Synopses & Reviews
An intriguing thriller from a former NPR correspondent about a young reporter who must match wits with spies, assassins and a terrorist sleeper cell targeting the very heart of American power.“If, on an early summer’s night, you wanted to kill a man, how would you do it? Would you lay a trap, sharpen a dagger, uncork a poison?
Personally, I’ve always leaned toward the dramatic.
But looking back, I wonder now if the events of last summer didn’t begin with a quieter sort of murder.”
So ponders Alexandra James, a beautiful, driven, yet troubled New England Chronicle reporter. She is assigned to cover the death of Thom Carlyle, son of one of the most powerful men in Washington. Just back from a year abroad, Thom falls from the top of a Harvard bell tower on a warm summer night. Did he jump, or was he pushed? For Alex James, who can get in anywhere, sleep with anyone, out-drink and out-shop her demons, it is the story of a lifetime. As she chases leads from Harvard Yard to the courtyards of Cambridge, England, to a clandestine rendezvous in London, to the inside of a nuclear terrorist network...the intrigue seems to suit her.
But nothing is what it seems. When she arrives back in Washington, DC, for a key interview that promises to tie together the leads she has puzzled out, Alex the hunter becomes Alex the hunted. An assassin is dispatched...Her laptop disappears...Her phone is tapped...And she begins to grasp that Thom Carlyle may have been killed to hide a terrifying conspiracy within the White House itself. Former NPR Intelligence correspondent Mary Louise Kelly has turned her own real-life reporting adventures into fiction with this stylish spy thriller.
Review
“Kelly has mastered the mental geographies of the journalist, the terrorist, and the spy: The competing ideals, the gritty reality, and the layers of wisdom or self-deception they employ in reconciling them. You won’t put this down.”
Review
"Mary Louise Kelly blends the worlds she knows so well--Harvard, Cambridge, Washington, the news room and the American intelligence community--into a fast paced thriller that is hard to put down. The atmosphere rings true on every page as she weaves a taut tale from a young man's apparent suicide to a terrorist attempt at the highest seat of American power."
Review
"In Mary Louise Kelly’s entertaining new novel, a smart, sexy reporter wanders into the midst of a truly scary terrorist plot. In the manner of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Kelly’s heroine has to outfox the conspirators to escape. This book is great fun, from beginning to end."
Review
"A great spy thriller..I couldn;t put it down. The plot's great and the details are delicious." Joel Brenner, Former Inspector General of the National Security Agency & nbsp;and author of < i=""> A
Review
"An authentic view of the media, intelligence, and terrorism that is a real page turner. Kelly gets how the national security world really works." Richard A. Clarke, former White House Counterterrorism Chief and author of < i=""> The Scorpion & rsquo;s Gate <>
Review
"One of the most genuinely chilling plots I’ve ever read. A scenario that will haunt anyone who’s ever read a newspaper. I couldn’t put this book down."
Review
"A great spy thriller..I couldn't put it down. The plot's great and the details are delicious."
Review
"An authentic view of the media, intelligence, and terrorism that is a real page turner. Kelly gets how the national security world really works."
Review
"Oneof the most genuinely chilling plots Ive ever read. A scenario thatwill haunt anyone whos ever read a newspaper. I couldnt put this bookdown."
Review
“Kelly has mastered the mental geographies of the journalist, the terrorist, and the spy: The competing ideals, the gritty reality, and the layers of wisdom or self-deception they employ in reconciling them. You won’t put this down.” Bob Grenier, former CIA Head of Counterterrorism and & nbsp;former CIA Station Chief in Pakistan
Review
"Mary Louise Kelly blends the worlds she knows so well--Harvard, Cambridge, Washington, the news room and the American intelligence community--into a fast paced thriller that is hard to put down. The atmosphere rings true on every page as she weaves a taut tale from a young man's apparent suicide to a terrorist attempt at the highest seat of American power." Michael & nbsp;Hayden, former Director of the CIA
Review
"In Mary Louise Kelly’s entertaining new novel, a smart, sexy reporter wanders into the midst of a truly scary terrorist plot. In the manner of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Kelly’s heroine has to outfox the conspirators to escape. This book is great fun, from beginning to end."
David Ignatius, columnist for < i=""> The Washington Post <> and author of < i=""> Bloodmoney <>
Review
"Kelly's years as a political writer and intelligence correspondent covering wars, terrorism and nuclear powers have served her well, and she portrays James with authority in a smart, fun voice that will stir lust and envy among readers. The author leaves open a window on the final page that suggests a sequel, much to the reader's delight."
Synopsis
An exciting and entertaining debut international thriller from an NPR correspondent about a terrorist’s nuclear threat to blow up the White House.Alexandra James, devoted reporter for the New England Examiner, is attractive, exceptionally smart, an experienced high-end shoe shopper, and used to getting what she wants. When she is assigned to cover the death of a Harvard student doing his year abroad, the whirlwind investigation takes her to Cambridge, London, and then to Washington. The globe-trotting adventures suit her well, as Alex has always been able to talk her way into anywhere, sleep with anyone she fancies, and both out-drink and out-shop her demons. But when the circumstances surrounding the student’s death point to something more nefarious than a suicide, Alex the hunter soon becomes Alex the hunted. And she must race to find a dangerous killer before she becomes the next victim.
Synopsis
An intriguing thriller from a former NPR correspondent about a young reporter who must match wits with spies, assassins and a terrorist sleeper cell targeting the very heart of American power.Thom Carlyle had it all: the rowing trophies, the Oxbridge education, the glamorous girlfriend. But on a glorious summer evening in Harvard Square, Thom is murdered—pushed from the top of a Harvard bell tower. The New England Chronicle sends a beautiful, feisty, but troubled reporter named Alexandra James to investigate. It is the story of a lifetime. But it is not what it seems. Alex’s reporting takes her abroad, from the cobbled courtyards of Cambridge, England...to the inside of a network of nuclear terrorists...to the corridors of the CIA...and finally, to the terrorists’ target itself.
Synopsis
An intriguing thriller from a former NPR correspondent about a young reporter who must match wits with spies, assassins and a terrorist sleeper cell targeting the very heart of American power.Thom Carlyle had it all: the rowing trophies, the Oxbridge education, the glamorous girlfriend. But on a glorious summer evening in Harvard Square, Thom is murdered—pushed from the top of a Harvard bell tower. The New England Chronicle sends a beautiful, feisty, but troubled reporter named Alexandra James to investigate. It is the story of a lifetime. But it is not what it seems. Alex’s reporting takes her abroad, from the cobbled courtyards of Cambridge, England...to the inside of a network of nuclear terrorists...to the corridors of the CIA...and finally, to the terrorists’ target itself.
Synopsis
An intriguing thriller from a former NPR correspondent about a young reporter who must match wits with spies, assassins and a terrorist sleeper cell targeting the very heart of American power.“If, on an early summer’s night, you wanted to kill a man, how would you do it? Would you lay a trap, sharpen a dagger, uncork a poison?
Personally, I’ve always leaned toward the dramatic.
But looking back, I wonder now if the events of last summer didn’t begin with a quieter sort of murder.”
So ponders Alexandra James, a beautiful, driven, yet troubled New England Chronicle reporter. She is assigned to cover the death of Thom Carlyle, son of one of the most powerful men in Washington. Just back from a year abroad, Thom falls from the top of a Harvard bell tower on a warm summer night. Did he jump, or was he pushed? For Alex James, who can get in anywhere, sleep with anyone, out-drink and out-shop her demons, it is the story of a lifetime. As she chases leads from Harvard Yard to the courtyards of Cambridge, England, to a clandestine rendezvous in London, to the inside of a nuclear terrorist network...the intrigue seems to suit her.
But nothing is what it seems. When she arrives back in Washington, DC, for a key interview that promises to tie together the leads she has puzzled out, Alex the hunter becomes Alex the hunted. An assassin is dispatched...Her laptop disappears...Her phone is tapped...And she begins to grasp that Thom Carlyle may have been killed to hide a terrifying conspiracy within the White House itself. Former NPR Intelligence correspondent Mary Louise Kelly has turned her own real-life reporting adventures into fiction with this stylish spy thriller.
Synopsis
A fast-paced international thriller in the vein of Janet Evanovich by former NPR anchor and correspondent Mary Louise Kelly, about a Pakistani terrorist’s nuclear threat to blow up the White House.
When Boston reporter Alexandra James is assigned to cover the death of Thom Carlyle, the son of a powerful Washington insider, she soon discovers the story is not as simple as it seems. The young man fell from the top of a Harvard bell tower, but did he jump…or was he pushed?
Intent on escaping the demons of her past, Alex knows how to outwork, outdrink, and outshop anyone else around. Now she is focused on what could be “the story of a lifetime”—chasing leads from Harvard Yard to the courtyards of Cambridge, England, from a clandestine rendezvous in London to the inside of a nuclear terrorist network. But when she goes to Washington, DC, for a key interview that promises to tie everything together, Alex the hunter becomes Alex the hunted. An assassin is dispatched…her laptop disappears…her phone is tapped…and she begins to grasp that Thom Carlyle may have been killed to hide a terrifying conspiracy within the White House itself.
Former NPR Intelligence correspondent Mary Louise Kelly has turned her own real-life reporting adventures into fiction with this stylish spy thriller.
About the Author
Mary Louise Kelly has spent two decades traveling the world as a reporter for NPR and the BBC. Her assignments have taken her from the Khyber Pass to mosques in Hamburg, and from smoke-filled Belfast bars to the deserts of Iraq. As NPR’s intelligence correspondent, she has reported on wars, terrorism, and rising nuclear powers. A Georgia native, her first job was working as a local political writer at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kelly currently serves as a guest host for NPR’s news and talk programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She also teaches journalism and national security at Georgetown University. Educated at Harvard University and at Cambridge University in England, she lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and their two children.