Spy Thriller
The Helsinki Affair
Repeat author
Anna Pitoniak is back at Book of the Month – other BOTMs include Necessary People.
Quick take
Are you mission-ready? This hard-nosed, globetrotting espionage story will leave you questioning everything around you.
Good to know
Multiple viewpoints
Nonlinear timeline
International
Movieish
Synopsis
Amanda Cole is a brilliant young CIA agent, following in the footsteps of her father Charlie. But Amanda’s posting in Rome is a sleepy one. She’s listless and looking for action when, on a hot summer day, it walks right through her door. A lowly Russian operative is desperate, telling her that a US Senator is about to be assassinated on an overseas trip to Cairo. Amanda believes he’s telling the truth, but her superiors do not, and they determine that the best course of action is no action at all.
But when the assassination occurs, Amanda is suddenly thrust into an international conspiracy as she tries to find out why the senator was killed. What did he know that made him a target of the KGB and the Kremlin? Amanda pairs up with fast-talking, take-no-bullshit Kath, a brash older woman, and legendary spy, to get to the bottom of the case. The investigation takes them from Rome to London to Moscow to Helsinki.
As Amanda and Kath get closer to solving a case that involves double agents, blackmailed CEOs, illegal arms transfers, yachting oligarchs, and more, one question keeps coming back to haunt Amanda: why was her father’s name written down in the senator’s notes, notes that he seemed to be putting together right before he died? In order to get to the bottom of this international plot of blackmail, murder, and lies, Amanda must decide where her loyalty lies: with her country or with her family.
Free sample
Get an early look from the first pages of The Helsinki Affair.
The Helsinki Affair
CHAPTER ONE
It wasn’t exactly the sensible thing to do, standing outside in the hot noon sun in July in Rome. Semonov paced back and forth, mopping his brow, his handkerchief long since soaked with sweat. No, this wasn’t sensible. He ought to have done as the Romans did, escaping the summer heat by stopping at Giolitti for a cone of gelato, or napping in a shuttered bedroom, or fleeing the city altogether for the breezy hills of Umbria. But Konstantin Nikolaievich Semonov was not standing here, pleading to be admitted to the American embassy, insisting that he had urgent information to share, because he was an entirely sensible person.
In his air-conditioned booth, the soldier hung up the phone. “You need to make an appointment. No one can see you today,” he said.
“Sir!” Semonov exclaimed, leaning toward the pinprick holes in the glass. “You are a Marine. I am speaking to you as a fellow military man. I am an officer in my nation’s army. My nation which is Russia.” A needless emphasis, as ten minutes earlier he had slid his passport under the bulletproof glass barrier to identify himself. “You must understand. I have information that matters today. Not tomorrow, not next week.”
In fairness to the soldier, Semonov was a hard man to take seriously. His shirt buttons strained to contain his plump stomach. His pockets jingled with loose change. Behind his round glasses, his eyes were wide and guileless. But when the Marine hesitated for a moment, Semonov’s instinct, which was well-honed, told him to seize his opening.
Why I love it
Deanna Raybourn
Author, Killers of a Certain Age
When professional ambition and family loyalty collide, how far would you go to see justice done?
That’s the question CIA operative Amanda Cole must wrestle with in Anna Pitoniak’s smashing new novel, The Helsinki Affair. I love a tense spy thriller and was enthralled from the jump with this propulsive, globetrotting story.
When a Russian informant warns of the impending assassination of an American senator, Amanda is the only one who believes him. After the senator dies, Amanda is thrown into a worldwide conspiracy. With only experience and instincts to guide her, Amanda begins to untangle the web of international intrigue only to find her father at the center. Will she protect him and risk the career she prizes above everything? Or will Amanda sacrifice her beloved father and shatter his reputation to prove her fealty to the agency to which she has dedicated her life?
Pitoniak has taken the classic spy thriller and given it a stylish update with a brilliant and flawed female lead. It crackles with energy from the very first page, and the unexpected ending will leave readers begging for more. Relentless and riveting, The Helsinki Affair is fresh and twisty as the lemon peel in a Vesper Martini.
Member ratings (1,947)
Kelly P.
Duluth, MN
I haven’t read a spy novel in SO long and I’m glad I found this one. As good as Alma Katsu’s Red Widow. Now I’m interested in more of Potiniak’s work, for the immersive writing style if anything.
Steven B.
Tinley, IL
A good old fashioned spy story that moves quickly and has intertwining stories. If you grew up during (or at least learning about) the Cold War, it brings back memories.
Meaghan S.
Ixonia, WI
Very good book - story jumped back and forth between the past and present but in a way that made sense and was not jumbled. Interesting characters and a relevant story!
Elida L.
Union Grove, WI
Father/Daughter relationship both following in the same CIA career; spy’s/traitors where nothing is a given. Loved this historical period of the Cold War.
Andrea K.
Watford city, ND
This was a fun spy thriller - you can guess some of it but still great with Russia - the past- dead Senator and fancy stock market changes. Fun read!