The Helsinki Affair is a classic spy novel with a female spy at the center. The story kicks off with a CIA operative, Amanda Cole, stationed in Rome who is tipped off to an American assassination from a Russian informant. The plot takes off from there as Amanda explores the reasons behind the assassination. At the same time, her father, also a CIA operative, must face some of his past decisions. As the story alternates between present and past timelines, we discover how the two are or aren't connected.

I enjoyed the story and hope that the open-ended conclusion means we may see more stories about Amanda Cole.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Simon&Schuster for a free copy of #TheHelsinkiAffair by Anna Pitoniak. All opinions are my own.

Could not put it down. The characters, plot, and settings not only drew me in but kept me there, wanting more. I highly recommend as a top book club pick! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. #sponsored

Would recommend for fans of…
🕵🏻‍♀️ Jason Bourne
🕵🏻‍♀️ Mission: Impossible
🕵🏻‍♀️ House of Cards

Spy and espionage thrillers are some of my favorites – I love the combination of action and mystery. But I’m often frustrated by how many books in this genre focus on male protagonists and woefully underdeveloped female supporting characters.

Anna Pitoniak is working to change that, first with her political thriller Our American Friend, and now with a more traditional spy novel, The Helsinki Affair, which focuses on Amanda, a CIA officer with espionage in her blood, who gets caught up in an international scandal when a Russian defector arrives at her Roman outpost.

There is so much to love about this book! It’s action packed! It is full of drama! It features a huge conspiracy that is fun to unravel as you read. And even with all of the action, there’s a big focus on family that really grounds the story and makes it feel accessible (even if you aren’t a CIA operative).

The characters were another bright spot for me. I appreciated that Amanda was flawed and made mistakes, but always found a way to get back up and try again. I loved the fact that she had a female mentor, Kath, who helped her, but didn’t shy away from brutal honesty. And I really enjoyed getting to see Amanda’s relationship with her parents and how they both played a central role in the story.

I’m not sure if there are plans for this to become a series but I would gladly read at least 15 more Amanda Cole novels. Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a disappointing read. It was just kind of a dismal story, and I had been looking for more of a thriller.

The writing wasn't really grabbing me from the start, hence the long time it took me to finally finish it

I had empathy for the main character, and the issues of morality regarding her father (and her), but man it was just told so very flatly. Even the the two main characters thinking about what was or wasn't moral about their decisions came across like an unemotional robot was contemplating the morality, not a human being who had had interactions within a family and relationships with others.

The various timelines were distracting, and I am indeed a fan of flashbacks and differing timelines to build tension, but this, this was just a an odd mess of timelines and at times odd POV narratives from minor characters.

The Helsinki Affair is an explosive tale of treachery and deception that details the dark side of espionage. Anna Pitoniak drops this fresh take on historical spy craft and how one decision can affect decades leading to built up tension and suspense.

Learning to embrace her new career as a CIA station chief, Amanda Cole has been primed for this her whole life. Her Father Charlie was an Agent in the CIA as well with some questionable history. Cole is met by a junior Russian GRU contact who warns of an imminent threat to an American official.

Cole learns of some problematic decision making from fellow agents as she’s thrust into investigation mode. While learning that her families history has a large part of damage potentially done to the United States best interests, she must focus on keeping her contact alive and the U.S. safe.

Pitoniak brings to life a story of deceit and redemption by one career family and really embraces the spy culture from beginning to end. You get a story that spans decades that will take you on the journey from exciting opportunities to fallacy riddled decisions that preempts death. This isn’t your normal action backed blockbuster drama, but a detailed look at how tedious and methodical the life of a spook is.

The character buildup from beginning to end is amazing as you get to know the Cole family and why father and daughter are so much alike, yet so different. The story tracks easily from the start with a whole host of Russian and American characters, all with their own unique problems and quirks. Internal conflict is present as well as Pitoniak cleverly jumps from problems in personnel, to decision making issues that Cole must resolve before moving forward. I really enjoyed this one as it has a classy cinematic feel while blending decades of espionage.

I love stories of female spies and this Cold War story had me sucked in from page 1. I also appreciated how Pitoniak addressed the complicated history between the US, Afghanistan and Russia and the ethical issues and guilt that come with the attempt to prevent the assassination of a US Senator.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the copy to review.

Anna Pitoniak's The Helsinki Affair is the authors follow up to Our American Friend, Necessary People, and The Futures. Pitoniak aimed to give readers a female heroine in the same league as the men in classic spy thrillers and I think she did a valiant job. 40 something Amanda Cole is a brilliant CIA officer following in the footsteps of her father, who was a spy during the Cold War. Amanda has worked for the CIA for 17 years. She is now in her second year as Deputy Station Chief for the CIA in Italy.

One day, a possible Russian defector by the name of Konstantin Semonov approaches the America Embassy claiming that he has important information about Senator Robert Vogel whose life may be in danger in Cairo, Egypt. Though Amanda takes the warning seriously, her superiors don’t. Twenty-four hours later, the senator is dead. And the assassination is just the beginning. After the Senator dies, Amanda is summoned back to the States where she assumes the new title of CIA Station Chief.

Amanda soon learns that Senator Vogel's Chief of Staff has discovered some cryptic notes about ongoing Russian operation, directed by the GRU unit 29155, that manipulates the stock markets using viral social media posts. *This is not all that far fetched since a whole lot of Fake News is spread by Trolls and Bots in both Russia and China* The Senator's notes also mentions Amanda's father name (also a CIA agent). Amanda decides to push ahead and not recuse herself from discovering the truth.

Teaming up with Kath Frost, a fearless older woman and legendary spy, Amanda races from Rome to London, from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, unraveling the international conspiracy. But as she gets closer and closer to the truth, a central question haunts her: Why was her father’s name written down in the senator’s notes? What does Charlie Cole really know about the Kremlin plot? Will she protect him and risk the career she prizes above everything? Or will Amanda sacrifice her beloved father and shatter his reputation to prove her fealty to the agency to which she has dedicated her life?

*Thoughts* The story goes back and forth in time between Amanda’s current operation and her father’s time as a spy in Helsinki in the 1980s. Both stories involve double crosses, traitors and the whole trust factor. I will say that I felt nothing for Charlie. People like him should have been imprisoned for life. One of the key factors in this story was Russia's ability to manipulate stupid Americans into doing what they asked. One could also say this about American business owners doing business in China where you are required to allow them to own a piece of your company which leads to theft of intellectual properties.

If you are asking yourself if it was a coincidence that I read two Espionage thrillers back to back, the answer is no. I just happen to like stories from the 1980's and 1990's when Russia and the US had not only double agents, but sometimes triple agents. When the US was funneling money and weapons to the group who would one day be lead by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, while the Russians were using traitorous CIA agents to leak important information that would have exposed all of deep cover CIA agents in the Middle East. Do I have an underlying hatred for the CIA? You are damned right.

I always love a good spy story! This book takes us around the world with Amanda Cameron, CIA section leader based in Rome. Her father Charlie was an agency in Helsinki 30 years earlier and Amanda gets drawn into a dicey situation because of that. Female spies by a female author!

The Helsinki Affair was really enjoyable. I love a good spy thriller to break up my other reads. I would read more from the author.

This is a new to me author, but I will be definitely looking for more of her works. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I can’t wait to see what else is going to happen. At least I hope there’s going to be more. The author pulls you into the story and doesn’t let you go until the very end. I love stories where it feels like you’re right there with the characters and the author does a great job of doing that.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

It is a family affair in this one, where a daughter follows in the family footsteps of being a spy in the CIA, coming across a conspiracy long since covered up by her own organization.

Told in dual timelines, you get to experience what being ‘in too deep’ can do to a person. Difficult decisions will need to be made regarding her father and how to maintain diplomatic relations with Russia. You can only hide the truth for so long, and the time is up.

I liked the premise of the daughter uncovering past conspiracies involving her father, but her dad was really dumb in my opinion. I found myself frustrated with his decisions throughout. There were a lot of side characters to keep track of which was a bit distracting, but still a cool premise, with decent execution.

Appreciate the early copy from Simon & Schuster in exchange for my honest review

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of "The Helsinki Affair" by Anna Pitoniak. Following CIA agent, Amanda Cole. Cole tries to uncover the understory of what is unfolding regarding a senator's death. During the story, we learn about the history of things connected to her father's past (also a spy).
There were multiple timelines and international travel. It was well-written with a great plot and the fun ride. The political undertones were not my preference, and it was a read that i had to take in small doses. It was a good book, overall. I have already recommended it to my father.

Anna Pitoniak tries to write a spy thriller about a female spy. The book has gotten lots of attention because of it but as one commenter says about the review in the Washington Post, Why isn't there any discussion of the writing? Well maybe it's because the writing isn't great. (The Washington Post review wasn't very great either, getting as it does one of the most important facts wrong) Amanda isn't well written - the bit about her past dependence on alcohol is really weak. Katherine, an older fellow spy, is much more interesting. And Charlie, Amanda's dad, about whom the story revolves, is a shadow. All in all it's an ok book but not one that will push any of the old boys off their perches, much as we might like it to.

Amanda Cole has been following her father’s footsteps by becoming a CIA officer, but she is slowly becoming bored with her lackadaisical assignment in Rome. Then one day in summer, a Russian walks into the American embassy stating he knows of an assassination plot against a US Senator. Amanda’s superior doesn’t believe it, and twenty-four hours later the Senator is dead.

Amanda finds herself the new station chief and given assistance by the legendary spy Kath Frost in order to determine why the Senator was murdered. A terrifying question follows Amanda as she investigates. Why did the Senator have her father’s name in his notes? And why did Charlie Cole ask her to not involve him?

Espionage stories are one of the genres that I enjoy reading, especially authors like Daniel Silva. Anna Pitoniak is similar to Silva but brings a new element that Silva hasn’t quite yet. I really wanted to read an espionage novel with a female spy as the protagonist, and this was perfect. However, this is more of a family-based espionage story than a country against country espionage novel. The plot line follows two timelines between father and daughter, and the switching POV could be, and often was, a mid-chapter switch. That made it a little difficult to follow at moments. I wish it had been more by chapter with a chapter title to lead the way. There is also a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, and it makes me want to know more. What actually happens?

Overall, I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.

I’m now 3-for-4 on Anna Pitoniak books as five star reads, and—hooray—this is a good one!

I really loved The Futures and I also liked Necessary People. I did not particularly like Our American Friend (authors, please stop trying to imagine Melania Trump into being a sympathetic figure), so I was a bit nervous that Pitoniak was going with another spy novel.

But unlike the last book, this is a GOOD spy novel. I loved the premise of this, the intricacy of the plot, and the nuanced, complex characters. There were a few parts I found hard to follow, not being particularly well informed on the Cold War (especially with regard to the Soviet-Afghan War as a kind of proxy for Russian-American conflict), but it all comes together nicely, and the story moves better than many traditional non-action driven spy novels.

Pitoniak is an auto-read author for me, now as ever, and I love how well she handles so many different genres of fiction.

Growing up, the last thing Amanda Cole thought she wanted to be was a spy. Her grandfather was in the CIA as was her father Charlie, and she’d seen firsthand the strain the job had put on her parents’ marriage. Now at the age of forty, she’s happily single and less contentedly second-in-command of the CIA’s Rome desk. Rome is nice, but savvy, talented Amanda wishes she could spend her days actually doing the job she’s trained for instead of whiling away her hours in comfort and abject boredom.

Even so, she’s experienced enough to have little time for an unlikely informant showing up at her station’s gates one day. When Russian bureaucrat Kostya Semonov claims that his information has to do with an impending assassination attempt on powerful American Senator Bob Vogel however, Amanda takes the meeting. After listening to his story, she’s convinced that his intel is legit. Alas that her station chief doesn’t feel the same way.

When the worst happens and Amanda’s beliefs are vindicated, she’s given greater responsibilities, including supervision of Semonov before he’s sent back to Russia to gather more intel for her. But a secret file Vogel had been putting together makes its way to her father, who finds himself listed in it as a person of interest despite having worked solely for the CIA’s public relations wing for decades. Charlie Cole’s career in active espionage, if not his entire life, had taken a downward turn after his disastrous posting to Helsinki forty years ago. It’s not an era he wants to revisit, so he punts making a decision about the file to his daughter, handing it to her and asking her to keep his name as far away from the case as possible.

Amanda knows straight away that she has to bring the file to the attention of her superior. What she’s less sure about is mentioning her father in relation to it:

QUOTE
She had to come clean about Charlie’s strange request; had to tell the director that her father was clearly hiding something. It was now or never. <i>Come on,</i> she thought. <i>Start talking. Right now. Right now!</i> But there, in the thick silence, it suddenly occurred to her. The obvious outcome of telling [her boss was that the] conflict of interest was glaring. She, as [Charlie’s] daughter, would instantly lose the assignment.

But she badly wanted to see this through. The Russians assassinating an American politician was uncharted territory. Plus, Amanda was the person Semonov trusted. What if, by removing herself, she destroyed any chance at progress?
END QUOTE

As Amanda delves further into the case, she begins to uncover the real reason the Russians wanted Vogel dead. With the help of CIA savant Kath Frost, she unravels a breath-taking global conspiracy to manipulate the world’s markets. But she also discovers details about the clandestine acts that led to her father’s career downfall, and that perhaps continue to keep him compromised. How will she reconcile her need for justice with her desire to protect her father from harm?

Amanda Cole is a fascinating character: smart, compassionate and sometimes completely oblivious to what a jerk she’s being. She feels like a fully realized person, and not just one of the cardboard caricatures that lead far too many cerebral spy novels. Kath, her greatest ally, is an absolute delight, as the two women bond over the misogyny they’ve faced in their careers from their own people. More importantly, Kath tempers Amanda’s more knee-jerk responses, in a partnership I’m eager to see much more of.

But the real star of The Helsinki Affair is Anna Pitoniak’s nuanced view of espionage and its history. As Abe Romanoff, the American ambassador to Russia, says to Amanda over breakfast one day:

QUOTE
“Do you know why the Cold War lasted as long as it did?”

“Because they wanted to kill us and we wanted to kill them.”

He smiled, bemused by her tone[.] “That was part of it, of course. But, also, it’s because certain people were enjoying themselves too much to stop. Not <i>most</i> people. Most people aren’t that cruel. But a few powerful people, on their side and on ours: They loved the game. They loved having an enemy, having a crusade. My God, you look back on those years and they seem almost baroque. Double agents. Triple agents. Mole hunts. Conspiracies inside conspiracies.”
END QUOTE

Cruelty, Ms Pitoniak posits, may be more efficient in getting things done in the short term. In the longer view, however, it only perpetuates unnecessary suffering, not just of the people involved, but of innocents caught in cruelty’s outward-moving ripple.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the loneliness that permeates the book’s final pages. Espionage, this book infers, is a field which reflects back onto its practitioners. Charity comes back to you, as does cowardice. The trick, as Amanda learns as the gripping narrative unfolds, is in navigating between the two and holding onto the values you know to be true and worthwhile, not just what’s easier to do or believe.

This one didn't rise to the level of Our American Friend for me, but it did solidify Anna Pitoniak as a must-read author.

The Helsinki Affair felt like part spy thriller, part book club/contemporary fiction. The plot didn't totally come together for me. But I enjoyed it SO much. There's just something about her writing that draws me in and hangs onto me (plot holes and questionable character choices be damned).

I also love that her main character, a CIA agent, is a woman, who works (well!) with another woman. They're both highly competent AND warm. A delight. Though be forewarned of a quick little subplot regarding alcohol abuse (labeled, handled, but potentially triggering to some all the same).

(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.) With 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗜 𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗥, I am an Anna Pitoniak completist. I’ve read all 4 of her books, enjoying them each to varying degrees, and her latest falls near the top. This is the story of a CIA operative stationed in Rome who stumbles onto a Russian plot that leaves a U.S. senator dead, assassinated. When Amanda heads back to Langley to give her report, her father drops a file on her that leaves Amanda’s head spinning. ⁣
⁣
Just like Amanda, her father was once a CIA operative, but has worked a desk job in DC for the last 30 years. As Amanda digs deeper and deeper into the case the connections between it and her father’s last overseas posting in Helsinki become increasingly difficult to explain. ⁣
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I’m not normally a huge fan of spy thrillers, but Pitoniak is an author I trust, and that’s a good thing because I really liked this book. It had a lot that worked for me: a dual timeline, believable twists, engaging characters, and family ties that really amped up my interest. The main character, Amanda Cole, was a spy that appealed to me because she felt real. So much so, that I wouldn’t mind reading another book featuring her and that is a rare compliment coming from me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was expecting a bit more from this one considering how much I loved Our American Friend. I found that I wasn’t as engaged in the story as I had hoped.

The Helsinki Affair is a pre and post Cold War thriller, told in 2 timelines. It involves a father and daughter, both CIA officers. The father got caught up in the Cold War while serving as a case officer in Helsinki and was honey trapped by a Russian agent. The daughter coincidentally gets some intel while serving in Rome that leads her to investigate what really happened during her childhood. I wish this wasn't quite such a coincidence, but it was a fun read. I especially enjoyed the Russian characters, they were very entertaining.