Raise the Union Jack for Emma Makepeace!
Third in a fast-moving British spy series featuring a woman in MI6.
The G7 meets in Scotland in a few days, and the prime minister’s office is “terrified that something is going to go wrong with the gathering.” MI6, the secret intelligence service, learns that a Russian assassin plans to murder a head of state there. But who’s the killer? Who’s the target? And what’s to be done about it? MI6 assigns Emma Makepeace to prevent disaster. Against her wishes, she’s partnered with homicide detective Kate Mackenzie. But their chemistry works. They make an effective team, with Emma (not her real name) as the leader. They start by looking into a Russian émigré named Nick Orlov, whom they see talking on his cell phone, flatly refusing to do something. He’s visibly frightened, so Emma approaches him on a ruse and begins wheedling her way into his confidence. Soon she agrees to his dinner invitation, and—well, she’s never seduced anyone before, but it may be necessary to set a honey trap in service of king and country. Bond—James Bond—wouldn’t have thought twice, of course, that martini-drinking alley cat. Speaking of whom, not since 007 has there been such a worthy spy as Emma Makepeace. She’s tough and smart and has a particular talent for faking emotion. “Being able to cry on cue is a vastly under-rated skill,” she notes, and she uses it when she’s in a tight spot with Orlov. The latter’s enemies are setting him up, luring him into their own trap. She wants to get him out of it, both because it’s her job and because she’s come to like the guy. And she has other quirks: “Some people meditate to deal with stress. Emma picked locks.” Fans of Ian Fleming’s work are sure to enjoy Emma Makepeace. No, she isn’t a Bond clone, although they could be cousins. Near the culmination of a bloody fight with a mortal enemy, she declares, “His Majesty says hello.” How very British.
Raise the Union Jack for Emma Makepeace!Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593972212
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.
A frustrated advice columnist takes matters into her own hands.
Before dropping out of MIT during the second semester of her sophomore year, Debbie Mullen had designs on becoming the next Bill Gates. Now, almost 30 years later, the stay-at-home wife and mother of two uses her considerable genius to keep the Mullens’ Hingham, Massachusetts, household functioning “like a well-oiled machine.” In her spare time, Debbie also gardens and shares “the fruits of [her] wisdom” with neighbors via the weekly advice column she writes for Hingham Household, a local “family-oriented” newspaper. Though Debbie is proud of her husband and teen daughters’ accomplishments, her own life sometimes feels a bit empty. As such, she’s both honored and excited when Home Gardening magazine selects her backyard to feature in their next issue. Then, at the last minute, the publication decides to go in a different direction and instead spotlights the roses of her arch rival. Later that day, the editor-in-chief of Hingham Household axes her column because she’d counseled a reader to get a divorce. That evening, Debbie learns that her hard-working husband’s miserly boss refused his promotion request, her brilliant older daughter’s sketchy boyfriend broke her heart, and her athletically gifted younger daughter’s chauvinistic coach cut her from the soccer team for being “chubby.” Enough is enough. Debbie has always given great advice—everybody says so. If certain individuals don’t know what’s best for themselves, maybe it’s her obligation to help them see the light. Increasingly unhinged entries from a “Dear Debbie” drafts folder pepper the briskly paced, meticulously crafted tale, which unfolds courtesy of a pinwheeling first-person narrative. Some of the plot’s myriad twists are more impressive than others, but plucky, puckish Debbie is a nontraditional antihero for the ages.
Gleefully sadistic, gloriously gratifying revenge fiction.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249624
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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