American Spy: A Novel
“American Spy updates the espionage thriller with blazing originality.”—Entertainment Weekly
“There has never been anything like it.”—Marlon James, GQ
“So much fun . . . Like the best of John le Carré, it’s extremely tough to put down.”—NPR
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Time • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • Esquire • BuzzFeed • Vulture • Real Simple • Good Housekeeping • The New York Public Library
What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love?
It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes. Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Sankara is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she’s being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent.
In the year that follows, Marie will observe Sankara, seduce him, and ultimately have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American.
Inspired by true events—Thomas Sankara is known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”—American Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you’ve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.
NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
“Spy fiction plus allegory, and a splash of pan-Africanism. What could go wrong? As it happens, very little. Clever, bracing, darkly funny, and really, really good.”—Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Inspired by real events, this espionage thriller ticks all the right boxes, delivering a sexually charged interrogation of both politics and race.”—Esquire
“Echoing the stoic cynicism of Hurston and Ellison, and the verve of Conan Doyle, American Spy lays our complicities—political, racial, and sexual—bare. Packed with unforgettable characters, it’s a stunning book, timely as it is timeless.”—Paul Beatty, Man Booker Prizewinning author of The Sellout
“There has never been anything like it.”—Marlon James, GQ
“So much fun . . . Like the best of John le Carré, it’s extremely tough to put down.”—NPR
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Time • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • Esquire • BuzzFeed • Vulture • Real Simple • Good Housekeeping • The New York Public Library
What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love?
It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes. Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Sankara is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she’s being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent.
In the year that follows, Marie will observe Sankara, seduce him, and ultimately have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American.
Inspired by true events—Thomas Sankara is known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”—American Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you’ve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.
NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
“Spy fiction plus allegory, and a splash of pan-Africanism. What could go wrong? As it happens, very little. Clever, bracing, darkly funny, and really, really good.”—Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Inspired by real events, this espionage thriller ticks all the right boxes, delivering a sexually charged interrogation of both politics and race.”—Esquire
“Echoing the stoic cynicism of Hurston and Ellison, and the verve of Conan Doyle, American Spy lays our complicities—political, racial, and sexual—bare. Packed with unforgettable characters, it’s a stunning book, timely as it is timeless.”—Paul Beatty, Man Booker Prizewinning author of The Sellout
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Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
289 pages
What’s it about?
On page one of this novel Marie Mitchell is awakened by a sound in her house. By the second page the intruder is dead. It is 1992 and we quickly learn that Marie is black, smart, a former FBI agent, and a mother. The story is being told in letter form to her two sons. She wants her sons to understand what has happened in her life to bring them all to this point in 1992. To tell the whole story Marie must swing back and forth in time. She tells of her upbringing in the 1960's, an unexpected assignment in 1986, and then back to present day 1992. This book will keep you thinking...
What did it make me think about?
Lauren Wilkinson not only writes an espionage thriller with a good plot and interesting characters, but she also asks really thoughtful questions- all without preaching at you (I think that is hard to do). She asks global questions- What were the repercussions of moving the cold war into Africa? Did we do more harm than good? What about these private security companies that are now being hired in the third world? She also asks more personal questions- What does it mean to be a "true American". What was it like to be a black woman in an all-white male profession in the 1980's? "Very few of those men understood having no choice about whether they were political or not: Unlike me, they weren't people who'd had their existence politicized on their behalf." She even brings up the fact that African-Americans have been practicing subterfuge for an awfully long time in this country. Interesting things to think about...
Should I read it?
I was impressed by this book. First and foremost- American Spy is an espionage-thriller. It is just a smarter thriller than most. I love reading books that broaden my mind and make me think about the world in a different way. This book shines a light on so many issues I never think about- and of course the plot kept me turning the pages. Lauren Wilkinson is a first time author and I can't wait for her next book!
Quote-
"I loved Robbie, which meant he could truly make me furious. In too much of what he said, I heard an overconfidence about his limited life experience and in his aggressively average intelligence.. He was the type of guy that, had he been born white, would probably have wound up at an excellent business school."
If you like this try-
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
The Caretaker by AX Ahmad
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
289 pages
What’s it about?
On page one of this novel Marie Mitchell is awakened by a sound in her house. By the second page the intruder is dead. It is 1992 and we quickly learn that Marie is black, smart, a former FBI agent, and a mother. The story is being told in letter form to her two sons. She wants her sons to understand what has happened in her life to bring them all to this point in 1992. To tell the whole story Marie must swing back and forth in time. She tells of her upbringing in the 1960's, an unexpected assignment in 1986, and then back to present day 1992. This book will keep you thinking...
What did it make me think about?
Lauren Wilkinson not only writes an espionage thriller with a good plot and interesting characters, but she also asks really thoughtful questions- all without preaching at you (I think that is hard to do). She asks global questions- What were the repercussions of moving the cold war into Africa? Did we do more harm than good? What about these private security companies that are now being hired in the third world? She also asks more personal questions- What does it mean to be a "true American". What was it like to be a black woman in an all-white male profession in the 1980's? "Very few of those men understood having no choice about whether they were political or not: Unlike me, they weren't people who'd had their existence politicized on their behalf." She even brings up the fact that African-Americans have been practicing subterfuge for an awfully long time in this country. Interesting things to think about...
Should I read it?
I was impressed by this book. First and foremost- American Spy is an espionage-thriller. It is just a smarter thriller than most. I love reading books that broaden my mind and make me think about the world in a different way. This book shines a light on so many issues I never think about- and of course the plot kept me turning the pages. Lauren Wilkinson is a first time author and I can't wait for her next book!
Quote-
"I loved Robbie, which meant he could truly make me furious. In too much of what he said, I heard an overconfidence about his limited life experience and in his aggressively average intelligence.. He was the type of guy that, had he been born white, would probably have wound up at an excellent business school."
If you like this try-
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
The Caretaker by AX Ahmad
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
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