A Thrilling Start

Need to Know – Karen Cleveland – (Ballantine Books)

One of the most used old saws about writing is “write what you know” and former CIA analyst Karen Cleveland seems to have taken that t heart while penning her first novel, Need to Know.

Cleveland skillfully, almost frustratingly, dangles the bait early and often in the book and then almost as an act of mercy, in chapter three she sets the bait. Imagine, you’re working as a CIA analyst, chipping away at trying to track down Russian spies and their handlers and when you finally get a breakthrough in the form of a cyber key that opens the door to a network of spies and when you look behind door number one, you are confronted with a image of your husband.

When confronted directly with the question of all questions, there is no obfuscation, no shocked denial, just a simple acknowledgement that his is indeed a spy. Take a little bit of The Blacklist, shake it with a touch of the movie Salt, and cook up a debut thriller that has plenty of twists and turns, some expected, some not and you have the makings of a very quick read.

You may find yourself uttering, “I didn’t see that coming” and then with further thought the quick follow up, “yeah that makes sense.” Cleveland walks the fine line between leavening the action with just enough background/family info to keep the story chugging to a conclusion that sets the table nicely for the sequel.