Review by Booklist Review
Berry's sequel to Northern Spy (2021) is less a political thriller centered around the escalating unrest in Northern Ireland than it is an intense family drama concerning issues of confidence and reliance. Both Tessa and her sister Marian are mothers now, Tessa to four-year-old Finn and Marian to infant Saiorse. Living and working in Dublin under new identities, their pasts as IRA informants in Belfast are seemingly behind them. But in a powerhouse opening scene, Tessa is kidnapped and brutally beaten by IRA operatives who blackmail her into recruiting her former MI5 handler. When Marian goes missing during a wilderness hike, Tessa panics. Who is the IRA really after, her or Marian? Will the women ever escape their terrorist connections? And how safe can they make the world for their children? These questions ricochet between the sisters, escalating tensions and ensnaring other family members. By so delicately humanizing the complex scope of Ireland's troubled history, Berry masterfully balances the lightning pace of a sweat-inducing thriller with the contemplative satisfaction of a cerebral analysis of uncertain family dynamics. With empathetic characters seen believably navigating unforeseen circumstances, the Edgar Award--winning Berry solidifies her burgeoning reputation as a stellar suspense writer.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
After nearly being killed for informing on the IRA, sisters Tessa and Marian Daly are finally settling into their new lives in Dublin when the past rears its ugly head, in Edgar winner Berry's harrowing sequel to Northern Spy. Over a sultry August weekend while her four-year-old son, Finn, is staying with her ex-husband, Tessa is snatched by IRA gunmen and given an ultimatum: reconnect with her old MI5 handler, Eamonn, and turn him into an informer--or else. The traumatized Tessa assents, forcing her to brainstorm a plan with Marian. As Tessa meets in turn with the attractive Eamonn and her menacing IRA contact, Eoin Royce, danger mounts. Then Marian vanishes during a solo mountain hike, and Tessa wonders if their old pursuers have struck again. Though some of the hairpin twists are less convincing than others--a subplot concerning a Dublin detective who's determined to prove the Daly sisters belong to an IRA sleeper cell feels particularly forced--Berry's moving depiction of a fractured family whose love runs as deep as its rifts should please existing series fans and win her new ones. Espionage buffs will find much to enjoy. Agent: Emily Forland, Brandt & Hochman Literary. (June)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Three years after the events of Northern Spy (2021), former MI5 informants Tessa and Marian Daly learn that you can never really walk away from the IRA. In the years since she and sister Marian barely escaped Northern Ireland with their lives, Tessa has settled into the exhausting, beautiful routine of motherhood. Finn, at 4, is capricious and loving and curious, and while she misses him when he's with his father, Tessa values the mundane stability of their lives. Of course, if she double locks her doors at night, who can blame her? Even with a new identity and a new home in Dublin, Tessa knows the IRA never forgets a betrayal. When her car is rear-ended and she's confronted by an acquaintance from her childhood, it feels like an inevitable nightmare. Eoin Royce, recently released from prison, wants Tessa to help him turn her former MI5 handler. Soon, Tessa is back to walking the tightrope with new mom Marian's help as she feeds choice bits of information to Royce and other bits to her MI5 handler, Eamonn. She will learn about deeply buried family secrets as she fights an intense attraction to Eamonn--even as she lies to him to keep herself, and her child, safe. Berry once again provides an engaging character in Tessa, who is fierce, desperate, and clever. In a lot of ways, though, this is Marian's fight, and Tessa, while willing to do whatever she can to protect her sister, ends up being more reactive than in control. The author continues to interrogate the lasting, and live, impact of centuries of colonialism and violence on contemporary lives. For readers who don't live with this constant fear, it's a reminder that old wounds in a country bleed long and deep. A meditation on generational trauma--along with well-scripted action and suspense. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
