This was my first Ava Glass novel. I didn't realize that Alias Emma was the first book in this series and haven't read it yet. I assume I didn't miss anything that was needed for this novel. At least, it didn't feel like I missed anything.

I have always been fascinated by spies and the work they do, the risk they take to do their jobs, but I for sure would never want that job.

Emma Makepeace is a spy working to bring down a group that's dealing in chemical weapons and hopes to prevent the deaths of thousands while risking her own life on a yacht in the middle of the ocean. If that isn't terrifying enough, she has to sneak/steal another person's phone to communicate with her agency since her phone was confiscated. She has to sneak around without anyone finding her or suspecting her to get the info she needs... but Andrei's "bodyguard" Crogan hasn't trusted her from the moment she stepped on the yacht, and he has let it be known every chance he gets.

Things go wrong, and don't go as planned, then Emma finds out someone within her agency is a mole and working with the very dangerous men she's trying to bring down, bringing her mission to an end.

I guessed who the mole was but was still shocked when it was finally revealed. The betrayal by someone you trust is never an easy pill to swallow, especially when your job is so secretive that those in your own family can't know what you do for a living and requires you to lie about your life. It has to be very isolating to not be able to trust a single person.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Who killed an operative? That's what Emma is determined to find out. What she has to go thru makes this story.

Another excellent installment in this series, we again join Emma as she rockets through the world of MI6, bashing the baddies as she goes. This book is what you’d expect from any suspense spy thriller, but better for me, as our protagonist is a woman. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, always enjoy this author.

Once I got approved by NetGalley for The Traitor, I decided to read the first in this series, Alias Emma to get the backstory on the main character. I loved both novels! In the Traitor, Emma is on another undercover mission several months after the events in the first book. This time, the novel takes place on a yacht near the south of France, a perfect summer thriller! After killing a British agent, Russian businessmen are on the radar of the Agency and Emma is sent to get more information. The author did a great job of non-stop action and the added mystery of the third man. It was a wild ride, but wrapped up in a satisfying way. I can't wait to read more adventures of Emma and the Agency!

I have a confession: I randomly stumbled upon “Alias Emma” while roaming aimlessly at Barnes & Noble. I read it in one sitting and then read the preview of The Traitor in the back, and then looked to see if it was on NetGalley, and immediately requested it. There was no chill period I was on it before I had even closed the book 😂

This manages to be both intense and a little light at the same time - Emma is literally fighting for her life 24/7, but there’s no graphic violence/content depicted. So even though you’re invested in her mission and in her personally, it’s not as intense as some thrillers can be!

Emma is back and on to her next mission. This one is an unusual challenge - she will be onboard a yacht with her mark, with no way to contact HQ for support and with a constant and very real threat of being found out.

When a member of M16 turns up dead, Emma is called in to dig up what intel lead to his demise. When CCTV shows him investigating known weapons dealers, Emma is sent to get as close as possible as quickly as possible to the men he was in pursuit of.

Undercover as “help”, Emma spends her time on the ship both integrating herself with her coworkers for intel, and avoiding discovery as she tries to uncover the truth.

But when her identity is discovered through no fault of her own, Emma realizes the biggest danger is coming from inside the agency itself - and with both her enemies and her own team on her tail, time is running out to see how deep the deception goes.

Fast paced, attention grabbing from the opening chapter. I really enjoyed this book. At times it actually had me on the edge of my seat holding my breath. The ending was a real shocker. Emma/Jess , our heroine is relentless in her pursuit of a criminal, fearless at times. Great storyline.

The second book in the Emma Makepeace series is every bit as good as Alias Emma, the first book. This is a British espionage novel that grabbed me from the first page and I read it straight through to the end. Emma is a great character, the plot is well paced and the twists are unexpected. It's not necessary to read them in order but I do recommend both books in this enjoyable series. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Books for an advanced reader copy.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Books/Penguin Random House for the ARC of Ava Glass's second Emma Makepeace spy thriller.
While we're all waiting an eternity for the next James Bond movie, I'd highly recommend "The Traitor" as the next best thing. Fast paced, effectively twisty and filled with some genuine moments of harrowing action and nail biting suspense, it's the new mission assigned to young British spy Emma Makepeace.
Even more so than her bosses, Emma's especially dedicated to rooting out and thwarting nefarious Russian operatives. She and her mother escaped Russia, but not her father, who died at the hands of Moscow secret police. So when a fellow MI6 spy's found brutally murdered,, she's put on the hunt for the prime suspects - a couple of fabulously wealthy Russian oligarchs.
This new mission puts Emma undercover right in the lion's den......posing as a replacement crew member on a spectacular sumptuous yacht in the south of France....owned, of course by one those two oligarchs. Utterly fearless and determined to uncover the Russians' malignant doings, Emma's placed herself in no end of danger. If her identity's discovered, the oligarch and his ominous thuggish minion will most likely make her disappear without a trace. And the thug already views her with deep suspicion.
To go into any more detail would totally spoil all the adrenalin-filled fun of reading a spy adventure like this one.
I will say that you'll find yourself cringing with fear for Emma as she takes one near lethal risk after another.....and then finds herself coping with yet another perilous threat she never counted on.
Having thoroughly enjoyed 'Alias Emma' the first book in this series, I couldn't wait for a new one. And 'The Traitor' did not disappoint in any way. For all of us armchair secret agents, it's a pure escapist read of the best kind.

“There’s one thing I can say for certain. If the Russians are willing to murder a British intelligence officer in his home, then none of us is safe. Who knows what secrets he might have revealed before he died?”He met her gaze. “We have to catch the people who did this. And we have to make them pay.”

This is the sequel to Alias Emma which I read last year. Emma is still working for a top secret section of MI6. One of her fellow agents is found dead, body stuck in a suitcase. This agent was working on tracking chemical weapons that the Russians were involved in selling. Emma, the daughter of a Russian woman speaks fluent Russian, so she is the perfect person to try and infiltrate one of the Russian oligarchs inner circle.

This was a great spy thriller. I look forward to more books in this series.

Thank you Random House Ballantine for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It publishes Sep 19.

British spy Emma Makepeace is back in this second installment in the series. I love espionage fiction and these books hit the ground running and the action never stops. After an MI6 agent is found brutally murdered, links are made to a powerful group of Russian oligarchs. Emma is sent undercover on the suspect's super yacht to try and obtain proof of the Russians' criminal activities. She is completely alone and cut off from all help with a bunch of dangerous gangsters who are immediately suspicious of her. Emma discovers her cover is blown mid-mission and realizes that not only does she have to escape the Russians, she also has to hide from a traitor in her own agency. As the mission takes her from London, to St Tropez, to Barcelona, and back, Emma has to outsmart villains she can't even identify in order to stay alive. #TheTraitorBook #NetGalley

Absolutely loved this sequel! It was thrilling and hard to put down. Ava Glass really knows how to pique your interest and keep your heart pumping. This series is so much fun, and I really hope there's a 3rd novel in the works. I was able to figure out who the traitor was, but it didn't spoil my fun!

This was enjoyable enough and fun - but I found that the writing needed a bit more fine tuning and development. I liked that things were British centric with the lingo and verbiage and slang, but I also felt the writing was a tad juvenile.

Overall a fun story, but I don’t know that it was an electrifying thriller.

The Traitor by Ava Glass
Emma Makepeace is a young British spy determined to stop the Russians from operating on British soil.
A British spy is murdered in his apartment. He had been investigating two Russian oligarchs. Emma needs to find the truth behind his murder before it is too late. She is inserted onto a yacht owned by one of the Russians to find out what they are up to - a scary scenario without close backup. If she is discovered, she has nowhere to hide.
This is the second book in the Alias Emma series. It is fast paced and thrilling. I could not put it down.

I did not realize this was a sequel but found it worked well as a standalone novel. When a secret agent of an agency too secret to have a name is found dead, folded up in a suitcase, Emma Makepeace is on the case to find out who killed him and to bring down a major Russian crime ring involving gun smuggling and chemical weapons. The novel started out very slowly and I put it aside for several weeks before returning to it and starting over since nothing I’d read stuck with me. While I figured out the “villain” well before it was revealed, the story interested me enough to keep reading. Still the actual writing left a bit to be desired. The inclusion of British slang was appropriate as the story centers around a British agency, but the inclusion of the F-bomb added nothing and in fact showed a lack of imagination on the author’s part. Emma also was a little hard to believe. She seemed a bit naïve at times for a super super-secret spy. Three stars for story, 2.5 for execution.

A wonderful, fast paced, action packed spy thriller that had me at the first page right until the end. I loved it and enjoyed a different kind of read for me. Most of the action takes place on a luxury yacht at sea where British intelligence agent Emma Makepeace is on her own against Russian Oligarchy opponents. I read this cover to cover in one day and highly recommend it to those who enjoy books like this. I am a fan of this author and look forward to her other books. I found it refreshing to have the main character be a woman. I enjoyed meeting all the characters and found them believable. The entire setting and story seems well researched and developed.


I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Emma Makepeace is an MI6 agent whose father was killed by the Russians (he was also a spy). She goes undercover to find out the mastermind behind a Russian plot and to uncover a mole in MI6. Undeterred by danger, she won’t stop until she finds the traitor.

I enjoyed the characters and the situation although I did guess early on who the Traitor was. I would definitely read more from Ava Glass!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance ARC in exchange for my review.

I feel as if Emma didn’t actually pass her training very well. This book was suppose to take place in actually time but I feel it’s 1997, I couldn’t get 30% and I won’t continue with the other books

An MI6 agent is found murdered and Emma Makepiece is sent undercover. There is a suspected traitor within British Intelligence which could compromise Emma. The action starts from the first page and will have you on the edge of your seat. I guessed part of the story but still enjoyed. I wasn’t aware that this book was part of a series but it worked well as a stand alone. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Sometimes follow up book are so so. But The Traitor was a good follow up to the previous book. I able to finish the book in a weekend and yet still be thinking about the twist.

In a sequel to her high-action spy thriller, Alias Emma, British spy Emma Makepeace returns with another Russian investigation. When an MI6 operative is assassinated, Emma determines to find the killer without becoming a victim herself. Before his death, he was investigating two Russian oligarchs he believed were spies with ties to a mysterious third man. But MI6 told him to drop it. As Emma goes undercover on a Russian oligarch's yacht, she finds the killer might be closer to home than she ever imagined.

Alias Emma was one of my favorite thrillers of 2022, so my expectations were high for The Traitor. Emma is just as brilliant a character this time around, a fearlessly competent spy unafraid to make bold moves to save the day. Although the tight quarters of the yacht made for excellent tension, the overarching mole hunt had hardly any complexity, leaving you disappointed in the big reveal.