American Spy

A Novel

By: Lauren Wilkinson

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

“American Spy updates the espionage thriller with blazing originality.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“There has never been anything like it.” (Marlon James, GQ)

“So much fun.... Like the best of John le Carré, it’s extremely tough to put down.” (NPR)

Named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year By Chicago Tribune and One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review • Time • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • Esquire • BuzzFeed • Vulture • Real Simple • Good Housekeeping • The New York Public Library

What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love?

It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young Black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes.

Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Sankara is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she’s being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent.

In the year that follows, Marie will observe Sankara, seduce him, and ultimately have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American.

Inspired by true events - Thomas Sankara is known as “Africa’s Che Guevara” - American Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you’ve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.

Nominated for the NAACP Image Award

Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

“Spy fiction plus allegory, and a splash of pan-Africanism. What could go wrong? As it happens, very little. Clever, bracing, darkly funny, and really, really good.” (Ta-Nehisi Coates)

“Inspired by real events, this espionage thriller ticks all the right boxes, delivering a sexually charged interrogation of both politics and race.” (Esquire)

“Echoing the stoic cynicism of Hurston and Ellison, and the verve of Conan Doyle, American Spy lays our complicities - political, racial, and sexual - bare. Packed with unforgettable characters, it’s a stunning book, timely as it is timeless.” (Paul Beatty, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sellout)

©2019 Lauren Wilkinson (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An expertly written spy thriller...that tackles issues of politics, race, and gender.... Like the best of John le Carré, it’s extremely tough to put down. It marks the debut of an immensely talented writer who’s refreshingly unafraid to take risks, and has the skills to make those risks pay off.” (NPR)

“For the novel’s engaging intelligence and serious reckoning with the world’s postwar order, Wilkinson deserves the comparisons to John le Carré she’s already receiving. But in bringing a virtually unheard-from fictional viewpoint to espionage literature, she has reinvigorated the genre.” (Time)

“Lauren Wilkinson reminds us of a less-covered side of the Cold War with her debut set in 1986 Africa. FBI agent Marie Mitchell is stationed in Burkina Faso, and when she’s assigned to shadow Thomas Sankara, ‘Africa’s Che Guevara,’ the personal, political, and professional collide for her in unforgettable ways.” (The Washington Post)

Engaging tale!

Captivating storytelling! I enjoyed the diverse character portrayals, especially with the different language accents represented.

Excellent Story and storytelling

I loved this story and it was well narrated by Bahni Turpin! A real classic.

Slow start but ends with a mic drop

I was a little confused in the begin and has to get use to hearing the story being told as a letter being written. After I got over that it was a really good story line. I really want to hear how her story will end. this needs a book 2.

Disappointed

I wanted to love this book, but ever chapter fell short for me. Not enough suspense and I didn't feel the characters were truly in love. The reader was good, so no complaints there.

Where's Waldo

When you find Waldo, maybe you will find the spy story too. Just a story without resolution. Where did those 11 hours go.

Excellent!

I loved this story that weaves together history, deeply personal reflections, different cultures and political points of view in a magical lyricism.

The narration was also wonderful, never distracting, but rather, drawing me deeper into the story.

A unique vantage point and storyline!

I really enjoyed this story of a complex character and courageous Black woman. I really enjoyed the historical aspects and the complicated choices that she had to make. It was fun to listen to all the twists and turns! I love an unpredictable book!

Anti climactic, otherwise good

Starts off strong, well read and interesting characters and story. Leaves you hanging at the end, which isn’t my preference.

wonderful! I really enjoyed this book.

it was not super fast paced, but it was consistent. a very good and interesting listen!

Excellent

I’m home sick as ever and this provided a wonderful escape. Great job!! Thank you