Wow from the first scene, The Traitor had my attention. Slow build? I think not, author Ava Glass skipped slow and headed right into action from the first chapter and did not let up until the conclusion! Very well written- settings, character development and a twisty tight plot that reads like an incredible James Bond movie! (I can just hear the music in the background.)

Emma Makepeace, our heroine, has a mission to find the killer of one of their M16 secret agents. They suspect the Russians, but they need more proof so Emma heads undercover to work on a gorgeous yacht. I really like Emma she is highly intelligent, but her ways of thinking resonate so well. This fast paced suspense/mystery novel is action packed and has quite a few surprises in store!

Now I need to go find Alias Emma, the first part of the series. The Traitor read as such an outstanding standalone that I did not realize there was another book until I looked up the author's bio. So, it is fine to read on its own!

British spy looking to catch Russian chemical dealers. Emma Makepeace is pretty new to the job but very talented.
She is given the assignment to board an Oligarchs yacht and collect information. She does so but not without consequences.
Fast paced book, well plotted and very entertaining.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me this ARC.
I do recommend.

I ripped through ALIAS EMMA in a day and then devoured THE TRAITOR equally fast. Emma Makepeace is fabulous and I cannot wait to read every book in this series. She’s smart, resourceful, dangerous, and impossible not to root for. I have a new favorite spy series!

Emma Makepeace is back and this time she's graduated from trainee to full-fledged superspy. In fact, Glass has given her such skills and savvy that this book unfortunately falls apart by the middle; Emma is *so* good as a spy she can fend off the biggest, toughest bad guys, instantly be best pals with anyone she wants, blend in to the most difficult situations, and even start a romantic relationship with one of her colleagues, all while defying her bosses with her I-know-better exploits.

While people don't want to read about a spy who is incompetent, the opposite extreme of one who is superhuman, able to easily slip out of the most impossible situation, extract secret info from even the most taciturn villain, and finish up with their hair still beautiful coiffed and everyone admiring their aplomb, ends up being rather banal.

Indeed, about halfway through this second novel - and I enjoyed the first in the series - I felt it had switched to more of a young adult read with plenty of internal dialog about the hero's ostensible insecurities (none of which prove valid with her astonishing skillset, of course). I really wanted to like this novel, but...

Very fun, fast-paced read. If you haven't read the first in the series (Alias Emma), I would recommend reading that one first. Emma is a fantastic heroine, smart, capable, brave (actually, brave bordering on foolhardiness), fun to read/see in action. I was on TENTERHOOKS the whole time she was on board the yacht - that sort of closed environment naturally sets the tension at a 10 from the outset, then goes up from there. I loved the settings of different cities as the yacht traveled from place to place. Like a typical thriller, some plot points seemed rather farfetched, and I was able to guess the mystery, but neither of those detracted from my enjoyment of this book. Also, I REALLY want to check out one of those yachts!... though not if it belongs to a Russian oligarch ;)

My thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC via netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is exhilarating with heart-pounding missions.

Emma Makepeace was a MI6 operative. She was ready for a challenge and given one with a fast pace. She followed her dad’s path of being a spy. Sadly, he was killed on a job in Russia when she was young.

After three years of working at a very secret British intelligent unit, she wanted to make her mark. She told her mother she was going on a quick working trip and would be back soon. Her sweet mom didn't have a clue what she was doing and replied something like: “Okay; call when you get back.” That is if she could survive the harrowing dangers she was about to step into.

She had two weeks to get secret information from threatening Russian oligarchs on their 90-metre yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean. She was alone without tracking devices. They took her phone away. What could go wrong? She spoke several languages including Russian but she never experienced being on a yacht before.

The story is action packed with Emma as a strong, confident female. I wanted her to take these bad guys out. The scenes are highly visible. I was the nervous reader pacing with a racing heartbeat. Unlike a movie, there was no closing of the eyes.

It’s the second of a series but this could easily be a standalone. The characters had real names, agency names and more names for times when they went into the bars or on the job. They told lots of lies. It could have been confusing but it wasn’t. Each person was described perfectly.

However, there were parts that were predictable and a tad sketchy. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the experience of a very satisfying book that had my attention from the beginning until the end. I read it in a day.

My thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of September 19, 2023.

I quickly read The Traitor because once I started I couldn’t stop. Emma , the main character, was given the mission of finding out what two Russian oligarchs were doing and ultimately to uncover a British traitor. It was fascinating how she trained and then imbedded herself within the life on Volkov’s yacht to learn the truth. The dangers were great, and she did have to fight for her life. . Emma is an interesting character. She is successful at her job, but she is flawed. She was in some ways too trusting. She believes that the people around her are not capable of being traitors because they have been thoroughly vetted by the government. That turned out to be wrong, of course. She also doesn’t follow her orders completely, which put her life in danger twice. That makes her more of a rogue agent and could eventually end her career or her life.
I was able to identify the traitor before it was revealed. That person seemed to be too omniscient and too conveniently able to help Emma. I was surprised when the ending confirmed what I thought.
I enjoyed this book. I plan to read more of Ava Glass’s books in the future. I like her style of writing.

4.25/5⭐️

This is the second in the Emma Makepeace series featuring a young British spy who focuses on Russian threats.

When an MI6 operative is killed via a chemical weapon exposure, Emma is tasked with going undercover on a Russian oligarch’s luxury yacht to find evidence of the triumvirate of villains involved in drugs, chemical weapons, money laundering, murder, etc. Alone on the open sea, she is shut off from any support. And as she searches for evidence, she is forced to consider that a member of the trio is a British spy turned traitor. Who can she trust?

I’m really enjoying this series so far. Emma (and her background) is compelling, and there’s a good dose of suspense and adventure throughout the book. And while the unknown villain was fairly obvious to me, there was still enough of a pull to keep me along for the ride.

Well done, and I look forward to seeing more of Emma in the future.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Bantam for providing the early arc of The Traitor for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Strap in for a wild ride! British Intelligence officer, Emma Makepeace's assignment is to solve the mystery of why a minor agent who was a "number cruncher" was murdered and found stuffed into a suitcase. The M15 agency knows two of the players in this deadly game, but who is the third? Placing Emma on board the Russian Oligarch's yacht as a staff member in hopes of her finding the information needed to break the international crime ring almost gets her killed when her cover is blown. Even after being pulled off the case, Emma won't give up and continues to investigate. Who is the third man and who inside M15 knew her whereabouts and divulged her real identity to the Russians? This will keep you turning the pages late into the night. Movie adaptation anyone?

In THE TRAITOR, by Ava Glass, Emma Makepeace is thrust into the middle of investigation where she has to assume a secret identity and infiltrate a Russian oligarch's yacht staff to discover what is the greater meaning for a recent MI6 agent's murder. Can Emma use her wits, talents, and a little luck to uncover the truth before she gets caught or is the mission doomed from the start?
The book hooks the reader from the start, with very little exposition and the reader feels thrown into Emma's situation of knowing just enough to get by. As the story unfolds, clues and tidbits are revealed and the reader and Emma settle into the assignment. The book follows Emma, so the reader really doesn't get much that Emma doesn't observe or think, which holds the mystery of truth intact and fun to figure out. As the time on the yacht becomes more intense and reaches maximum thrills, Glass throws a giant twist on the story that carries the reader until the end. I did unfortunately figure out who the traitor was way before it was revealed and that's rare for me because I usually enjoy the roller coaster ride of a good thriller and never try very hard to figure things, I just happily wait for them to happen. The story was still exhilarating and just because I figured out one piece of the puzzle doesn't mean the novel lost the frenzy and unpredictability of a good spy novel.
Emma Makepeace is a wonderfully fun character to follow and root for in THE TRAITOR and I hope Ava Glass writes more books with her in it. A exciting and fun read!

The Traitor

3.75 ⭐️

Felt appropriate to read a spy thriller set in Europe while in Europe!

This is the second book in the Alias Emma series, full of action and adventure. Emma is a spy for a British agency that is tasked with following Russian business men who are suspected of having chemical weapons. But can she figure out who is betraying her?

I really enjoyed how quickly this book went. While I saw the twist coming, it was still a fun ride!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC of The Traitor, available in September!

I love the Ava Glass series about this strong woman. The second in the series doesn't have the jaw dropping twist of the first book, but is still enjoyable. Recommend you start series from the beginning for most enjoyment.

I really enjoyed this spy thriller. I had to keep turning pages to see what would happen next. I look forward to more in this series.

This book,#the traitor was so good I read it in nearly one sitting! What a lovely romp of a spy thriller! I was compelled to keep turning pages to see what would happen next-couldn’t wait to find out who the traitor was (did not know until the reveal). I thank #netgalley and #ballantinebooks for the opportunity to read this arc in the Sluas Emma Series ahead of publication. I can’t wait for #3 to continue Emma’s story!

A MI6 operative was found dead in his apartment. After an exhaustive search, the crime scene is clean, no trace whatsoever. Emma Makepeace and her handler know an assassination when they see one, and this is an assassination.

As Emma digs into the operatives past, she discovers some secrets she wishes she hadn’t. When Emma finds herself on an oligarch’s million-dollar yacht, undercover and alone, she does everything to keep her identity a secret. As she uncovers secrets, the danger rachets up, and Emma is at risk.

This is the second book featuring Emma Makepeace. This can be read as a standalone and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite not reading the first.

I loved this book! It was a high-octane spy drama akin to a Netflix show. I love it when the scenes play out in my head like a movie as I am reading – it is so much fun when writing transforms me that way. I really enjoyed reading about Emma and her spy antics. The spy aspect was just so much fun, and the writing was believable. I loved how by the end I was questioning all the characters trying to figure out who the mole was. While I had a good hunch about who it was, I was still surprised and enjoyed it. Being set on a yacht was interesting. I am still trying to visualize it in my head as I have never seen one quite the way as described.

If you are looking for a fun, fast paced spy thriller with a strong female main character, then I hope you check this one out.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam, and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Additional links will be added once posted.

I hadn’t read the first book in this series, so while I was excited to read it, I was nervous I might not understand everything at first. This book sucked me in, and I became so engrossed in Emma’s world. I love the fast pace and really enjoyed getting to know Emma. If you’re a fan of espionage thrillers, you will love this book. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy!

I love this series. I read the first one, Alias Emma, last year and raved about it to everyone. I was so glad to see it continue with this, The Traitor. Emma is a female James Bond. I want to work for their private agency (MI5/6 are "Neighbors"). The supportive characters are perfect, particularly at the agency. Just a book about them, I would read it.
This plot is timely. The bad guys are the Russians and they are selling chemical weapons. Oligarchs run amok. Emma goes undercover on a super-yacht without backup so the stakes are high. The mission: proof that the two Russians are connected as they think they are -- and find out who the third bad guy is ... the one who seems to be connected to the UK.
I'm actually giving this 4.5 stars and not a solid 5 for two reasons. First, Emma makes a silly decision from an agent's point of view at one point and second, I suspected the bad guy from the get-go. I kinda wish it had been a little more cloudy in that regard.
I've started a BookTube channel and would like to have a "Spy v Spy September" readathon and plan to definitely talk up this series.
However, I love this author's work and look forward to the next. ASAP, please.

Thank you, Ava Glass, for writing another chapter in Emma Makepeace's life. I thoroughtly enjoyed 2022's Alias Emma and was delighted when NetGalley sent me the ARC for The Traitor.
Despite all the Ian Fleming/James Bond comparisons, Glass is a far better writer than Fleming and Emma is a herione for the 21st century. The settings are memorable; the action and twists, believable; the conclusion, a surprise.
Please, may I have another?

Book Number 2 in the Emma Makepeace series is one you shouldn’t miss. Yes it can be read as a stand alone, but Alias Emma is a great book.

First of all , I think it’s high time we have a female kick butt James Bond type character and that’s exactly what Emma is. A head strong woman, with the will to protect her country and bring down the bad guys in Russia working for MI6 - and the cool part is she never has a gun. This is an old school spy novel and I love it. Action packed with wise cracks and all of the cool things that all spies need. This sophomore novel needs Emma to bring down the mole inside of MI6

Looking forward to the next Ms Ava Glass! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my review

<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Honestly, the only reason I read this one is because I was ambivalent about the first and I wanted to see if it got better. But I'm still ambivalent.

The pacing is a bit better in this one. You have time to breathe, to wonder what's going to happen next. And there are some genuine surprises here. Unfortunately, I was only surprised by the small twists -- I saw the large one coming from a mile away. It made the ending someone anticlimactic for me.

Both books feel like they could've used some more time to marinate. I can see the potential in both of them but they don't quite deliver. If there's a next one, I don't know that I'll read it.

*note: this can be read as a standalone*