âAmerican Spy updates the espionage thriller with blazing originality.ââEntertainment Weekly
âThere has never been anything like it.ââMarlon James, GQ
âSo much fun . . . Like the best of John le CarrÃĐ, itâs extremely tough to put down.ââNPR
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review âĒ Time âĒ NPR âĒ Entertainment Weekly âĒ Esquire âĒ BuzzFeed âĒ Vulture âĒ Real Simple âĒ Good Housekeeping âĒ The New York Public Library
What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love?Â
Itâs 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. Sheâs brilliant, but sheâs also a young black woman working in an old boysâ club. Her career has stalled out, sheâs overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when sheâs 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 sheâs 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 eventsâThomas Sankara is known as âAfricaâs Che GuevaraââAmerican Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War youâve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.
NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD âĒÂ Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
âSpy 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.ââTa-Nehisi Coates
âInspired by real events, this espionage thriller ticks all the right boxes, delivering a sexually charged interrogation of both politics and race.ââEsquire
âEchoing the stoic cynicism of Hurston and Ellison, and the verve of Conan Doyle, American Spy lays our complicitiesâpolitical, racial, and sexualâbare. Packed with unforgettable characters, itâs a stunning book, timely as it is timeless.ââPaul Beatty, Man Booker Prizewinning author of The Sellout