Need to Know

----------
"I'm overcome with a strange sensation, a feeling that we dodged a bullet but that somehow, inexplicably, I'm bleeding."
----------

I LOVED this book... I seem to be on a Russia kick lately, and have always loved spy books, so this was just the right book at the right time. I am captivated by stories in which regular life is revealed to be precarious, balanced on a knife-edge of outright lies, secrets and not-quite-the-truths - in which good people find themselves in horrid situations that snowball... I'm fascinated by the psychology of it all, but also by the mystery - the idea that there is a seamy underbelly to even the most banal-seeming life. And even more than that, I'm fascinated to see if and how people dig themselves out of the holes they find themselves in when their lives turn out to be not at all what they thought they were...

Karen Cleveland offers all of that in spades in this excellently paced and plotted novel. And if that wasn't enough, the characters are fantastic too... Everyone is a little battered and windblown, clinging with desperate fingers to the things they need to hold on to in order to keep their world intact. As Viv's story unfolds and we get tidbits of her and Matt's history, it is difficult not to want to grab her and shake her and scream in her face that there were a thousand clues that things were not what they seemed and that she - a CIA counterintelligence analyst - should have seen them from a mile away. But then the story would dip back into the present, the day-to-day routine of children and work and real life, and I'd wind up chastising myself, asking how many little things we all encounter throughout a decade of marriage and life that would look like gigantic red flags from the pole position of hindsight (and of the omniscient narrator and/or reader to whom much has already been revealed)... That delicacy in storytelling style - the ability to make me feel like I'm there with Viv, living her life, feeling her pain, even when I am still aware that I'm a separate entity who knows that this is a story and therefore more trouble MUST be coming - is part of what made this book so great for me. It really helped keep the suspense taut and the pages turning...

Karen Cleveland is definitely on my list of Authors to Watch!

This book is fantastic!! It reads like a movie and I was so excited to see that it IS going to be made into a movie. I can not wait to read more by Karen. Can not say enough good things about this book except YOU NEED TO READ IT

There's something quite satisfying in reading a good government/spy book. In Need to Know, I was instantly thrown into the main character's life and the intricate parts she plays throughout the story. This is the first government thriller that I've read where I get to hear the main character's thoughts as she states her fears, her doubts, and her love for her family and country. It's as if I'm right there in her mind as she details everything that's going on in her life.
Vivian is a CIA counter intelligence analyst and while her life seems perfect on the surface, there's actually quite a lot going on behind the scenes. As Vivian tells us the story of how her perfect life is slowly unraveling before her eyes, we are also treated to how she smartly outwits the enemy and wins back the love and respect of her family.
What I love about this book is how Vivian jumps from the present to the past and how the past slowly reveals why her present life is at stake. As mentioned, she seems to have the perfect life; doting mother, a great job, and a husband who adores her. But we're instantly thrust into this major mystery and we're left wondering how she'll get out of it.
Need to Know is a fun, edge of your seat, nail-biting thriller. There aren't a lot of characters in this book but the main ones will keep you guessing till the very end. And it seems like there might be a second installment of the story as we're left with another open mystery.
As indicated by NetGalley, it seems as if film rights have already been sold on this book and Charlize Theron might be the main lead. How exciting would that be! I think Charlize would be perfect for the role of Vivian as long as the story gives her a bit more kick-assery, I'd like to see her use some martial arts skills to fight off the bad guys :)