I was pretty excited to read this book based on the blurb by Ben MacIntyre.

Unfortunately, the book was a disappointment. I didn't find the protagonist believable, and despite the exotic setting, nothing that happened in the first half of this book engaged my interest. I lost interest and didn't finish.

Authors, spies and exotic locations combine for a fantastic thriller! Murders, intrigue and realistic characters all have a part in this fantastic read. A simple book signing becomes much, much more.

Kit Carradine is a thriller writer recruited by the government to use his trip to a writer's conference as a cover to deliver a sensitive package. What seems like a straight-forward mission quickly becomes something darker when the mission doesn't go as planned.
I struggled to get in to this story. I couldn’t connect with the characters and found the plot line very unbelievable. Even after trying for several days to finish, I just couldn’t find anything in the story to focus on. Also, the formatting of the digital copy was very odd and caused confusion and distraction. Not for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Kit Carradine is a famous author, who is headed to Morocco for a literary festival, when he is approached by the MI6 and asked to complete a simple task. How difficult could it be? Kit finds himself trailing Lara, a founding member of the Resurrection, a group responsible for kidnapping and killing, and causing chaos. Lara has been on the run since leaving the group, and Kit is tasked with making contact with Lara, as well as providing her a new passport.

This is a fast paced book, which left me trying to decided who and who not to trust. While being slightly predictable, I still enjoyed this story.

A big thank you to NetGalley as well as St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy, in exchange for an honest review.

The Moroccan Girl is an engrossing, better than expected spy thriller. I enjoyed the character development of friends, no, foes, no spies, … wait, maybe Kit is imagining it because he does write spy novels but he has never “done” spy work. Right? Kit finds himself doing spy work for the UK. No, Russia. No, the US. Wait! Who IS he doing it for?

Awesome novel that will keep you guessing and has a lovely ending. Just when you think you might know it, No, wait… Highly recommend this author and this novel. Could easily imagine a sequel… It’s even worth a 2nd read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy. It in no way influenced my opinion. And thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read and review and Enjoy this book. Great Novel!!! Five star all the way.

This book reminded me of all the reasons I need to keep espionage thrillers in my reading rotation. The premise of a Kit Caradine, an author, being pulled into a position as a "spy" Intrigued me. I wa as not disappointed. The story was well-paced. The characters complex and relatable. A story line that was maybe too timely given our political climate with just a touch of romance mixed in made for an enjoyable read.

Kit Carradine is a famous author of best-selling novels when he is approached by MI6 to complete a simple mission for his country as he attends a festival in Morocco.

Kit’s mission doesn’t end there, and he ends up trailing Lara Bartok, a member of the Resurrection, a violent group of revolutionists. Kit finds himself at a crossroads where he can either save Lara or turn her over to the intelligence community.

The Moroccan Girl is an engaging spy thriller. The Moroccan setting and visiting Casablanca and Marrakech added so much interest. Kit is a spy novelist turned spy thanks to helping his country, and what follows is an entertaining and engrossing adventure.

Overall, The Moroccan Girl felt like an action adventure movie with a touch of romance and the tension never lets go. The ending is worth every bit of the wait. I had fun reading this and could envision it as a blockbuster movie!

Thank you to the publisher for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

An most enjoyable book, this was a well-written, well-edited, unputdownable, unpredictable thriller. A classic example of the genre. I will be looking for more books by this author.

A thrilling novel that takes place in countries I've only dreamed of visiting! I really enjoyed Kit and couldn't help but root for him! Not my typical type of read, but I really enjoyed it and know I will be recommending to friends.

Kit Carradine writes spy stories. His approached on the street not long before a trip to Marrakesh for a writer's conference. It is an agent for MI6. He is to find a woman who worked for the group Resurrection. She has disappeared and is in danger. She loves books and they think she will be at the conference. Kit soon find out that people are not who they seem. Kit's only hope is to keep Lara Bartok safe. Can he do that? Who can he trust for help?

A group called Resurrection is kidnapping and killing AltRight figures - writers, tv announcers, politicians. It’s an interesting concept of “taking the fight” to those that promote hate that quickly gets out of hand. Meanwhile, a spy novelist is becoming bored with his life and jumps at the chance to help a group he thinks is the British Secret Service. He is tasked with passing some money and documents while at a literary festival in Marrakech. Also, being on the lookout for a “missing agent”. My initial impression was that the writer, Carradine, was way too gullible to be believable, especially given that his father was actually in the service. Would an author that writes spy novels really even agree to “the mission”? Later he acknowledges he’s being manipulated, but I still had trouble with the initial premise of the book.

Putting that aside, Cumming does a good job of keeping the reader off base. Who is to be trusted? Who’s on the side of the angels? Are there any angels? Unfortunately, the big reveal was a big bust and something I had sussed out well in advance.

The last book I read was all character development and hardly any forward story momentum. This book is the exact opposite. I didn't feel I knew Kit any better at the end of the story than at the beginning. But the book moves at a fast clip with lots of forward momentum.

So, this is a solid three star. It’s fun, it’s not at all deep. Think of it as a palate cleanser from a lot of the heavy psychological thrillers out there right now.

My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of the book.

Kit Carradine is a novelist of spy novels, who get invited to speak at a seminar in Morocco. Before he leaves, an M16 officer asks him to make a delivery to a woman who is in hiding and her exact location is unknown.. Kit soon realizes that something isn't right and that he's gotten himself involved in something that he wasn't prepared for. Nevertheless, he is excited about it. His career as a spy novelist enables him to use his knowledge to help him make some difficult decisions, but he finds out that there is more to real life espionage than he knows. The ending offered a nice little twist that I love in a thriller.

The title of this book was misleading because the book was more about the author, Kit Carradine, than it was about the girl that he was pursuing. I didn't find that the character of the lead female character was very well developed and couldn't understand why Kit fell in love with her. This book was definitely more about the plot than character development. The plot starts out slowly but the action picks up towards the last quarter of the book. It is at this point that I found it much easier to follow. The plot was intense but I feel that I missed a lot and that would have a much better understanding on a second reading of the book. .

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Just loads of spy chasing fun. Who doesn't love a hapless spy novelist who gets caught up in actually spy shenanigans.

This book kept me guessing all the way through! A spy novel about a spy novelist is asked to complete a spy assignment that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time just waiting to see if they can complete the assignment! The main character has to keep guessing on who to trust and who to engage with because he is constantly second guessing everyone he comes in contact with! Loved it!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. for my unbiased review.

The storyline - a novelist who becomes a spy to help search for a missing woman in a foreign country, seemed like such an intriguing plot but it fell a little short for me. Kit was a good and believable character; even very courageous at times which may have been from his spy writing instincts. However, the story was less action packed that I thought would be for a spy novel but probably because Kit was only "acting" as a spy. It didn't grab me and pull me in as I would've liked but I would be interested to try another Charles Cumming novel.

With strong characters and a fast paced plot, this thriller/spy novel kept me guessing right to the end.. A spy novelist is enlisted to complete an espionage assignment which creates a high level of intrigue and makes the main character's ever changing conclusions about the people he encounters very believable. No one is who they seem and he is constantly shifting his allegience as well as his sense of whom to trust. Highly recommended.

I struggled with this book. It was very political and I didn’t find myself invested in the characters. Was hoping for a bit more action, a more gripping storyline.

This is a spy novel about a spy novelist. Kit is an author about to go to a literary conference in Morocco and is recruited to conduct a little espionage on the side. It is a believable enough story with lots of twists and turns. If you like spy stories, you will probably like this. I liked this book despite having several problems with it. First off, for a man who writes spy novels, Kit , doesn’t seem to act like he is knowledgeable in the trade. He bumbles about and seems to make so many mistakes it’s incredible he is not outed immediately. He never really does much investigating and is not suspicious enough when encountering new people. Second, the characters do and say things that aren’t in character or are just irrelevant. I had a very hard time getting into the story but at about half way through, it picked up. The love interest in this book has an uncanny way of making men fall in love with her that is not understandable from what is written. Overall, this is a plausible story but it does seem to plod around a bit. I liked it, though. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In a novel which could have been the story of the author’s own fantasy life, Charles Cumming tells of a writer of spy novels who is enticed into the real world of ‘spooks’. Walking through London one day he’s seemingly recognised by a fan of his books, but as the brief conversation plays out it seems to him that there’s more here than initially meets the eye. Phone numbers are exchanged and suddenly Kit Carradine is wondering if he’s going to be tapped up to do some work for MI6.

In no time at all, Carradine finds himself heading for Morocco to attend a book festival he’d already had in plan but also to attempt to track down a woman. Lara Bartok is the ex-girlfriend of the now deceased leader of a revolutionary group named Resurrection. The group's declared aim is to expose and embarrass right wing figures who they deemed responsible for spreading hatred and violent across the world. But, in time, the group’s own actions grew to be ever more radical and Bartock became disenfranchised and left both her boyfriend and the group. Carradine has a parcel to deliver to Bartock, but very little information to work with in terms of tracking her down other than the belief that, as a literary fan, she might be tempted to attend the festival.

As with all such novels, things are never quite as they seem and there’s a fair amount of double-dealing and misdirection to work through. But Cummings handles the subtleties of the plot well and I found that the surprises delivered and didn’t feel ill-considered or irrational. And I liked the character development too, with the small cast all being given adequate space for the reader to gain some appreciation of who they might (or might not) be. The setting also worked for me; this felt like true spy story territory, with its background of narrow streets and crowded spaces and I could almost smell the scent of freshly ground spices emanating from the souks and the putrid stench of the tanneries.

I found the story to be complex enough to tease my brain but not so convoluted that it caused me to (literally) lose the plot. There’s also a good mix of verbal jousting and exciting action scenes. Yes, this book has it all! I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys the books of John le Carré and the like.

Kit Carradine is a 36 year old novelist of spy novels, who's going to be speaking at a seminar in Morocco. An M16 officer asks him to deliver something to an agent there and Kit agrees to do so. Soon though, he realizes that he's involved in something very big, very dangerous, and he's more excited about that fact than dismayed. Kit doesn't turn into James Bond though...this is an ordinary man, trying to figure out how to do a job, when his only experience is writing spy novels. At times we get to see how the real thing is different than writing about that thing.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book and liked the character of Kit. He is faced with trying to figure out who to trust, what to trust, and just how invested he wants to be in accomplishing his mission, which expands once he's in Morocco. This book is much less an action book than being in Kit's head as he tries to think through this dangerous situation.

What I didn't like about the book was it's political heavy handedness. There is the impression that if only the right didn't do and say what they did and said, that the left wouldn't be doing what they are doing, which starts out as non violent actions but eventually leads to mass murder. A lighter touch with the politics would have made this book better, in my opinion.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for his ARC.