Book Reviews

Review: Seven Sided Spy by Hannah Carmack

Seven Sided Spy is a thrilling mystery that combines cold war politics, intriguing spies, and rivalries that defy the limits of the human body.

Summary

In the midst of the cold war, the CIA’s finest and most fatal female agent, Diana Riley, vanishes. Kidnapped by the KGB and taken to the backcountry of North Carolina, she and her team of unsavory partners are forced to undergo illegal experimentation.

But, when the experiments leave them horribly deformed and unable to reenter society without someone crying monster, the previously glamorous and high-maintenance spies must escape KGB captivity and avoid recapture at the hands of Nikola, a ruthless KGB agent with an intense and well-justified grudge against her former flame

Review

book review Seven Sided Spy by Hannah CarmackI was so impressed by the way Carmack crafts this story. It is twisty, convoluted, and undeniably real feeling. Part of Carmack’s style (and something that is entirely personal for everyone) is the way Carmack weaves in stories within stories. There’s our main plotline unfolding, yet at the same time, our protagonists are all drawn into their memories. As they interact with long lost rivals and uneasy alliances, they remember and reminisce on how they ended up where they are. The multiple perspective narrative style is integral to this historical web. We are allowed to see how these events unfolded and happened for everyone – why they are who they are and where they are.

And Carmack builds on these interpersonal spider webs. We don’t know who we are rooting for as the people almost blend together. There’s no clear right and wrong, good guys and bad guys. Just like the title, they seem like sides of the same dice: played by forces beyond their control in a game with no ending in sight.

There’s some diversity, with a m/m relationship, cold war politics, and a fantastic hook that will keep you intrigued in this larger than life thriller. If you enjoy spy novels and love the grey conflicts between superheroes and villains, then this book is for you.

Go scout your own Seven Sided Spy on Amazon(US) and Goodreads.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Discussion

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