A review by jensreadinglife
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

5.0

I had read that people felt this book was slow or, at the very least, a slow burn. But I found it riveting from the very first page. The novel moves back and forth in time following Marie Mitchell from motherhood, back to childhood and all the phases in between. She tells the story of how she came to work for both the FBI and CIA. And how she became involved in the political instability in Burkina Faso.

I loved that this fictional story revolves around true events. And I felt the struggle of a Black female spy working in the 1980’s was a story we haven’t heard told before. This was such a unique premise and I felt that it was incredibly well done. While set decades earlier than our present time, all the themes in this book are relevant today. Set in America, Burkina Faso and Martinique, the novel is rich in setting and sense of place.

The ending of this book isn’t going to leave everything wrapped up neatly for you and I think I love it even more because of that. If you are looking for a unique twist on the spy novel, you’ve just found it. I loved this one and can’t wait to see what Wilkinson writes next.