This is a roller coaster of a ride.

Fast moving and packed with action, it left me totally breathless.

The characters are well developed and it just kept me totally engrossed with no chance of me putting it down.

A brilliant read.

This is the first book in the series and it was both intriguing and fun to read.
Agent Emma Makepeace has her first assignment, to secure the safety of Dr Michael Primalov,, whom the Russians are trying to kidnap. Dr Primalov's mother was a highly trained Russian engineer who defected over 30 years ago.
The chase is on and the Russians always seem to be one step ahead of Agent Makepeace, so not wanting to put any spoilers out here, who are constantly left guessing if they will make it to MI6 safely or not.
There are a lot of unanswered questions left at the end of this story, but when I found out it is only Book 1 in this series, it made sense to leave a few cliffhangers, enticing me to read the next installment when it is released.
A very well written and clever storyline.
Totally captivated me.

Emma Makepace works for the agency, a secret service organisation. She’s only been with them a couple of years so when she’s tasked with bringing in the son of a Russian scientist she wants it to go well. It doesn’t quite go as planned, events spiral out of her control and Emma is on her own. Needing to complete the impossible task, travelling across London without being filmed by cctv.

This was a gripping story, an unusual premise, with most of the action of the book taking place over one night. With Russian aggression currently at the forefront it’s a very current plot. Emma and Michael are both likeable, I was rooting for their survival from the start. Their developing relationship is a large part of the story. I hope we follow Emma in future missions (more books please!)as her story isn’t over.

A fun spy/adventure story with a female lead. A dash across London without being seen. A bit predictable but nevertheless entertaining.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance copy of this book,

Excellent spy thriller set in London. Emma is the protégée of R, who was in MI6 during the cold war, and now has his own secret department. He has history with his former Russian counterpart who is conducting a series of assassinations in London Emma is sent to take Michael, the son of Russian scientists, to a safe place and it becomes a race against time.

A really great story keeping me absolutely gripped and on the edge of my seat waiting to see what will come next.
Also left it nicely wanting to know what happened after....

This book was great - I love a spy/adventure story and this had it all. The chase across London and trying to work out who was there to help and who was there to hinder. And also liked the fact the main character was female and completely nailed the job in hand.

I did want a complete happy ending but knew that was unlikely to happen!

Emma Makepeace is an agent with The Agency, a secret organisation, even more covert and undercover than MI6. She gets pulled from an undercover mission and assigned to find a man wanted by the Russians, and get him to safety in the MI6 headquarters. Seems simple enough, she thinks. She locates her target, Michael, late at night. She needs to get to MI6 by dawn. Her problem is the Russians are all over the city, and they have hacked all the cameras. London is known for being one of the most surveilled cities in the world. Every step she makes is picked up on camera. How can she cross the entire city unseen with Michael in tow?

She can’t use phones as they can be tracked, all public transport and taxis have cameras in them so they would be spotted immediately. So they need to make their way across the city on foot, as stealthily as possible, keeping to a route of minimal cameras, and moving fast.

When Emma risks a call to The Agency for support she discovers her handler has gone AWOL, and she is denied backup. Things are going from bad to worse, and continue on downwards. How do the Russians keep getting ahead of her? Who can she trust?

This was a fantastic read, once the chase was on it kept the tension up and kept you on the edge of your seat. A real page turner, and while not the most unique story, as spy thrillers have been done many times, this one is fast paced, with as many twists and turns as London's streets. Our female lead is powerful yet realistic, with a great backstory, that leads itself into more in this series. This is Book One in the Alias Emma series after all, and I can’t wait for more!

*I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

Emma Makepeace is an security officer with The Agency, a secret organisation that sits between MI5 & MI6.

Her boss and mentor Ripley has given her the assignment of collecting the son of a defected Russian physicist and bringing him into protective custody from the GRU.

There are only two problems, he doesn't think the threat is real and the Russians have control of London's CCTV system.

A cat and mouse chase through London's streets makes for a fast paced tale.

This is Emma's first outing and hopefully Ava Glass is working on another!

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Publishing for letting me read it!

Fast paced,full of twists,lots of intrigue as our characters race across London.
Our heroine is quick thinking and fast on her feet. A good read.

Very fun but not too mindblowing. I definitely want to read the sequel though. Very engaging and action packed. Predictable but it was still enjoyable.

Thanks for giving me the chance to read this in advance. A brilliantly written spy thriller which had me enthralled from start to finish. Fast paced and punchy

Highly recommended

4-5 stars rounded up

Spooks, spies, covert agencies and assassins stalking their prey with ruthless intent. Emma Makepeace is an agent for the Vernon Institute and has more reason than most to want to halt GRU agents currently pursuing Russian defectors with deadly results. She’s assigned an incredibly difficult role to persuade paediatric oncologist Michael Primalov to come to the safety of an MI6 protected safe house. The Russians primary target is Michael‘s mother Elena who escaped to the West 20 years ago with some vitally useful information. The task proves very hard and dangerous and Emma‘s boss Ripley denies her any additional support and then seems to have gone dark. What is going on at the Institute? She’s on her own, watching, waiting and running not knowing when enemies will seize the moment to strike. A lethal game of cat and mouse plays out on the streets of London.

Wow. I think I’ve just about caught my breath and my heart rate has returned to normal. This is a fast paced, high octane, adrenaline fuelled and gripping novel in the best tradition of British spy thrillers. It’s crisply written, there’s nothing unnecessary to get in the way of the tense excitement and encroaching danger. At times it’s a silent war of wits to the death, it’s an exercise in escaping traps and then hitting brick walls that exercises every ounce of ingenuity, guts and blood. It’s a fearful action packed race to survive and who can be trusted adds extra layer to the suspense. There are some great locations adding another ingredient to the drama and the City of London is a great backdrop. What about the finale? Let’s just say it’s Shepperton studio action movie worthy starring Jane Bond. There’s a wry smile from me from time to time especially at the ultimate end. Revenge is definitely a dish best served icy cold. What a cracking read!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Cornerstone for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Loved, loved this book. It totally blew my mind. From beginning to end it was a thrill ride. So chilling and tense… Outstanding!

A fast paced action spy thriller that sees a young spy, Emma Makepeace, struggling to protect her charge as they journey across London.
This was a quick read, full of action. The plot was full of twists but the story was predictable. I found the writing, and especially the dialogue, unsophisticated and unconvincing. The stereotypical portrayal of good (British) versus bad (Russian) was grating. The book read rather like a description of an action film.
A light entertaining read but there are much better spy books out there.

Emma is a young keen new recruit to a branch of the intelligence service. She has a military background and is a quick thinking and capable young lady. She is pulled from a dull job infiltrating some eco warriors to try to persuade a doctor with Russian heritage to go into protective safety as his life may be in danger. When it all goes horrible wrong, Emma manages to save him from an attack and tries to get him to safety. This is when she finds herself isolated and realises that there is no help coming, Russian hit squads seem to know her every move and have hacked the London CCTV systems, can she and her charge make it as they run for their lives through a dark and dangerous London?

Very fast paced and fun reading, she is a great character and, thankfully, there are obviously going to be more in this series.

Loved this book I am a fan of anything espionage/thriller. Really keeps you in the edge of your seat and it really quick paced. So good am going to look up authors back catalogue to see if there’s more. If there isn’t come on get writing !

Quick and easy read with a fast-paced plot. Would recommend for those who want a quick read or enjoy thriller/espionage stories. Fun but not that memorable.

Fast paced and utterly gripping spy thriller with great characters you can really root for. I enjoyed every second of this and hope there’s more to come.

The clock is ticking!
Secret agent Emma Makepeace, is on her first op for the ‘Agency’, an outfit that prefers to remain in the shadows. She has until dawn to bring a man to the safety of MI6, or they could both end up dead. It’s going to be a very long night indeed!

After leaving the army, Emma Makepeace was assessed and recruited by the ‘Agency’, and has been working undercover in a shop in Camden, (not her dream job it has to be said) but then she gets the call that will cement her career with the Agency, if she doesn’t end up dead first!

Her task is to get Paediatric cancer specialist Michael Primalov to safety - on the other side of London, and from there to who knows where? That alone isn’t going to be easy - Michael loves his job and has no intention of going anywhere, he thinks Emma is blowing things up out of all proportion. However, events prove that the Russians are definitely closing in on his parents and himself. His parents are Russian dissidents, who defected to the UK some twenty years ago, and it’s clear that if the Russians can’t get to the parents directly, then Michael is a sure way of getting to them.

Now it might appear to be easy enough to get Michael and herself across London, but there’s a massive CCTV presence, and when the Russians take control of the cameras - well that’s a whole different ball game - imagine being tracked every step of the way - Emma can’t use any technology (too easy to trace) can’t use any type of transport ( for the same reason), this has to be done on foot and as covertly as possible. To make matters even worse, Emma’s handler is about to go dark, leaving her and her asset in even bigger danger.

With a thrilling game of cat and mouse right the way across London, the tension never lets up, creating some heart stopping moments. ‘Alias Emma’ would make a spectacular all action movie, and this is an easy 5 stars for me!