Country rather than her naughty bits.

While the ending wraps up the story of Russian assassins, it leaves enough questions unanswered to make clear that Alias Emma is the first in a series that will feature Emma’s adventures in espionage. Spy novel fans won’t put Alias Emma on top of their stack of 2022 spy novels, but it is worth reading as an introduction to a series that might gain more depth and intrigue as it progresses.

RECOMMENDED

3.5 stars

I loved Emma! And I really enjoyed reading this spy thriller. However...there was a lot of running in this book. A lot. And though the chapters were intertwined with Emma's backstory and how she came to be working for MI6, I ended up skimming through some of the chapters. The running through London was okay in the beginning, but it stretched my patience by the end of the book. That said, I think this would really make a good movie. And hopefully, in the next installment, there will be a bit more substance and a little less running!

A fun spy thriller with a terrific character. I never stopped rooting for Emma!

A fun Action/Spy thriller that would make a great beach read for the end of summer.

Plot wise this is a very traditional spy novel, mostly focused on the UK and Russia. Structurally it’s much closer to an Action/Thriller, or at least it is for the first 80% of the book.

After that it falls off a cliff a bit, and the slow moving concluding chapters feel out of step with the rest of the story. In some respects the way the book ends feels like standard traditional spy novel stuff, but that didn’t really help with the fact that it felt jarringly out of tempo with the bulk of the novel. Which is too bad, because the nonstop action that comprises the majority of the book is very well done and loads of fun to read.

If you like nonstop action with a relatively simple plot, you’ll enjoy this as long as you’re prepared for the abrupt ending to it and a conclusion that fizzles out. It’s worth a read if you need something for the beach or are primarily looking for distraction content, and Emma is a likable enough main character.

Calling all spy fans! There is a new secret agent in town! Emma Makepeace is a new recruit for a branch of the British government. Her first case requires her to go undercover to protect someone that the Russians want. What ensues is a fast-paced chase as Emma finally convinces this person that witness protection is his only hope if he wants to live. I loved the book, plot, and characters and look forward to the next book in this new series.

Hello to a brilliant female version of OO7 - but more depth, toughness, vulnerability, and smarts than James Bond ever mastered. Ava Glass, a pseudonym of of author C.J. Daughtery, has created a fantastic intelligence agent with Emma Makepeace (itself a spy pseudonym).

Emma’s new being a British intelligence agent. She’s London born and bred, but her parents came from Russia where her high-ranking Dad served as a spy for the Brits. Uncovered, Emma and her Mom get whisked to the UK by British agents while her Dad gets jailed and killed for his treason. Emma’s motivated to become a spy to avenge her Dad’s death.

Emma, fresh out of training, has been languishing in a boring undercover role with environmental activists who have been up to nothing more than printing t-shirts. Unbeknownst to her, she’s been hidden away on this assignment by her mentor, who’s busy tracking down a revenge-seeking Russian agent who’s showed up on British soil. Her mentor wants to keep Emma unknown to the Russian as a reserve back-up if things go sideways.

And sideways they do. The Russian agents in Britain has started assassinating scientific defectors. They’ve now targeted Russian dissidents, who the Brits are moving to protective custody. Except for the fact that they’re only son, Michael, works as a compassionate cancer doctor and refuses to accept the risk is real. Emma’s pulled out of her undercover assignment to convince Michael of the threat and to deliver him to MI6 for protection. Only until Emma’s life in is danger in front of him does Michael realize that Russian assassins are truly after him.

What follows is a non-stop 24 hours in which everything that can goes sideways; Emma’s mentor gets side-lined, and only Emma’s ingenuity and wits can save the day. Heart-pounding action ensues, including a James Bond worthy boat chase and an escape to London’s underwater and long forgotten rivers. Plus, Emma’s got to evade the 500,000 CCTV cameras all over London that have been hacked by the Russians.

Cue the action movie this novel will surely be turned into.

Apparently, Alisa Emma 2 has already been drafted by the author, and I CANNOT WAIT!!

Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

In this action-packed thriller, Russian spies in London are picking off scientists who defected to London many years ago. Emma is a spy for a secretive British agency who gets tasked with bringing the adult son of an important Russian scientist, who has already refused protection, to safety. Most of the book is set over a very eventful 24 hours they are on the run, along with flashbacks to how Emma became a spy in the first place.

I have to say, an action based spy thriller is a really nice change from the usual psychological suspense thrillers that are popular now, and even more fun with a female action hero. This was a really quick and entertaining read, and I think will make an even better movie or tv series, and sounds like from the acknowledgements that it’s already been optioned. I will say the ending felt a tiny bit unresolved, but I bet that’s to leave things open for a sequel.

I haven't read a spy novel in what seems like years, so this was a nice change up from what I've been reading lately.

Emma is a British spy who works for the Secret Service, called the Agency. She's been assigned her first assignment and she must get Michael Primalov, a Russian target, to M16 for safety. There's a few bumps and mishaps in this highstake assignment while racing against the clock. If you like spy novels or James Bond, you'd probably be interested in this book. There's nothing outright special about this story, but it did have some tense moments and although, they are literally running the whole time, there was something just easy and distracting about the whole story. Overall, I liked it. I felt I was watching an action movie take place. I thought the author did a great job intertwining Emma's backstory with the present chapters. It never felt out of sync and quite frankly, I think I liked learning about her history the most.

I was intrigued to read this book's author, Ava Glass, is a pseudonym for a famous author wanting to branch out into a different genre. I tried searching to find out who Ava Glass really is, but didn't have any luck. I'd love to know this information and if the writing style is similar to her previous work or if I've even read her other stuff because if not, I'd like to now!

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Alias Emma by Ava Glass. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing an ARC to review.

Alias Emma was a surprisingly entertaining spy novel that was fast-paced and interesting. I was expecting a much grittier novel, but this book was more of a spy-light story. I like Emma and Michael and felt that their trip through London felt very grounded and realistic. My only complaint is that the ending felt a bit abrupt. This might make sense if this will be the first in a series. I give Alias Emma 3.5/5 stars.

Emma Makepeace is a very junior secret agent for an even more secret spy agency in England. Nothing about her is real, not even her name. She is tasked with taking a young man across London after the CCTV cameras have been hacked by the Russians, who are also hunting Michael, son of Russian dissidents. Meanwhile, there is turmoil in her agency, a struggle for power among the heads of departments. She can trust no one. Operating entirely on her own, she must not use anything that will digitally alert either the Russians or anyone else to her whereabouts. It is a race against time and the enemy, but who is the enemy? Adrenaline ride that somehow did not rise to the level I expected.

Entertaining read and a bit of a mix up for me with the whole spy thrill. It was a quick read and the chapters felt short but thorough. Emma is recruited and trained for espionage and goes on her first real op and of course it’s an absolute fire mess. I did have a bit of an issue on why in the world would she get assigned something of this nature when she was still so fresh but alas that is the story. Ava Glass did a great job making Emma likeable and not overly GI Joe. If you are in the mood for a cinematic spy movie on paper this one is for you.

<b><i>Alias Emma</i> is a fast-paced cat-and-mouse chase across hidden London, led by Emma Makepeace, a resourceful, tough, new spy determined to thwart the Russians' deadly plans.</b>

Emma Makepeace, a brand-new British spy, is jumping into duty--and danger--with both feet.

Barely out of basic training, she has just twelve hours to deliver her asset across London to safety--without being spotted by the Russians who have hacked the city's thousands of cameras, and their assassins, who are out to eliminate the person she has sworn to protect. And Emma would very much like to make it out of this alive as well.

Russians are systematically eliminating scientists who betrayed Mother Russia to England and MI6 years earlier, and Emma's wise handler is determined to figure out why--and stop them before they kill another. But not everyone at the Secret Intelligence Service may be trustworthy--both Emma's handler and Emma herself are wondering if there's a mole inside their ranks who is assisting the Russians in their bloody vendetta.

This fast-paced thriller tracks Emma and Michael, the distractingly handsome son of Russian dissidents who she has pledged to protect, on the longest night of their lives as they work to evade the thousands of cameras documenting London citizens' every move.

The stakes are life-and-death for Michael and Emma, but Emma has never been one to back down from a challenge. The Russians haven't had her on their radar, so they don't know about her unusual tactics and her ability to think on her feet. And they don't realize she's got her own personal vendetta against Russian intelligence--which is the reason she became a spy in the first place. Emma's creativity and unorthodox ideas just might save them both--but they'll have to be crafty and find a lot of good luck if they have any hope of getting to safety.

I read this start to finish during a flight (and delay), and Glass offers a cat-and-mouse chase through side streets and underground rivers in a peek at hidden London that's detailed and gritty and gripping. I was so happy to realize this is the first in a planned series. Sign me up for every bit of this!

I received a prepublication digital edition of <i>Alias Emma,</i> published August 2, courtesy of Bantam and NetGalley.

I only gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because I didn't like the so much "chasing" and "close calls" by the participants. Very well developed characters. Excellent job of creating a "mood". And, a well developed story make it a good read.

Emma Makepeace is a newly minted secret agent. When she gets the call for her first assignment, can she get the son of a Russian dissident across the city of London without either of them being killed when the Russians have hacked the security cameras of London? They have twelve hours to make it across the city, can they make it, or will they both be killed?

I very much enjoyed this fast-paced and smart spy novel through the streets of London. It's not my usual fare, but it kept my interest and was well-plotted. A great summer read, and I look forward to sequels! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Only 3 stars because while I very much enjoyed this, it was not highest literature. But I would definitely recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Emma Makepeace is the alias for a British spy, working for a government department known as The Agency - not part of MI6, although there are close ties between the two groups. Emma is recruited by The Agency after her military service, during which she worked in military intelligence. Her first assignment was to go undercover, investigating an environmental group which appeared to be possibly dangerous, an assignment which she quickly chafed at, since it seemed pretty clear that the group was not in the least dangerous. She then gets pulled in for a new assignment - Russian agents are killing Russian defectors in England, and Ripley, her boss, believes that an old friend of his is a target. She and her husband have been moved to a safe house, but their adult son, a pediatric oncologist, refuses to go, and Emma is tasked with convincing him to go.

Things move VERY fast - she meets him, he refuses, but almost immediately he is followed by Russian agents and Emma has to protect him by fighting them. He agrees to go into hiding, but wait - when she calls in to get a pickup, she's on her own - sorry, nobody can help you, good luck! And Ripley is out of touch. She finds a message left for her, telling her that the city camera system has been hijacked by the Russians, that The Agency may not be safe, and that she needs to take Michael to MI6, across the city.

So, most of the rest of the book involves Emma and Michael trying to get across London (a heavily camera focused city) without getting caught by the Russians.

Everything moves fast here - nonstop action, fighting, hiding and running! It feels like an action movie. The only interruptions are backstory explanations, which I found very interesting. It's probably best not to think too much about the explanations, motivations, and such - if you do, it's hard to accept a lot of what's going on. Best to go with the flow and just enjoy the fast moving action!

Emma is a spy. She grew up wanting to be a spy.
She wanted to be a spy to thwart Russia. Especially since her father was a Russian spy...who was murdered by Russia.
And now she is the spy alone after having been given the assignment to protect Michael, the son of a famous Russian couple that escaped from Russia decades ago.
On the run, with only Michael as her ally, they traverse a path fraught with danger at every turn.
This is an entertaining, cohesive , and fun to read novel.
I highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC.