American Spy

Recipe. Consider whether or not this set of ingredients will suit your taste in reading: a smattering of politics, race and gender, layered with a Cold War conflict set in Burkina Faso, and very compelling characters. That’s all in the novel by Lauren Wilkinson titled, American Spy. Protagonist Marie Mitchell has always wanted to be an intelligence officer. As a black woman working at the FBI, she isn’t often picked for the exciting work. When approached with the chance to play a role in bringing down the communist president of Burkina Faso, Marie is all in. Wilkinson structures all the motivation in the novel as family-based. Marie narrates her life as an agent as a personal story with her two sons as the intended future audience. She is also working under the shadow of her late sister, whom she admired greatly. The prose is finely written and readers who enjoy literary fiction with well-developed characters and an interesting plot are those most likely to enjoy this novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase American Spy from amazon.com.