Review: I, Spy by Jordan McCollum

I, Spy by Jordan McCollum, AF, 2013, 310p, Rating=3.5
Source: ebook provided by author in exchange for an honest review

Canada is probably the last place you'd expect to find an American spy. But even idyllic Ottawa has its deadly secrets--and so does CIA operative Talia Reynolds. She can climb through ventilation shafts, blend in at the occasional diplomatic function, even scale buildings (small ones). But there's one thing she can’t do: tell her aerospace engineer boyfriend Danny about her Top Secret occupation.

It worked for a year, keeping Danny in the dark, keeping him away from danger, keeping her secrets. And then Talia finally catches a hot case: Fyodor Timofeyev. Russian. Aerospace executive. Possible spy?

She can make this work, too--until Danny needs her at the same time her country does. And when Fyodor targets Danny? Suddenly her schedule isn't the only thing suffering. Now to save her country and her secrets, Talia must sacrifice the man she loves.

Don't throw tomatoes at me but I'm not a big fan of spy movies ..James Bond kind.  Now, Get Smart is another story.  That I like!  Well, this novel is kind of a mix of both.  Got the serious action packed sequence of James Bond while the hint of humor of Get Smart.  Throw in a chaste romance and you've got a recipe for a rated PG13 spy flick in novel format.  Hence, an entertaining suspense thriller with wholesome values.

It was the Talia-Danny affinity (plus the entanglement with Elliot) that made the book for me.  I enjoyed the exploration in the dynamics of honesty.  Surely there would be strain in a relationship where one of the person involved has a secret life, a very dangerous one at that.  The question of how much truth is brought to the table comes to play.  Talia figures she must keep her occupation at bay from Danny in order to keep him safe.  Little did Talia know that Danny will be in the middle of the danger zone and must chose between the proverbial dichotomy, country or a love life.  By book's end we find the soul of balance that brought Talia to an epiphany and this reader to an "aw-cute" moment.  It wasn't whether Talia and Danny would survive the relationship but how they got there that made for such a lovely ending.  Well done, Ms. McCollum!

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