The Traitor by Ava Glass
From the glittering shores of St. Tropez to the sun-drenched streets of Barcelona, The Traitor is former spy insider Ava Glass’s high-octane thriller set in the billionaires’ playground of the glamourous French Riviera.
A dead body in a padlocked suitcase, chemical weapons, and an MI5 traitor selling secrets to the Russians sets the scene for British agent Emma Makepeace’s thrill packed mission on the med.
Emma must go undercover, working below deck as a crew member on luxury super yacht The Eden.Setting sail from St Tropez, The Eden’s Russian owner and his bikini-clad supermodel girlfriend are under surveillance by MI6, suspected of procuring illegal weapons from the UK.
Out at sea with no escape, Emma must tread carefully as she races to uncover who the traitor on board the oligarch’s yacht is. Witnessing a murder and with her cover wearing increasingly thin, one false move and she could be dead. As the hunt intensifies, Emma must find the traitor before he finds her.
From a glittering yacht party to a powerboat chase over deadly rocks, and from living below deck to being hunted through the streets of Barcelona, never before has the turquoise sea and golden sands of the Rivera been so deadly.
About the author
The Traitor is the highly anticipated follow up to Ava Glass’ 2022 debut spy thriller The Chase.
The Chase is currently shortlisted for Best Spy Novel at the 2023 Crime Writer Awards alongside established names including Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) and Linwood Barclay. No small feat for a debut novelist.
Film rights to The Chase and The Traitor have been acquired by Ink Factory, producers of The Night Manager, who are currently working on a pilot in conjunction with Sky Atlantic, now in the final stages of editing. Next step will be casting!
Ava Glass is a former civil servant with the highest security clearance bar one. She has seen just enough of the inner workings of espionage to ensure that she will always be fascinated by spies.
Prior to working at the home office, Ava Glass worked as a crime reporter, covering multiple homicides, making her writing both fresh and dangerously believable.
Review
‘The Traitor’ is a riveting and engrossing thriller which kept me hooked right from the beginning to the end! This is the second book in the ‘Alias Emma’ series but it can certainly be read as a standalone as I was a new reader to the series. The tiny mentions of the first book did pique my interest though and I have added it to my tbr pile. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the offset and flew through in one day! It was easy to digest and the pacing meant that it became a real page turner as you just had to know what happens next!
When an MI6 operative is found dead, locked in a suitcase it is clear that something has gone viscous has gone down. Emma Makepeace works for the British government for an agency which doesn't even have a name. But they are tasked with tackling the rising influence of Russian operatives on British soil. Her team is called in to investigate the death. There are no fingerprints, no forensics of any kind. As she digs into his past it becomes apparent that he was conducting an off-the-book surveillance of two Russian nationals based in London. He believed that they were Russian spies and that another man was involved. Had he found something that cost him his life. Emma is asked to go undercover on one of the oligarch's super yachts as a staff member on the coast of southern France. If Emma's real identity is discovered it is a death sentence. Will she get the evidence they need before it's too late?
Emma was a compelling protagonist, tough, smart and able to work on her own and wasn't reliant on technology! But because of the isolation of the yacht she was reliant on using her own wits and old-school spy craft. She was determined to get to the truth and was prepared to risk her life to do so. She is a spy with a heart - whether that is going to be the cause of her downfall will be interesting to see!
I thought the pacing of the book was terrific as the tension and danger from palpable from the beginning but really did ramp up as the story progressed. It was also a very believable narrative - the rise of Russian oligarchs and their influence in London. Did I guess who the traitor was? Yes, I did as I think it was quite clearly signposted. But it was really about showing the naivety of Emma and whether she would follow her heart rather than her head.
Ava has created a compelling story full of suspense, mysteries, twists and turns and an intriguing cast of characters to boot! I want more of her team to be featured in future books.
Let me know if you pick this one up!
