American Spy, Wilkinson Lauren

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

Its 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. Shes brilliant, but shes also a young black woman working in an old boys club. Her career has stalled out, shes overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when shes 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 shes 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 Africas 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 youve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.

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