Discover Well-Read Black Girl Books and the projects reshaping publishing →

Book Summary and Reviews of Alias Emma by Ava Glass

Alias Emma by Ava Glass

Alias Emma

A Novel

by Ava Glass

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Published:
  • Aug 2022, 288 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

In this breakneck, race-against-the-clock thriller, a British spy has twelve hours to deliver her asset across London after Russia hacks the city's security cameras. Can she make it without being spotted...or killed?

Nothing about Emma Makepeace is real. Not even her name.

A newly minted secret agent, Emma's barely graduated from basic training when she gets the call for her first major assignment. Eager to serve her country and prove her worth, she dives in headfirst.

Emma must covertly travel across one of the world's most watched cities to bring the reluctant—and handsome—son of Russian dissidents into protective custody, so long as the assassins from the Motherland don't find him first. With London's famous Ring of Steel hacked by the Russian government, the two must cross the city without being seen by the hundreds of thousands of CCTV cameras that document every inch of the city's streets, alleys, and gutters.

Buses, subways, cars, and trains are out of the question. Traveling on foot, and operating without phones or bank cards that could reveal their location or identity, they have twelve hours to make it to safety. This will take all of Emma's skills of disguise and subterfuge. But when Emma's handler goes dark, there's no one left to trust. And just one wrong move will get them both killed.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"In the pseudonymous Glass's superb debut, a series launch, British intelligence agent Emma Makepeace undertakes her first truly important assignment...Spies for the Russian military have been killing former Russian scientists now living in the U.K...Intense, cinematic action propels this terrific old-fashioned thriller neatly brought up to date. Glass is off to an impressive start." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Perfect for a single-sitting read, Glass's thriller is an adrenaline-fueled tour of clandestine London. What's next for Emma Makepeace? More, please." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Totally addictive...Alias Emma is that perfect combination of exciting new character, explosive action scenes, and a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase through the streets of London. Once you start reading, you won't stop." - #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

"A thrilling read with brilliantly likeable protagonists, nonstop heart-pumping action, and multiple twists and turns." - Lisa Jewell

"Alias Emma is one of those wonderful thrillers you read in a day and know you'll remember for years." - James Patterson

This information about Alias Emma was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Ava Glass

Ava Glass is a pseudonym for an internationally bestselling author who has sold over two and a half million copies of her books worldwide. They have been translated into twenty-five languages and have been bestsellers in multiple countries.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Alias Emma, try these:

  • City Under One Roof jacket

    City Under One Roof

    by Iris Yamashita

    Published 2024

    About this book

    A stranded detective tries to solve a murder in a tiny Alaskan town where everyone lives in a single high-rise building, in this gripping debut by an Academy Award–nominated screenwriter.

  • Winter Work jacket

    Winter Work

    by Dan Fesperman

    Published 2023

    About this book

    An exhilarating spy thriller inspired by a true story about the precious secrets up for grabs just after the fall of the Berlin Wall - from the acclaimed author of The Cover Wife

  • An Unlikely Spy jacket

    An Unlikely Spy

    by Rebecca Starford

    Published 2022

    About this book

    A twisting, sophisticated World War II novel following a spy who goes undercover as a part of MI5 - in chasing the secrets of others, how much will she lose of herself?

We have 10 read-alikes for Alias Emma, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
When No One Else Will
by Amanda Skenandore
1940s Chicago nurse risks everything at an illegal women’s clinic during a high-profile trial of courage and sisterhood.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    The Jellyfish Problem
    by Tessa Yang
    A marine biologist rescues a Maine island menaced by a giant glowing jellyfish in this inventive debut.
  • Book Jacket
    Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young
    by Zayd Ayers Dohrn
    Son of Weather Underground radicals recounts life on the run and decades of revolutionary struggle.
  • Book Jacket
    Look What You Made Me Do
    by John Lanchester
    A propulsive tale of intergenerational tension and revenge from the Booker Prize nominee.
Who Said...

The only completely consistent people are the dead

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Q S, S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.