This is the first book in an ongoing series and even though spy thrillers are not my usual genre of book, The Chase, which is the first book in the Alias Emma series, sounded like an enthralling read. And it didn’t disappoint.
Emma Makepeace is a young agent with The Agency. They are a secret organisation of the highest level that undertake even more covert and undercover assignments than MI6.
Having served in the Army and impressing her bosses there, she undergoes numerous tests by Charles Ripley, the main chief at The Agency. However, Emma is Impetuous to start a major assignment but Ripley had sent her to a minor undercover mission, gathering information on a Human Rights Campaigner who was unaware of his Russian backers.
But when the time was right, Ripley pulled Emma out of her undercover mission and finally she was assigned to find a man wanted by the Russians. She simply had to get him to safety in the MI6 headquarters before the Russians.
At first Emma thinks this is a simple job, but once she locates her target, Dr Michael Primalov, she realises that she has an unwilling target to be rescued and she is not alone.
She needs to get to MI6 by dawn, which is on the other side of the city and after many miles of walking, running and avoiding being shot at, Emma risks a call to The Agency for support and discovers her handler has gone AWOL, and she’s been left alone with no backup.
With the Russians all over the city, and being able to find them easily as they have hacked all the cameras, every decision she makes has to be calculated and well thought out, avoiding cameras, which include main roads and public transport. She has to figure out the safest route for her and Dr Michael to get across town without being seen yet moving fast.
The ensuing chase takes them through old quiet streets, canals and river sewers under London, all amazing edge of your seat teasers. Up until the end of the chase, you are left wondering who can Emma trust during this mission?
I can easily imagine this book being turned into a mini series as it was both gripping and enthralling, especially the cat and mouse chase around London. Such a fantastic read, my only disappointment was that I thought there may be a further twist at the end of the story.
However, as this is only Book 1 in the series, there will be plenty of time to unravel and reveal more secrets as the series continues. The fact there are so many unanswered question and loose ends which were not all tied up in a neat bow – Yet!! – now makes perfect sense.
I shall certainly be on the lookout for Book 2 in the Alias Emma series. Thank you to both NetGalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to read and review this book.