NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FINALIST FOR THE ITW THRILLER AWARD • Perfect husband. Perfect father. Perfect liar? “Terrific.”—John Grisham “Superb.”—Lee Child “Breathtaking, heart-pounding.”—Louise Penny “A fast-paced, relentlessly gripping read.”—Chris Pavone Vivian Miller. High-powered CIA analyst, happily married to a man she adores, mother of four beautiful children. Until the moment she makes … a man she adores, mother of four beautiful children. Until the moment she makes a shocking discovery that makes her question everything she believes.
She thought she knew her husband inside and out. But now she wonders if it was all a lie. How far will she go to learn the truth? And does she really . . .
. . . NEED TO KNOW?
Film rights sold to Universal Pictures for Charlize Theron • Rights sold in more than 20 markets
“Shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest new thrillers.”—Entertainment Weekly
“So timely . . . Think of the perfect mix of Homeland and The Americans. . . . Need to Know needs to be read by all who relish spy novels. As entertaining as it is informative and as irresistible as it is impossible to put down.”—Providence Journal
“Pulse-pounding.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
“Accomplished . . . a nonstop thriller tapping into a hot mix of contemporary digital counterintelligence, old-school spying and ageless family drama.”—Shelf Awareness
“An early contender for next year’s Gone Girl.”—GQ (UK)
“The Russia page-turner that should be on everyone’s list.”—New York Post
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Was NOT expecting the ending – and I can usually figure them out ahead of time. Easy read – hard to put down…
Who can you trust definitely could be a sequel. Really makes you think.
This is a book you won’t want to put down. When you do put it down, you’ll be thinking “when can I get back to it”! It’s a gripping story, full of mystery up to the very end. Speaking of, the end leads the reader to think there could likely, and hopefully, be a sequel. Loved the characters and the twists. Good read!
This book was captivating, a CIA agent discovers her husband is a Russian spy…what’s scary is you never know who your neighbor could be…
Loved it,very original.super suprising
This book is a true page turner..that I couldn’t put down. Not usually my type of boo, spy, intrigue, CIA…but it was a gift..and the best book I read all summer!
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time!!! I couldn’t put it down!
Prepare to make excuses to cancel plans because you won’t want to do anything but read straight through until the last page of this book. It will haunt you long after you are done.
The spies amongst us – hmmm… maybe more likely than you might think.
Great story and characters! The book had some good twists / surprises along the way.
Don’t bother. This isn’t a thriller because it’s not thrilling. It’s the unbelievable story of a woman who is a trained CIA analyst who, upon finding out that her husband is a Russian spy, proceeds for 200 torturous pages to doubt that he might lie to her. How could he possibly lie to her? Her precious husband? The deep cover trained Russian spy?! Gasp! She also can’t make a decision to save her life (sometimes literally!), and you’ll probably want to reach through the pages and throttle her. Someone will probably make a really crappy movie out of this book. If you like wasting money and time, just go see the movie. At least you’ll only be throwing away 2 hours of your time.
A definite page turner. A difficult decision to work against your employer, the CIA, to save your husband. Lots of twists and turns. Hope it is mostly fiction!
Couldn’t put it down
This book starts off with a (non-literal) bang and never lets up. Look elsewhere for a synopsis. Almost anything you can say about the plot will give away too much. You can argue–and I did and do–with some of our heroine’s decisions and choices, but they are realistic from her perspective. Keeps you guessing all the way. A great read.
I really enjoyed this book. It kept me wanting to know what was going to happen and surprised me a couple of times…. especially the end.
Exceptional read. I could see this happening in todays world!
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Viv and Matt live a full life. Viv has a demanding job as a counterintelligence analyst for the CIA. While she is looking for Russian sleeper agents on U.S. soil, Matt takes on most of the duties of child rearing. They have a young daughter that is older than their twin boys. One of the boys has developmental problems requiring frequent visits to specialists that Matt willingly takes care of. Like any couple that has been married for over a decade, they know each other inside out.
Because of the cost of her son’s specialists, Viv had to go back to work sooner than she planned. But she loves and believes in the importance of her job. She is on the cusp of having her hard work to pay off. She has developed a program to identify people involved in these sleeper cells. Pictures start appearing on her monitor, she recognizes one of them. It is Matt.
Has her whole life been a lie? How could he be a Russian spy and did he marry her because she works for the CIA? The old adage of keeping your enemies close just might be the reason Matt met her in the first place. So many things run through Viv’s mind she can barely breathe, but she knows her husband is mixed up in something that has the ability to implode her family.
Once Matt is confronted, Viv realizes that she will have to make impossible decisions involving the country she loves and the safety of her family. She can no longer trust anything Matt says – or can she? Was he trapped in situation that he did not want to be in? Is he lying or telling her the truth? Viv has to make a move that will change the rest of their lives forever.
Debut novelist Karen Cleveland’s psychological thriller will keep you up late into the night. Her characters come to life on the pages and the twist in the last chapter will stay with the reader long after closing the book.
Need to Know could literally be ripped from today’s headlines. Recently I was in Washington D.C. at the Newseum. There is a section on spy cells that infiltrate the U.S. and how they are uncovered. The real life spies acted much like the ones in Cleveland’s novel. The realism of the book became more and more evident with each exhibit.
It is evident that Cleveland, a former CIA agent, is a gifted novelist. Need to Know holds a well-deserved spot on the New York Times Best Seller list. Film rights to the book have been sold – snatch up this book before the movie hits the screen. While I am excited to see the book come to life in the theaters, in my opinion, the book is always better than the movie and this one is outstanding.
Copyright © 2018 Laura Hartman
Makes one think hard about the US’ relationship with Russia today (2018). Great read.
Wow! A contemporary roller-coaster ride. You can just imagine it happening right here, right now.
Hooked me from the beginning. Great unexpected ending! Loved it!
I haven’t finished book yet but it is so interesting I hate to put it down Would make a great movie. Its about a husband who so far seems to be Russian Spy and married her because she worked for the CIA . So far I will give it 5 stars unless the ending isn’t as good as I hope.