Spy thriller is the real deal

There is, within spy fiction, some consternation that the genre has typically favored male writers and protagonists, content to leave women in the shadows. Thankfully, writers like Ava Glass, Alma Katsu, I.S. Berry and others are stepping out of those shadows and using their real-life experiences and considerable narrative powers to reframe the field. Glass’ new novel, “The Traitor,” is a case in point.

“The Traitor” delivers everything fans of spy fiction could want: an absorbing plot, shadowy characters, page-gripping tension. A follow-up to Glass’ 2022 “Alias Emma,” the novel continues the story of young British secret agent Emma Makepeace as she investigates a Russian oligarch suspected of killing an MI6 operative, and the thriller rarely relents from its brisk opening pages.

Emma Makepeace’s investigation – and yes, her self-invented last name is a bit on-the-nose – leads her to work undercover as a crew member on the oligarch’s luxury yacht, all the while snooping and hoping not to be discovered. Confined to the boat, she’s soon unable to contact her superiors, and has to navigate an assortment of staff members, questionable colleagues of the oligarch and his mistress. And, as she soon finds out, there is absolutely no one Emma can trust.

Much of that is because Glass – a former crime reporter and civil servant whose given name is not Ava Glass – has crafted such a wonderful character in Emma.

She’s mission-oriented but vulnerable. Loyal yet informed by past experiences of the dangers of nationalism. Pragmatic and compassionate, and it is this compassion that occasionally threatens her and the undercover operation. It’s that compassion, coupled with a realistic, keen intelligence, that set both Emma the agent and Ava the author above their peers. “At its heart,” Glass writes, “spying is lying . . . there’s always a chink in their armor where you can plunge a sword.” But it’s Emma’s hesitancy to draw her sword, displayed by her discomfort when she lies to those she likes, that wonderfully complicate both her mission and character. There’s real weight and resonance here, and the constant threat of Emma losing an identity she so desperately needs.

Glass’ prose is crisp, but never lazy; the descriptions telling without being overwhelming. Side characters are fully formed. The end of one chapter propels readers to the next, but without artifice.

James Patterson declared Emma Makepeace a “worthy heir to the James Bond mantle.” Perhaps. But like most risk-takers, Ava Glass and Emma Makepeace are venturing into new, uncharted territories.

FICTION “Traitor” By Ava Glass Bantam, 336 pages, $28