A riveting, globe-trotting spy thriller—but this time, with a refreshing female-centric twist.
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“Atmospheric, well-researched and packed with tradecraft, conspiracies, murder and, best of all, two fascinating women … For Amanda and Kath, the novel’s conclusion also feels—hopefully—more like a beginning than an end … Let’s hope they make an appearance in a sequel.”
“Pitoniak artfully deploys all the tricks and tropes of the spy genre … The developing mentorship and friendship between Amanda and Kath as well as the unfolding of the Cole family’s unhappy past give the novel emotional weight and interest that add to its espionage plot. These excellent female spy characters deserve a series.”
“There's a lot to admire about Pitoniak's writing, and from the beginning we are hooked on the action and the characters … Gear up for a brilliantly plotted, complex spy thriller that not only will entertain, but will cause sincere reflection about what it means to be a person of integrity and how we can atone for our mistakes.”
“Outstanding … [A] smart, well-paced, and refreshingly female-centric thriller. Amanda operates at the quietly feminist end of the spy-fiction spectrum, not a Mata Hari or one of James Bond’s sexy adversaries but a strategic thinker well trained in the clandestine arts.”
SPYING IS THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Amanda Cole is a brilliant young CIA officer following in the footsteps of her father, who was a spy during the Cold War. It takes grit to succeed in this male-dominated world—but one hot summer day, when a Russian defector walks into her post, Amanda is given the ultimate chance to prove herself.
The defector warns of the imminent assassination of a U.S. senator. Though Amanda takes the warning seriously, her superiors don’t. Twenty-four hours later, the senator is dead. And the assassination is just the beginning.
Corporate blackmail, covert manipulation, corrupt oligarchs: the Kremlin has found a dangerous new way to wage war. Teaming up with Kath Frost, a fearless older woman and legendary spy, Amanda races from Rome to London, from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, unraveling the international conspiracy. But as she gets closer and closer to the truth, a central question haunts her: Why was her father’s name written down in the senator’s notes? What does Charlie Cole really know about the Kremlin plot?
More Praise for The Helsinki Affair
“A proper, save-the-world thriller jumping from one international destination to the next as the stakes grow and grow, and somehow the whole thing is pulled off with an almost delicate level of skill. … A highly satisfying read and a genuinely gripping tale of intrigue and geopolitics.”
—Crime Reads (A Best Espionage Novel of 2023)
“In this delicious female spy novel, CIA up-and-comer Amanda and her mentor Kath untangle a global conspiracy involving Russian oligarchs and — gulp — Amanda's father, an agency lifer himself.”
— People, a Must-Read Book of the Fall
“A noteworthy espionage debut, with engrossing alternating story lines.”
— East Hampton Star
“Tantalizes … Pitoniak does everything well in this twisty spy thriller that should please the most discriminating connoisseur of the genre.”
— Library Journal
"[An] ambitious espionage thriller ... [with a] startling finale ... Pitoniak continues to show strong instincts for the art of cloak-and-dagger."
—Publishers Weekly
“A must-read for fans of spy thrillers.”