Northern Spy - Flynn Berry

Northern Spy

By Flynn Berry

  • Release Date: 2021-04-06
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 744 Ratings

Description

Reese’s Book Club Pick
Instant New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Book Review Top 10 Thriller of 2021
A Washington Post Top 10 Thriller or Mystery of 2021
 
“If you love a mystery, then you’ll devour [Northern Spy] . . . I loved this thrill ride of a book.” —Reese Witherspoon

“A chilling, gorgeously written tale . . . Berry keeps the tension almost unbearably high.” The New York Times Book Review

The acclaimed author of Under the Harrow and A Double Life returns with her most riveting novel to date: the story of two sisters who become entangled with the IRA


A producer at the BBC and mother to a new baby, Tessa is at work in Belfast one day when the news of another raid comes on the air. The IRA may have gone underground in the two decades since the Good Friday Agreement, but they never really went away, and lately bomb threats, security checkpoints, and helicopters floating ominously over the city have become features of everyday life. As the news reporter requests the public's help in locating those responsible for the robbery, security footage reveals Tessa's sister, Marian, pulling a black ski mask over her face.

The police believe Marian has joined the IRA, but Tessa is convinced she must have been abducted or coerced; the sisters have always opposed the violence enacted in the name of uniting Ireland. And besides, Marian is vacationing on the north coast. Tessa just spoke to her yesterday.

When the truth about Marian comes to light, Tessa is faced with impossible choices that will test the limits of her ideals, the bonds of her family, her notions of right and wrong, and her identity as a sister and a mother. Walking an increasingly perilous road, she wants nothing more than to protect the one person she loves more fiercely than her sister: her infant son, Finn.

Riveting, atmospheric, and exquisitely written, Northern Spy is at once a heart-pounding story of the contemporary IRA and a moving portrait of sister- and motherhood, and of life in a deeply divided society.

Reviews

  • Read on the heels of “Say Nothing”

    5
    By Mfny
    Compelling and plausible
  • I love this book

    5
    By jauneki
    I was never a Fond reading but this book I like is
  • Good book

    4
    By marfy17
    Good book. Easy read. Finished in two days. Didnt like the ending so much
  • Anticlimactic

    3
    By mvp.
    A page tuner then gravely bored in the last 75 pages. I stuck with it in hopes it would get better. Very anticlimactic.
  • Stick it out

    4
    By Anna 367
    I’ve heard how good this book was but almost quit several times in the beginning. Took till the second section for me to really get into it, but then I did very much enjoy it.
  • Wow great story, lovely characters

    5
    By kbrom422
    Excellent book
  • Northern Spy

    5
    By Dadlab
    Well written, heartfelt. So believable I struggled to believe the characters were fictitious.
  • Educational

    4
    By Yogurt Mamma
    It was sad all the “No win” situations people can find themselves in. I’m sure many similar situations arose. I was elated that the entire family got a new life.
  • Northern Spy

    1
    By ZZPIPPA
    This book gave a good detailed explanation of the IRA and police. The author just bored me with the description of her baby in every single chapter.
  • She knows how to write women

    5
    By meggdogg
    I chose this book because of a long held interest in Northern Ireland and the troubles. I love this book because of how Berry gives insight into the female brain. The way she depicts how Tessa processes this period of trauma, grief, and forgiveness is incredibly authentic. I’d love for her to write a parallel novel from Marian’s point of view!