Amanda Cole feel punished as a rising CIA agent for her boring assignment to the Rome bureau, where nothing exciting happens except for diplomat visits and parties. That is until one late afternoon when she’s the only one in the office on a hot summer day and she agrees to take a meeting with a low-level Russian bureaucrat who’s desperate to share information he overhead that a U.S. Senator visiting Cairo is about to be assassinated. Amanda hears him out and ultimately believes him, only to hit up against complete dismissal by her sexist Bureau Chief. When the assignation take place, Amanda finds herself as new Rome Bureau chief as well as the agent running the Russian operative. She gets partnered with a tough, crafty, seasoned bureau partner, CIA legend Kath, in her quest to figure out who’s behind the assignation – the KBG, the KRU, the Kremlin?

Meanwhile, Amanda’s Dad, Charlie, who’s about to retire from the service, comes across private notes from the Senator that he shares with Amanda, including a cryptic mention of his own name among the notes. A secondary plot unravels back in time with Charlie as a young agent in Helsinki with a young wife and daughter and struggling to find any Russian spies of his own to run. How his marriage unravels and the Helsinki affair connected to it will intersect brutally with the main plot.

Amanda finds herself up against double agents, sophisticated stock value manipulations, blackmail, murder and mayhem as she races to sort out just what is really going on.

Got to love this latest missive from the incredible Anne Pitoniak!

Thanks Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

I loved this book! I couldn’t put it down! The spy plot was twisty, but not too hard to follow. This is the perfect book to while away an afternoon.

Loved this book! I'm a fairly regular reader of the spy fiction genre, and this one rates at the top of the list. How refreshing that the main characters were mostly women combined with a father-daughter dimension that added not only emotional tension, but a narrative tool that allowed for a seamless back and forth exploration of the differences not only in spy craft but in relationships between the US and Russia across decades, during- and post-cold-war. I tore through the book, it completely kept my attention, I was eager to get back to it each evening. And while it is a spy thriller, fans of smart well-written, escapist fiction will enjoy this book, with or without their own spy genre background. Top notch.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book. A current day spy/espionage novel with strong female characters. I love it!

Amanda Cole is following in her fathers footsteps as as CIA Agent. She is stationed in Rome which is normally pretty quiet. Until someone comes to her and tells her of a plot to kill a Senator. When she takes this to her boss, he doesn't believe her.... until the senator ends up dead. Somehow her father is also tied to this. But how? What is really going on here?

This was a fast paced and well written novel. It was easy to follow along.

4.5/5 stars

I really liked the Helsinki Affair. I am a fan of Anna Pitoniak and I feel like she took a leap forward in her writing and the complexity of the story here. Recommend for fans of Alias Emma!

If you love a good spy novel, Anna Pitoniak should be on your radar.

Her latest, The Helsinki Affair, features CIA agent Amanda Cole, who finds herself in the middle of a plot that harks back to the late days of the Cold War and her father's CIA service in Helsinki.

When a nervous Russian shows up at the embassy in Rome, where she's posted, no one but Amanda believes the tale he's spinning. Her instincts are proved correct. Then it's up to her, her Russian asset and a legendary spy named Kath to expose the scheme. But where does her father fit into all of this, and how does Amanda balance her loyalty to her father and to her country?

As with her previous book Our American Friend, Pitoniak's story clips right along. Once again, smart and competent women drive the story. This is a fast, fun read.

I received an early review copy from NetGalley.

I have really come to enjoy Anna Pitoniak's books and get excited for a new one. "The Helsinki Affair" is an intriguing spy-novel that allows the reader to really dive deep into CIA and the small Cole family. If follows a decades long secret that that tests Daughter Amanda's loyalties. Another exciting novel that I would highly recommend.

The Helsinki Affair was a compulsive spy thriller. I enjoyed the complex characters and fast paced and will be recommending it to readers!

This was the perfect espionage book about a father and daughter and the secrets we keep. I tore through every page, and it kept me guessing the whole way through. Anna Pitoniak is quickly becoming a must-read author for me. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the early copy.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I would recommend this book to readers that are interested in a spy novel, told from a female protagonist's point of view.
If you enjoyed Amaryllis Fox's memoir., you would also enjoy this!

Pros
-Anna Pitoniak's prose
-A spy novel that is not political or biased

Cons
-Would love further explanation of the background of characters, history of events, and locations where the novel is taking place could use more development

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. The Helsinki Affair is a female centric spy novel about Amanda Cole, an American working for the CIA and currently stationed in Rome. She receives a tip from a Russian operative, letting her know about a covert assassination that is planned against a US Senator. It is this event that kicks off of the story and we are taken along with Amanda as she tries to learn why this assassination happened and especially, what her father (a fellow CIA agent) may have had to do with the whole scheme.

This was an excellent spy novel and was enjoyable to read. There were a manageable number of characters to follow and even though the story jumped perspectives a bit, I was able to keep track of what was going on. Additionally, the characters also felt very realistic and the story felt contemporary, even if there were references and allusions to the Cold War (which of course still shapes American/Russian relations). The story also balanced maintaining a fast pace and being slow enough to appreciate the build up before the ending. As a result, I felt that the ending was satisfying and was eagerly reading to see how it would all wrap up.

I was a huge fan of this author’s first novel and was super excited to read this one; fans of her previous work will enjoy this one. I’d also recommend this book to fans of political thrillers or spy novels.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this terrific upcoming thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed Anna Pitoniak's recent book, Our American Friend. She has upped her writing game even more with The Helsinki Affair.

CIA agent Amanda Cole is serving as deputy station agent in Rome, not exactly an exciting post in the center of international action, when a Russian man walks in to the station office asking for a meeting and warning of the imminent assassination of an American politician in Cairo. Amanda believes him even though her superior officer doesn't want to give him the time of day. After the senator dies on his trip to Cairo, seemingly of a heat induced stroke, the warning of the assassination turns out to have been true. Amanda is elevated to station chief and embarks on a mission to find out just why the Russians would take such a risky action.

Of course there's more to it than simply figuring out the Russian plot - Amanda's father Charlie had been a CIA operative in Helsinki back in the day, but he suddenly and mysteriously stepped back to a desk job at Langley in the early 1990's. Now his name is found among some of the senator's secret papers, with a possible link to the case. She now has a moral dilemma to deal with - was her father Russian mole? And does she really want to find out the truth about him?

The book shifts backward to Charlie's Cold War days in Helsinki and forwards to Amanda's pursuing of her current case. Moles, double agents, oligarchs, financial market shenanigans, rivalry between the FSB and GRU, a Putin like head of the Russian government pulling the strings, mistakes and betrayals in the past and present. This is spy thriller with all of the elements.

In her forward to the book the author reveals that during her time as an editor at Random House she longed for a female-centric spy thriller with a complex heroine, but one never crossed her desk. So she embarked on writing one herself. Bravo! can't wait for more from her.

The book was just ok with me. I felt like it was well written but there wasn't enough driving me towards the next page. I understood it was looking for more sublety than I was hoping for. It didn't keep my interest as much as I would like but I think others may disagree with me.

This is an incredibly timely, well-written spy novel. Since much of it takes place in Helsinki and details the Russian/American rivalry in the area, it was a reflect moment to revisit this city. Additionally, much of it concerns the stock manipulation which has recently occurred.

The story is centered on Amanda Cole and her father, Charlie. Both CIA agents, both involved with Russia and both dealing assets, but in very different ways. Amanda has to make heart wrenching decisions when her father’s name comes up during an investigation.

Watching today’s news, I was truly impressed by Pitoniak’s almost psychic ability to have written this novel several months ago. It is a bit hard to understand the central stock manipulation scheme, but well worth the effort.

This is a very good, well-paced novel that will be enjoyed by those with political and economic interests. Thank you Netgalley for this engaging spy novel.

I liked this book! The intertwined stories and timelines made it even more interesting, and I liked a lot of the characters.

Anna Pitoniak’s “The Helsinki Affair” is a very good spy novel. More like a Le Carre than a Fleming or a Ludlum or a DaSilva, it focuses on the decades-apart careers of two CIA officers and the continuing war of espionage between the US and the Russia that once was the Soviet Union.

If anyone was ever meant to be a CIA officer, it is Amanda Cole. Her grandfather was OSS during WWII. Her father ran assets for the Agency in Algiers and Helsinki during the 1980s.

When the story begins, she is second-in-command of the Rome station. A man purporting to work for Russian Military Intelligence (the GRU) walks into the American embassy and reports that a US Senator is about to be assassinated. Amanda believes the "walk-in." Her boss does not. When the senator is assassinated, Amanda becomes the chief of Rome station. She also becomes the walk-in's handler, sending him back to Moscow to continue work at the GRU and send her more intelligence.

Through him, and other sources, Amanda learns that the Kremlin is influencing the decisions of American corporations using stock manipulations and blackmail. She also discovers the presence of a long-time “mole” within the CIA. Evidence suggests her father could be the traitor. Her job now is to stop the Russian manipulation and discover the mole's identity. If it is her Dad, where will her loyalty lie?

It's a well-told story that covers the period between the 1980s and today and takes readers from Washington to Moscow to Helsinki to Rome with side trips to Algiers, Switzerland, Manhattan, and other venues. So, it’s a very international story. But it’s not a glamorous one. Author Anna Pitoniak strives to depict the “nitty-gritty” of life as a CIA officer, showing us that there’s more call for mundane, bureaucratic paper-pushing and patience-demanding waiting than for feats of daring-do. That sometimes slows the novel down. Also, don’t expect much in the way of whiz-bang gadgetry or mano-a-mano melees to set you on the edge of your seat.

Instead, Pitoniak employs high, high stakes and a creative conspiracy to keep us engaged. Her premise as to how the Kremlin, its intelligence services, and a particular oligarch seek to manipulate American corporations is fascinating. Her main character's efforts to counter that threat to the lifeblood of the US economy, plus the mole hunt, plus the story of her father’s service during the 1980s, plus all the twists and turns as to who is loyal to whom, are what compel us to turn pages.

It's a very good story that lovers of spy novels, especially cerebral spy novels, should very much enjoy.

My thanks to NetGalley, author Anna Pitoniak, and publisher Simon and Schuster for providing me with an electronic ARC. The foregoing is my honest, independent opinion.

This is a terrific book. The writing is good, characters are really well written and interesting,.and the plot is terrific. Honestly could not stop reading it once started, so be warned. It has female protagonists, but everyone of importance is realistic, complex, far from flawless. This book is a nuanced and subtle spy story, modern and relevant. Appreciate the advance copy The plot revisits cold war issues between the U.S. and Russia but is clearly set in the modern era, with social media and manipulation central to the plot.
It would do a disservice to summarize the plot - just delve in and enjoy.

This is a fun spy story, mixed in with a touching look at a father/daughter relationship. Amanda Cole has to make a hard choice when she’s confronted with information that doesn’t reflect well on her dad.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley, but all thoughts are my own.

The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak

This is the second book I have read by Ms. Pitoniak. I had read Our American Friend which was an enjoyable read. But this book is infinitely better and shows remarkable progress as a writer. The Helsinki Affair is an espionage novel written by a woman and about a woman CIA Station Chief who must solve a complex plan put into place by the Russians. The pace of the story is excellent from beginning to end. Many writers tend to rush to the ending as they come close but she does not. Also, I do not like espionage novels that must have sex. There is none in this book which on its own makes it a good read by me. The protagonist (Amanda Cole) is a third generation CIA agent but the story weaves the past and the present of her father who betrayed the US to the Russians. The story begins when a Russian walks up to the US embassy gate who wants to tell a story of a plot to kill a US senator in 24hrs. in Greece. Her boss does not believe the story until it becomes true. He then resigns and Amanda is now in charge attempting to find out why the senator was killed and why her father’s name is in the document that the senator has written. That I hope is enough of the story to intrigue you. I can not really suggest a make writer who I would compare her to which is in my mind a very positive statement. She has her own style and the story has the mind of how a woman might access the situation which I think it a good thing to say. Hope you find the time to read the book.