The majority of the action in this book takes place over the course of one night and wow I barely had time to breathe as I followed Emma Makepeace’s exploits.
Emma works for a shady government spy agency and has spent several years in training under her mentor Ripley. She theoretically knows everything about spycraft but she has not been on many missions on her own. Whilst undercover in a Camden shop trying to find out if the hippy owner is part of a Russian funded conspiracy she is called back to headquarters.
There she is assigned to find Michael Primalov, son of a Russian scientist defector and persuade him to come with her into hiding at a safe house. The Russians are after his family and he has so far refused to cooperate with British intelligence services.
What starts as a mission of persuasion soon turns into a race against time to get Michael to safety, avoiding the crack agents sent to kidnap or kill him.
This was a real adrenaline fuelled read- the action did not stop as the pair make their way from Camden across London. Emma is an amazing heroine, brave and resourceful as she tries to reach safety. It becomes clear quite quickly that there are problems within her own organisation and she is left to rely on herself when no help is forthcoming.
This was a fabulous read- Emma is a cross between James Bond and Vilanelle although unlike the latter character she is not psychopathic! She has her own reasons for wanting to be a spy and this is explained via flashbacks to her earlier life and her recruitment by Ripley.
I couldn’t put this book down and fervently hope that Ava Glass has plans for a sequel as I’d like to read more about Emma’s escapades.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this five star read. Recommended!

I received this ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the synopsis of this book I was intrigued as I love spy thrillers/ James Bond and a female spy thriller set in London sounded even better.

This is a fast paced thriller that keeps you on your toes and on the edge of your seat! I can really see how this is going to be a series it was good and I can really see it being a prime time tv series too.

Well, I started the first page and this story hit the ground running!!. It just took off and i was there, in, and totally, totally invested!!.
Emma, a British spy, has the job to bring in the son of a Russian couple, previous informants, who are under the protection of the government. Their son had been quietly living his life but due to the Russian government now threatening his life, he was now going to have to be brought in to M16 headquarters so he could be reunited with his parents and moved to a safe house where they could all be together. Up to this point Michael had refused this offer and intended to carry on with his job as a doctor as normal. He didn't seem to realise how bad the threat was. The pressure had increased and the threat was serious now so he had to be protected. Emma approaches Michael on his early morning jog, where he soon realised that his life is most definitely at risk. The next 24 hours are then full of high risk, fear and pressure even involving going back to basics for Emma to ensure that she delivers Michael to head office in one piece.
What a fantastic piece of writing!!. I wanted to read this book after reading the synopsis, but had no idea how good this book was going to be!!. If I could give 10 stars instead of 5 I would!!!.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #randomhouse, #

A good thriller that keeps you hooked. Emma Makepeace (not her real name) is a spy. Ex army, she has been recruited by Charles Ridley who she trusts implicitly. She is assigned to bring in the grown up son of an ex Russian spy but he has other ideas! Once he realises they are being chased by Russian operatives, he works with Emma to try to get to MI6 without being caught in camera! In the midst of this, Ripley goes missing so who can Emma trust?
One that you can’t put down!

What a thoroughly enjoyable book this is full of an interesting mix of believable and stereotypical people who, together, still managed to weave a very well paced story.

So very pleased to know that this is the first book in a series, rather than a singleton, as I am really looking forward to discovering what "Emma" gets up to next.

I love spy novels & watching action movies, so I was intrigued when this book was being touted as a female James Bond story.

Emma Makepeace is the spy in question, faux name & faux accent, charged with delivering Russian target Michael Primalov safely to MI6. The Russians have hacked London’s CCTV which means lots of running, hiding, chasing in cars & out & jumping off bridges ensue.
Unfortunately, the adrenaline didn’t leap off the page; the premise was good but lacked in delivery.

Don’t get me wrong this is a good story, particularly details about Emma’s past, but just wasn’t for me.

I really nejoyed this book whihc i found tense and thrilling and full of intrigue. I was completely drawn into the plot and wanted to read on to the end as soon as I could

Emma Makepeace (fantastic name) is a British spy for very covert organisation within the British Government.

Her father was also a spy but a Russian spy working for the British. When her mother was pregnant with her ,her father sent them both to England and promised that he would soon join them but her father never made it out alive.

Once old enough Emma joins the army and meets Charles Ripley and is soon trained in the art of spy craft.
Emma is sent on a mission to help former Russian scientists into protective custody.
Dimitri and Elena Primalov have already been placed into protective custody but their son Michael refuses to leave his job as an paediatric oncologist due to his patients.
Its Emma's job to convince him otherwise.
This is such a thrilling ride and has action throughout.

I love a good spy book and if it can have a good dose of humour too then I'm hooked. This was my first read from this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are spies, competing agencies, fraught allies and assassins chasing our MC's across London.

Emma is anewly fledged agent of the Vernon Institute and has a bit of a history with the GRU agents who attempt to trap and return Russian defectors, sometimes the returnees are of the dead variety. She's been ordered to have pediatric oncologist Michael Primalov report to an MI6 safe house. The Russians are after Michael‘s mother Elena, who fled to the west 2 decades ago. She's got no backup and all communications have gone dark. What's a new Jemima Bond to do?

An absolute roller-coaster ride of action, adventure, enemies to allies, heart-thumping thriller. There are traps for the courageous duo to fall into and escape and nothing is quite as straight-forward as it may seem. The ending will leave you with a satisfying taste of vengeance!

I received an early reader copy from NetGalley and Random House and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Wow what a page turner this book was. I couldn't read it quick enough. It was fast paced and it gripped me early on.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC

Emma Makepeace, a young, low level spy, is ordered to find Dr Michael Primalov, the at-risk son of a Russian agent, and take him to safety in MI6 HQ. On the face of it, this is a minor task, persuade him of the risk and then accompany him from Camden to Vauxhall, a walking distance across central London of just 4.7 miles. First problem is persuading him, which he is resisting until she has to rescue him from a two man snatch team. Fortunately Emma is ex-military and experienced in hand to hand combat. Second problem is that her usual superior, R, has mysteriously disappeared, leaving her a cryptic message saying that she shouldn’t trust his deputy, M, and that the Russians have access to the capital’s CCTV, which includes sophisticated facial recognition software. How do you travel across London without being seen, when everywhere, including public transport, is on the lookout for your face, and the Russians seem to have a small army of agents scattered across your route?
So this is a chase story, and employs the usual plot line of things going wrong, trusting nobody, enemies being foiled, superhuman effort – jeopardy after jeopardy. As such it is quite entertaining and has some nice touches, but its only originality is the very small distance of the chase. The post-dénouement, it isn’t an epilogue, wraps up most of the loose ends in a satisfactory manner. The writing style is a bit naïve, and to some extent the plot is pedestrian. This may be because I believe the author named here is a pseudonym and under her other name is known for writing YA romances. I could be wrong about that, but it would explain the lack of nuance here. I have a feeling this is the first of a series – if so, the character could carry this but the plots need to be more twisted. Overall, I can’t go too high on the rating: it just isn’t good enough for a four but it’s better than a three (say 3.25) so it gets at three on the maths.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

I do love a good spy thriller story and especially one that involves different government agencies. I think most of us have a mistrust of these agencies and so it always makes sense that they are involved in some plot, conspiracy or cover-up.

Emma Makepeace, a spy for the British government has not long been in this job. She is not a rookie, she already has experience as she served as an intelligence officer in the forces. She also has an interesting family background.

As the synopsis suggests, she has been tasked with finding and convincing an innocent man that his life is at risk. It is her job to get him to a safe place. What should be a basic job, suddenly becomes a flight through and under the streets of London. Trying to evade capture and being seen, is very difficult when London has cameras everywhere.

This is a fast-paced read, a quick intro to Emma and that's it, straight into the action. The story does have a little back and forth as far as timelines and people go, not much but it does give some valuable additional information. There is not a huge cast of characters in this story, some don't even have a name. This makes sense given the genre of the story.

As I mentioned conspiracy goes hand in hand with spies and governments, so this story ticked a lot of boxes for me. There are several things on the go and it was interesting to see how the author would play this one out. I really enjoyed the route she took and it felt right. This is a story that is full of mystery as well as crime set mainly in London.

This is a cracking read and I am hoping this is the start of a series. The author has left the opportunity to make this an option.

This is one for those who like a fast-paced, spy thriller that has that edge-of-the-seat frenetic energy to it, It is one I would definitely recommend.

A page turner full of pace, mystery and intrigue which I enjoyed. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

I have been SO lucky with the ARCs I've been reading recently, this is another 5⭐ fantastic read!

Emma works for "the agency" in London, she's been undercover with some hippies for a while and sees no threat, so she jumps at the chance when her boss asks her to come in for her first real mission. Her task? To find Dr Michael Primalov and get him to safety as everyone linked to his mother (a Russian defector) is being killed. Only trouble is, Michael has been refusing to come in and they fear Emma may be his last chance. And so begins a tense heart-racing story of Emma trying to keep them both safe while the Russians control the CCTV, seem to be one step ahead of them and she doesn't know who she can trust anymore...

It's absolutely fantastic, fast paced and I felt like I was holding my breath while I was reading. The characters of Emma and Michael are believable and likeable, and I enjoyed the background of Emma's time in the army and her road to becoming a spy, giving her a more complete character.

Would definitely recommend it, I hope it becomes a series and would also make a brilliant film!

#aliasemma #avaglass #netgalley

Review also posted to Goodreads but unable to link account.

This book holds the record for the fastest I’ve ever read a book from cover to cover. The pace was relentless. I finished at four in the morning, to go sleep and rest. Most of this book lives in real time. The reader travels with Emma (or whatever her real name is) as she helps a Russian target stay alive. They run, walk, swim, drive and race by boat across London. If you know the city, you’ll easily recognise their route as they realise the Russian’s have taken over CCTV coverage across the capital and can follow anywhere, not to forget the strategic placement of tracking devices. The heavies mean to kill. Their boss has a grudge.
The narrative of a relatively new spy at MI6 brings both skills and some inexperience. These blend well with the target, who is a doctor, which proves useful time and time again. I didn’t know how easy it is to walk around major hospitals with just a badge in hand. What if the Russians can access the hospital’s logs to see who went there and where? Can the MI6 agent trust others at MI6 when things go wrong… and why?
Although I received a free copy of this book, it hasn’t changed my review. I will 100 per cent read her next book. I was forever willing them to make choices to help them along their journey, but it appears the Russians put a stop to almost everything. The next time I hear of this book, it’ll be a film on the big screens. This MI6 agent has years of book in her. A great, fast and high blood pressure read.

This was a fast paced thriller, with a non stop series of obstacles to overcome. It was very clever and I enjoyed it a lot. Recommended but you won’t be able to put it down.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this arc

I really enjoyed this! The book started quite fast paced and slowed to really detail what was happening and then slightly picked up again. I would have preferred if it was fast paced all the way through! I did enjoy the twists on the novel!

I would love to read something like this again!

Thoroughly enjoyable spy chase across London. It's not a unique story as I had read something similar not long ago but this is well written with great characters. I look forward to the next in the series. Emma could well become a must read series.

This was a fun, escapism read based on a female spy on a super busy mission!! I enjoyed it! Lots of momentum driving the adrenaline ridden plot. Fun, fast and ferocious spy antics!

Killing Eve meets James Bond in the first novel in the Alias Emma series. This was a thrilling rollercoaster of a ride. Gripping and pacy, it was hard to put down and I look forward to the next book in the series. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and the author for the chance to review.