Ava Glass writes a compelling and classy action-packed narrative sporting a memorable debut in the spy genre. Her protagonist, Emma Makepeace, is a force to be reckoned with and is sure to become one of the most entertaining action icons of the future.
Emma Makepeace is a British spy trained to be the best in taking the fight to her adversaries. Like a proper spy, nothing about her is real, not even her name. When Russian defectors start dying at the hands of a nasty group of assassins, Emma is assigned to protect a doctor who is the son of a family of defectors in London. With the city’s CCTV hacked by the same group of assassins and the inner sanctum of trust presumably breached, Emma and the good doctor are relentlessly pursued throughout the city, racking up shootouts, car chases, boat chases, and much more as Emma struggles to protects her charge.
The action hits fast and hard, bursting with rigorous energy and crisp visualization. Sidestepping a cliched romance, Glass keeps the emotional tension high but with a realistic purview of the mortal danger ahead of the protagonists. The London setting goes hand in hand with a classic espionage vibe that’s balanced superbly with high adrenaline and lively fleshed out heroes and villains, none more so than the charismatic Emma Makepeace who is wonderfully easy to fall in love with due to her spunky personality. As much as the narrative keeps a blistering furious pace, Ava Glass sneaks in much-needed insights into Emma’s origins as a spy and her motivations, tying in neatly with the present day as well as enriching the heart and soul of this adventurous thriller.
Alias Emma is a bona-fide action-heavy spy lore that’s packed with the right bit of misdirection and twists to keep each and every chapter passionately addictive and entertaining.


Full review posted on www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

ALIAS EMMA by Ava Glass
What a wild adventure! (while safe at home) through the streets and rivers of London, only steps ahead of Russian assassins. Emma has to trust in her training (“you are ready for this”) and she and Michael (her assignment, to get him to safety) learn to trust each other and work as a team. I love strong female protagonists, and also love those who allow others to help. We none of us make it all on our own. This was a most compelling book, pushing other entertainments to second place, and only allowing sleep once my new friends found a respite of safety.
Many lessons learned, about staying alert, always looking for a way out, and “the best revenge” and excellent writing. I do hope there will be more books for this brave and resourceful spy (whose mother thinks she has a quiet government job, of course she does).

This is an exciting book, like a 300-page car chase. Just when you think it's going to slow down it stays back up again.

This book was a great thriller based in London. Emma, a new agent, She has just been given a mission to assist a top diplomat's son accross London by morning. I mean what can go worng...except the boy does not want help! The twists and turns will keep you turning the pages. Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to review.

I understand this will be the first book of a planned series --- and I plan to read them all. The world is ready for a kickass female spy. Enter Emma Makepeace. Alias Emma (not her real name) is a quick read that spans a single night running/skulking/swimming across London to deliver a Russian doctor -- who doesn't wat to be protected -- to the safety of an MI6 protected safe house.

A fast paced yet fairly traditional spy thriller: the Russians are killing their own scientists who defected to the UK. The top target is Elena Primalov, who’s in a safe house. But her son, a British pediatrician, refuses to join his parents. Emma Makepeace’s assignment: protect him. “Rescuing someone who doesn’t want to be saved isn’t easy.” And, in true spy novel fashion, her agency has been compromised, her boss is missing, and the vast saturated CCTV system of London has been hacked. From north London to Vauxhall across the Thames, Emma has to stealthily deliver Michael to MI6. But how do you avoid technology without the use of technology? Welcome to race through London heaths, old Victorian streets and a subterranean river. London is as much a character as Emma and Michael. The novel plays out like an action film all the way to the end with intense scenes and twists.

Ava Glass is apparently a pseudonym for “an internationally bestselling author who has sold over two and a half million copies of her books worldwide”. Well, whoever you really are (and I think you give it away in the acknowledgements), Alias Ms. Glass, your talent shines through. I hope we see more of Emma Makepeace. 5 stars!

Thank you to Random House/ Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Brown and ice-blue and ce-cold eyes only.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just six foot tall vases of unnamed exotic flowers.

I loved this fast paced thriller about a young MI6 agent assigned to deliver the son of a Russian defector. to MI6 for protection on her own while eluding Russian operatives as they race across London.

Emma Makepeace, not her real name, is a 20 something ex military British spy. Her mentor pulls her into the office to give her an assignment of pulling in the son of Russian defectors. Unfortunately, once she makes contact, her mentor and the office goes silent, she is on her own, and she needs to cross London with her assigned person at night, avoiding all cameras as they have been hacked, and not get caught. London has cameras just about every few feet, so crossing town without getting caught is nearly impossible and the bad guys have eyes everywhere. The majority of the story takes place during that one night with flashbacks to Emma's back story which is a spy story on its own. Either this story ended with a few too many loose ends or the author is setting this up for a series. I'd be okay with that and would be interested to see where Emma heads next.

My thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy for an honest review.

British spy Emma Makepeace is assigned her biggest job yet - getting her asset across London in twelve hours. When she quickly finds that no one can be trusted and that Russians have hacked the CCTV in the city, you’ll find yourself holding your breath at every development in the story.

Alias Emma is a fast-paced spy novel that left me feeling like I was in London racing against the clock with the spy and her asset. While the book was a little less thriller and a little more spy action than I typically pick up, I found myself really enjoying the change in genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ava Glass has given us a wholly original and thrilling spy novel. Emma Makepeace is charged with getting an asset across London to the safety of MI6. There’s one big problem with this: he’s being hunted by Russia’s GRU, and they’ve hacked the city’s cctv cameras. Dodging the ubiquitous cameras is almost impossible in the most covered city on the planet, but Emma is determined to keep him safe. Readers will be turning pages all night long to find out if she succeeds. This reader wants more of Emma Makepeace. Highly recommended. #Alias Emma #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthors

I loved these fast-moving good old days spy thrillers! Emma has been working undercover when she finally gets the call she has been waiting for – her first major assignment! And it is a doozy! She needs to find and protect Michael, the son of a Russian spy rebel who has bee3n targeted, along with her family, for death. Michael, however, is a well-respected doctor, and does not want to be protected, nor does he think he needs to be. He soon learns otherwise, and to make matters worse, all of Emma’s backup has disappeared and the other side is looking to kill both her and Michael. She proceeds to keep Michael safe, and they are running on foot and avoiding any cameras, but the Russians always seem to be a step ahead of her. I loved the story and the characters and hope to read more3 about Emma in the future. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this fun read!

If you’re an enjoyer of fast paced and easy to read spy novels then this is your type of book! Emma is a new secret agent given her first mission that is of massive importance and will be difficult. Through this enjoyable page turner, we learn what led her into becoming an agent as well as how much of a badass she is to take on what she does! This one was enjoyable from start to finish and I’m hoping to see more about what the future has in store for one of my new favorite characters!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an advanced copy of this espionage thriller.

Spy novels that are quest stories are hard to write. A writer has to balance not only the spycraft, but has to keep the story moving and filled with tension and doubt. And that doubt not only has to be about the success of the mission, but what the mission is doing to the character's morality and ideals. God, Political Leader and Country is fine, but what about when a person has always wanted to be an agent for good, to avenge the wrongs of the past, only to find that not much separates the good guys from the bad guys, and both will sacrifice their own players just to win. In Alias Emma, by Ava Glass, an agent with ideals if given an impossible task, remain off the grid in the most surveilled city in the free world, and trust no one not even her own people.

Emma Makepeace, not her real name, is an intelligence agent working in her home country of London, doing the difficult work of infiltrating small local protest groups and investigating if they are security risks, or just puppies yapping. She is called in to help protect the son of a Russian defector, as kill teams seem to running rampant in London killing other defectors and so called enemies of the state. She makes contact just in time to stop an assassination attempt, that leaves her beat up and suddenly alone when she calls in to report. Her handler has disappeared and the London CCTV which covers the capital have been co-opted by the opposition, and she is alone. Emma has to move her protectee, without being spotted, by either foe or even friend.

A good story with plenty twists, and lots of tension. And spycraft. Emma is not Jason Bourne, at least not movie Bourne, she feels the hits, the lack of sleep, food and the pressure, but moves on and does what she does. Emma's backstory fits the plot well, and it is nice to have a character in a spy thriller that's not just a female bond, or movie character. The other characters are well portrayed, and actions no matter how dumb make sense. Again something that is rare, and not used just to advance the plot. There is plenty of action, and plenty of spy terminology, and the plot never bogs down. Everything moves well and gets going quite quickly.

A good story that would make a good NETFLIX series. A thriller in the Eric Ambler tradition, more than John le Carré, with a plot that plays fair and doesn't falter. I liked that a lot of the names seem to come from British spies famous from TV and movies, or that might be my inner nerd. I look forward to more adventures with Emma Makepeace and other books by Ava Glass, also not her real name.

Emma — not her real name, as indicated by the title, is an English spy. She works for the Agency and has been given her first big job. She needs to bring an English citizen into safety before the Russians take him. The book goes between past and present as the reader learns about Emma’s past and the reasons she becomes a spy. Full of action and thrills, the book ends in a way that points to the need for a sequel. or a series featuring Emma? I look forward to Emma’s return and more by Ava Glass. Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for the digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House Publishing- Ballantine. This book was a thrilling ride!

Emma is a newly minted secret agent and her first big assignment is huge. She must convince the son of someone else in hiding to go with her. Several people connected to his mother have turned up dead. She has to get him somewhere in London, one of the most watched cities in the world.

This book was fantastic! I couldn't put it down until I finished. Emma is a bad ass, and it awesome reading about such a strong, physical character. I really hope there is a sequel!

ALIAS EMMA by Ava Glass is a relatively fast and easy to read spy novel. Emma, a young British spy, is the central character of the novel. After graduating from college, Emma served in the military before she was recruited by Ripley, her British spy boss. The plot revolves around increasingly dangerous Russian Secret Service activity in London and danger to a former Russian informant and her family. Ripley assigns Emma to convince Michael Primalov, the son of a former Russian spy, to agree to join his parents in protective custody. Moving Michael across London to MI6 while avoiding Russians trying to kill them proves to be harrowing. This well written story pulled me in and kept my attention all the way to the end. The characters were well developed and the plot quite believable, especially if you believe Russian spys are active in our world today. I would love to see this novel optioned as a film, and hope Ms. Glass writes a second novel with Emma, Ripley and his team of skilled agents.

Emma Makepeace has put it all on the line for her country multiple times. But when she is given a special assignment from her boss, who tells her she is the only person for the job, she takes it very seriously. She’s assigned to take a Russian pediatric cancer doctor to safety, and when he refuses to go with her, she realizes he is in more danger than she first thought. As they travel through London avoiding cameras, Russian spies, and without help, they realize they have a lot more in common than they first thought. Follow their journey through London in this heart stopping, fast paced novel.

3.5/5 Overall a fast and fun thriller as we follow the main characters through London as they try to hide from the group chasing them. I was expecting some kind of big twist or reveal that one of the characters was actually a double agent or something, but that never came. Still a fun book to read, but lacked the complexity I've become used to in spy thrillers.

I'm not normally a spy/espionage story person, but this one caught my eye. It was enjoyable, pretty well-written, but seemed to end abruptly (setting up a sequel?). Action-packed with a bad-ass heroine, Alias Emma delivers what was promised.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Emma is such a badass!! Super fast paced and I blinked and it was over. This book most definitely needs a sequel based on the ending. Thank you Net Galley & the publisher for the ARC!