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Michael Weinberger
Tedious thriller? Seems a contradiction but how many times can we hear about the protagonist's love for her children and (possibly) her husband as motivation and then proceeding to get them all into peril repeatedly? Ok, so we're kept wondering what awful consequence will come next but is that enough to slog through her endless shuttling between home, work and school? It all seems a little claustrophobic. If you like action thrillers set in a larger canvas, this is not it.
1 person found this review helpful
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Becky Baldridge
While I do love thrillers and suspense, I don't read a lot of CIA/Spy type stories, but the blurb for this one intrigued me. I started reading and I have to say that for most of the book, I wasn't sure how I would rate this one. I went back and forth between rolling my eyes at Vivian's decisions and being so aggravated with her that I wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled, especially a memory from the past would feature a big red flag. At the same time, I couldn't stop turning the pages. I had to see how it all came out. Then, I thought about her situation. It's easy to sit back with a bird's eye view and say what we would do in her shoes, but when faced with extreme circumstances, when everything we hold dear is on the line, what would we really do? In the end, I realized that this is not just a story about spies, it's also a tale of a seemingly good life disrupted by betrayal and deceit. The book is wonderfully written and any time that an author can keep me turning pages, stir up that much emotion, and leave me with gasp, she's done her job and done it well.
3 people found this review helpful
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Bewitched Reader Book Blog
I was hesitant about reading Need to Know at first because I typically lose interest in political based books very quickly. There was no way I was going to lose interest in Need to Know. It is fast paced and keeps you constantly on your toes. Reading this thriller was like reading an episode of Quantico. Vivian is definitely a heroine to admire. She is fiercely protective of both her family and her country and willing to sacrifice everything to protect them. Cleveland managed to perfectly weave a story of fast paced political thriller with an underlying romance story in this book. I voluntarily received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.