THE COLLABORATORS

Young CIA operative Ari Falk becomes enmeshed in a cutthroat international financial scheme with grave political implications.

Working under the cover of media investor, Falk is supposed to help Russian opposition journalists come up with stories damaging to the Kremlin. His latest success is with blogger Anton Basmanny, an openly gay provocateur known for his outrageous man-on-the-street livestreams whose viral performance video from a high-ranking Russian official's secret villa leads to the official's deposal. On the same flight as the one intended to whisk Falk to safety, tech billionaire Paul Obrandt is seen seated with a mystery woman (her identity is key) shortly before he's reported dead by an elaborately planned suicide. Not believing her Russian-born father did such a thing, his feisty and fearless 23-year-old daughter, Maya, leaves their Los Angeles home to pursue the truth in Portugal, where he left her a house. Hooking up (in both senses of the term) with Falk, she risks her life to find out not only what happened to her old man, but also where $5 billion missing from his investment account went. A classic globe-trotter, the novel spreads its cold-blooded killings among several countries. But unlike most spy fiction, it's driven in the liveliest sense by young characters who reflect their generation. Falk, a millennial who wears Weezer tees, and Maya, who was up for a part in a Peacock vampire series, are an irresistible pairing. The aspirations of youth also drive the backstory of Paul Obrandt's efforts as a 25-year-old billionaire to effect positive political change in Russia during the fading days of the Yeltsin administration through the creation of a telecom firm. Good luck with that.

Sharp, freshly conceived, thoroughly entertaining spy fiction.