Our American Friend
By Anna Pitoniak
For the past four years Sofie Morse has been the newspaper’s White House correspondent. Tired of traveling frequently between DC and New York, Sofie decides that if President Caine wins a second election, it is time to move on. She leaves her position and receives a surprising phone call from the White House. The aide to First Lady Lara Caine has requested a meeting. This glamorous Russian woman offers Sofie a career-changing opportunity to write Caine’s biography. As the public knows very little about Lara Caine and her mysterious past, it is a job Sofie cannot resist. They meet regularly and develop an intimate friendship. Lara confides things that have never been revealed and are controversial to her husband’s position. With no NDA in place, Sofie is completely baffled when months into their diligent work, Lara stops returning her calls. As this political thriller begins to unravel, it becomes quite clear that everyone involved is at great risk. Clever and well written, this novel may be loosely based on you-know-who and filled with a fast-paced game of espionage that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
A Woman of Intelligence
By Karin Tanabe
In 1954 post-war Manhattan, Katharina Edgeworth is a socialite with every advantage a woman could desire: A handsome, wealthy husband who saves children’s lives as a pediatric surgeon, two beautiful sons and a fancy apartment on Fifth Avenue. But “Rina” once lived another life. She has a graduate degree in languages from Columbia University and was deeply passionate about her career at the United Nations. Before family responsibilities took over every waking moment of her life, Rina had friends, traveled and enjoyed an exhilarating social life. Most women would be grateful, but all she feels is lonely and regretful. One day Rina is mysteriously approached with an opportunity from the FBI to assist them as an informant and infiltrate the inner workings of a Soviet spy ring. Completely out of her comfort zone, yet mesmerized by this newly found purpose, Rina puts her skills to the test. What initially begins as a way to escape her restlessness quickly turns into unimaginable escapades in the mysterious world of espionage. Rina struggles to balance subterfuge and motherhood to survive. The perfect mix of cold war history, politics, feminism and family drama.
An Affair of Spies
By Ronald Balson
In 1938, Nathan Silverman’s parents send him to the United States to live with his Aunt. Life in Berlin had become unbearable, and the family anticipated the worst was yet to come. Nathan’s father, a nuclear physicist, made the dreadful decision to remain in Germany with his wife and daughter. A few years later while taking classes at Columbia in NYC, Nathan is offered an opportunity with the U.S. Army to help fight the Nazis. Utilizing his sharp insight, language skills and geographical expertise, he is swiftly transferred to work on the top secret Manhattan Project. The race begins for the U.S. to develop nuclear weapons before Hitler. On his first assignment, Nathan, disguised as a Wehrmacht officer, travels to Berlin with his secret weapon, the beautiful and brainy nuclear scientist Dr. Allison Fisher. Their mission is to learn everything possible about the Nazi nuclear weapons program and extract a world-renowned physicist who is desperate to defect. This WWII novel takes us deep into the evils of Nazi Germany and a peek into the creation of the atomic bomb. A nail biting chase until the very last page.
WATCH TIP: “In From the Cold” on Netflix. A single mother and ex-Russian spy now living secretly in N.J. is coerced back to her old life when she is exposed.
