Who can you trust? This was such a great book! Once you start you won’t be able to stop so plan on no sleep!

When a member of MI6 is murdered and stuffed in a suitcase British Spy, Emma Makepeace is tasked with going undercover on an oligarchs yacht in hopes of solving the murder. Emma's mission quickly becomes dangerous as suspicious rise. I don't normally read spy book but really enjoyed this one. I kept me enthralled and I did not see the ending coming at all!.

Emma Makepeace is back in a second heart stopping thriller. This was a quick read for me because Ava Glass’ books are so incredibly well written that sometimes I forget I’m reading while my mind is absorbed into the world of Emma.

Emma is a young British spy that’s apart of a secret organization called MI5, she’s abruptly taken off a case and launched into the investigation of the death of one of their own. She’s going undercover on a Russian yacht called, the Eden, to gain intel about chemical weapons and the oligarchs that are making money from them. It’s a dangerous mission, and even worse when there’s a traitor within her organization that’s blowing her cover. Will Emma survive this mission?

A worthy sequel to Alias Emma! Set on a Russian oligarch's yacht, this fast-paced thriller has it all: a complex heroine, fantastic setting, and a plot that twists and turns all the way to the end.

The Traitor was an action packed read with a good twist. This book caught my attention from the very beginning and it left me wanting to read more by Ava Glass. At times while reading this, I found myself up late at night telling myself, "just one more chapter," and then reading five more chapters. It kept me on the edge of my seat many times.

First, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of The Traitor. Ava Glass nailed the suspense aspect of this story. I did not read the first in this series, Alias Emma. This one got me from page one. Emma Makepeace is a British spy whose latest job involves Russian oligarchs involved in the sale of drugs and weapons. At the core is the money trail and the revelation that there may be a traitor in the midst of these dealings. Emma goes undercover with a goal of identifying those involved. Her mission takes her to a yacht in the Mediterranean where she attempts to follow the money and find out who is involved. “Maybe she was arrogant to think she should be the one to do this. Or maybe she really was the one person who’d could do it.” Was she equipped? Not knowing who to trust, Emma takes dangerous steps to solve the questions, Emma puts herself in peril to find the answers. A tense, satisfying read.

A gripping read, <i>The Traitor</i>, is the second in the Alias Emma series featuring MI6 operative Emma Makepeace. This time around the tension is ratcheted up as Emma goes undercover as a member of the crew on a Russian oligarch’s “super yacht” where she is on the trail of murderers and chemical weapons dealers. While off shore, she is essentially without communication or support which is made even more precarious by her growing suspicions that there is a traitor on her team.

Full of suspense and numerous twists, this was an entertaining, fast-paced page turner featuring an engaging plot and a great heroine/lady spy. There was a good balance of intrigue and tension without relying on a lot of technology or graphic violence plus just a touch of glamour and romance . It was on track for a full five-star rating except for one missed opportunity. I thought the search for the mole didn’t receive the level of treatment it deserved.

Spy novels are not my usual fare, but this series has me hooked. I look forward to reading the next installment.


FYI - I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

very grateful to have received the 2nd in the series as i greatly enjoyed Alias Emma.

emma makepeace seems much less capable and some of the decisions made by both her & her superior officer.

while i didn't enjoy this entry quite as much as the first in the series, it was still a fast, enjoyable read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! The farther I read into it, the less I wanted to put it down and that to me is the mark of an excellent suspense book. Though this is the first book by Ava Glass that I have read, it will not be the last.

Emma Makepeace is a spy within the British Intelligence network. Though she is not a normal part of MI6, she works closely with them. Emma, who is actually a Russian born British citizen named Alexandra, focuses on crimes by Russian agents against British citizens and companies and she is very good at her job. Her current assignment is to investigate some Russian Oligarchs who have been smuggling chemical weapons and other armaments to countries and groups hostile to countries in Europe including Britain. To do this, she is tasked with infiltrating the staff of Alexei Volkov, an extremely rich and powerful member of a group of three suspects. Oleg Federov is the second member of this group and he has a reputation for being especially brutal. The third member of the group is a mystery and that is a key focus of Emma’s investigation. Under the guise of Jessica Marshall, Emma becomes a part of the crew of Volkov’s yacht, the “EDEN” and carries out a carefully planned search for answers. Her only support comes from the rare chances she has to talk by phone with her boss, Ridley, and her contact in France, Jon Frazer. Most of the time, Emma is alone with no weapon and no contact with the world off the boat.

The author does a great job of weaving Emma through the search for answers, placing her in and out of danger. Her growing relationships with crew members Sara, Conor, and Jason feel real and believable, as does her friendship with Madison, a Californian who has become Volkov’s mistress.

I loved this book and found it to be a captivating read. The characters and situations the author created seemed believable. I highly recommend this book!

Ava Glass https://www.avaglass.uk/ is the author of two novels. The Traitor will be published later this month, and it is the second book in her Alias Emma series. It is the 53rd book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature language, I categorize this novel as R. The 28-year-old Emma Makepeace has become a respected agent within MI-6. Emma is what most know her as. Few know her real identity. The body of a fellow MI-6 agent, Stephen Garrick, is found inside his apartment, stuffed into a suitcase.

Makepeace looks into what Garrick had been working on. She finds that his primary focus had been on two Russian oligarchs living in London. He believed that the two were involved in spying. But when Garrick reported this theory to his superiors, he was told to drop the investigation.

Makepeace fears that Garrick was on to something and that it resulted in his death. She is determined to go undercover as a crew member on one of the oligarch’s yachts. She is taking a risk, but it may be the only way to discover the truth.

I enjoyed the 7.5 hours I spent reading this 319-page spy thriller. I had the opportunity to read the first novel in the series, Alias Emma (aka The Chase), about a year ago. I enjoyed it every bit as much as I enjoyed this novel. The entertaining plot is filled with intrigue and suspense. The chosen cover art is eye-catching and relates to the story. I give this novel a rating of 4.4 (rounded to 4) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

I love Emma Makepeace. I enjoyed the first book and this one didn’t disappoint either. I thought the story was well thought out and entertaining. Don’t want to spoil anything so I will just say I highly recommend this one!

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Emma is a spy and works within a very tight knit team. She is out on a puzzling case and ends up going undercover on a Russian yacht. Her job is to uncover dealings with chemical weapons. She is on her own, and things get intense very quickly.

This book was just okay. I knew immediately who the traitor was, and the whole undercover operation was kind of silly. The dialogue was wooden and heavy handed at some times. There were some interesting bits, but this isn’t one I’d recommend. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emma and her team need to uncover who killed a British Government official in a London hotel. Once the suspicion rests on two Russian oligarchs, Emma us sent undercover as a worker owned by one of them, with the aim of discovering who the potential third man is, and to collect evidence of their sales of chemical weapons to foreign countries.

Fast paced and thrilling, this plot has us following Emma as she moved around exotic locations like Nice and St. Tropez, and as she is burned by a mole in the government, and has to run for her life from the Russians.

An exciting follow up to Alias Emma. I love the characters involved, especially Emma as a female James Bond. I can't wait to read the next one.

Wow! Great read. My first Ava Glass book but definitely not my last! This was a fun story with wonderful characters. I loved the tension and thrills. Easy and enjoyable read.
Thank you NetGalley, Ava Glass and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book

Emma Makepeace is back and has another opportunity to demonstrate just how great of a spy she is. She has a particular chip on her shoulder about the Russians and when a British intelligence officer is killed, she has to work with her agency to determine why. She’s on the trail of a weapons and drug dealer but needs to figure out the real players behind his wealth and network. Going undercover working on the Russian’s yacht, she befriends his girlfriend who is young, beautiful and always partying. Emma can’t help but feeling sorry for her situation as the allure of wealth and the luxury it brings is its own trap. She’ll have to work quickly to solve the case before her cover is blown and the consequences are deadly. Someone in the agency has betrayed the mission and Emma must use her influence to stay on the case to get to the bottom of it.

Emma Makepeace, British spy, is on the move again. At the beginning of the story, a data miner working for MI6 is found dead and all signs point to Russian oligarchs. Emma goes undercover on a super yacht in the Mediterranean where her job is to clean cabins, serve drinks and look for evidence linking the known oligarchs with someone who could could be a double agent between Britain and Russia. There are some twists and turns but I'm going to stop here with the story description so that I don't give anything away.
I read Alias Emma-the previous book- but I don't think that you would have to read that first. It might give more context into why Emma is so motivated to uncover every bad Russian through detailed spy-work, but it's not necessary.
I highly recommend both of these books. They read like movies. Emma is the new James Bond! I don't even usually read books like this but I've loved both of these.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Emma Makepeace finds her way as an undercover agent on a Russian oligarchs mega yacht. She's trying to collect information about an arms dealer and chemical weapons creator to send information back to her team. With a small crew on board, she's the newest face and everyone wants to know who she is. Cut off from communication, how does she collect her information and send back to her handlers in London?

This was a light hearted quick James Bondesque summer read. While one of the plots was predictable, the traitor itself I didn't see coming.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

This 2nd book in the series staring Emma the British spy, takes her onto the yacht of a Russian oligarch in the Mediterranean. One of their own spies is killed and they are after this group of Russians, but there seems to be a traitor in their midst. Lots of action.

If this is a reader's first dive into the life of Emma Makepeace (a delightfully spy-ish name, by the way), it makes no difference. Much as with newcomers to the world of James Bond or any similar storied franchise, all one really needs to know is that she's a spy and she's good at what she does. Romantic, familial, and business ties will all drop in and out of the story, with just enough backstory to get new readers on board. Ms. Makepeace is a master of disguise, crafting and assuming alternate personalities with the help of her MI6 associates. We get a glimpse into just how much work goes into making a fictional persona, from wardrobe choice to social media presence, as the story begins.

Also as the story begins, we get a grisly look at what makes this mission so messy. Technically, Emma is the second spy on this case. The first had begun tailing two powerful Russian businessmen, believing they (and an unnamed third) were up to some shady dealings that could cost innumerable lives. When this spy got too close to the truth, he died... and now Emma, disguised as hired help on a yacht, is about to fly even close to what got this man killed.

However, job 1 quickly becomes staying alive. Her mark is suspicious, and all her carefully-laid preparations begin to fall away one by one. It's a fascinating take on the typical undercover spy story. Advanced gadgets count for very little, after all, if they're taken away from you on day 1. With her bosses keen to pull her out, her life on the line, and bodies hitting the waves, Emma has to choose between her own safety and discovering the truth.

As someone who's new to Emma Makepeace, I was immediately hooked. The deep dive into the nuts and bolts of spycraft may not be for everyone, but it was absolutely for me. The commitment to realism - both in the preparation and in the potential for it to all go wrong - was fascinating. And seeing how a mission is altered on the fly was thrilling.

It's worth noting that "Ava Glass" is "a pseudonym for a former crime reporter and civil servant." In other words, Glass knows the ins and outs of this life. Which I'm sure adds to its verisimilitude. Sometimes writing fiction on something in which you're an expert can bog the prose down, but this flows quickly. We learn what we need to learn, and any expositional sidebars are dedicated to the story, rather than educating the reader on the subject matter.

The Traitor is an exciting read, full of unexpected twists and turns right up to the end. Emma Makepeace is a fantastic protagonist, and one hopes that she has many more such adventures in her.

The Traitor is second in a series featuring female British spy Emma Makepeace. This can be read as a stand-alone however. The pacing on this one is a little bit slow but picks up once she’s finally on the yacht.
I’m just not really sure I like Emma all that much. She has almost no personality and I keep telling myself it’s because she’s a spy and needs to be as invisible as possible. And yet… her fellow spies are more memorable in the few scenes we see them in.
Would I read a third book in this series? Probably.