Pitoniak’s engaging, gripping first foray into espionage fiction
IT’S THE CASE OF AMANDA’S LIFETIME, BUT SOLVING IT WILL REQUIRE HER TO BETRAY ANOTHER SPY — WHO JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE HER FATHER.
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 US 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?
I’ve been a fan of Anna Pitoniak’s writing for quite some time — I read an advance review copy of the author’s debut, The Futures, and have been a fan ever since. In The Helsinki Affair, the author offers her first espionage thriller. I really enjoyed this, and I hope it’s a sign of more to come. Continue reading
Kite and Co. confront a loose end from decades ago
An excellent deep-dive into the murky world of crypto
I first spotted the UK cover (below) for The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wasteland, Sarah Brooks‘s very-intriguing-sounding debut, via a 
Except on the last journey, though no one can say what occurred exactly because no one can remember it, not even Wei-Wei, the child of the train who was born on the Express. Only someone does know the truth: Elena, a strange stowaway with a mysterious connection to the Wastelands. As the Express embarks on a new voyage with a new set of travellers, each hiding their own motivations and secrets, Elena and Wei-Wei begin a dangerous friendship just as the train starts to misbehave. Desperate to save the only home she has ever known, Wei-Wei fights to keep the train from breaking down. But the rules of the Wasteland are changing and the wildness outside threatens to consume them all. 
When the publishers and I were working out which of my drabbles to include in the upcoming, The Corset and the Jellyfish, there were a few stories that the editorial team felt had issues, or due to being unable to be squeezed down, was eventually deemed a reject.
A well-written campus novel, but one that — despite early promise — doesn’t deviate much from the well-worn template
Next week, 
Today, we have an excerpt from A Stranger in the Citadel, the latest novel from Tobias S. Buckell — due out next month (October 17th) via Tachyon Publications. An intriguing-sounding novel, here’s the synopsis:
Civilian Reader 