A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING PICK SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 CENTRE FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN 'A whole lot more than just a spy thriller, wrapping together the ties of family, of love and of country' BARACK OBAMA 'There has never been anything like it' MARLON JAMES (GQ) 'A compelling read' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Brilliant Cold War spy thriller. A gripping tale and an unusual take on the spy genre told from an intriguing perspective' HWA DEBUT CROWN JUDGES 'Pacy and very exciting' DAILY TELEGRAPH __________________________________ What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love? It's 1986, the heart of the Cold War. Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She's brilliant and talented, but she's also a black woman working in an all-white boys' club, and her career has stalled with routine paperwork - until she's recruited to 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. In the year that follows, Marie will observe Thomas, 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, and a good American. 'A stunning book' PAUL BEATTY 'Intelligent and propulsive' GUARDIAN 'A spy thriller like you've never read before' TIME