Susan Ouellette

I think this is the first time I've read a spy thriller with a female as the main character! One of the reasons I always have trouble getting into the whole spy thing is that it always seems like they are unrealistic. So the fact that Maggie is an everyday person dealing with everyday problems made this a really easy read for me! There were so many times I thought that I figured out what was going on and then something would happen and it would have me wondering all over again! It didn't take me long to finish. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next! Really good read!
… (más)

“The Wayward Assassin” is book two in the “Wayward” series; many characters continue from the previous book, but pertinent background information is seamlessly woven into the current narrative. This story opens with a version of an actual event. On September 1, 2004, Chechen terrorists attacked a school in Beslan, in the Russian republic of North Ossetia, resulting in the deaths of 333 people, including 186 children, and 31attackers. The fictional interpretation then takes over.
Maggie Jenkins is a CIA analyst on assignment in Moscow. Her favorite mug announces “Not a Morning Person.” She has no “formal” training as a spy. When she tries to sneak into a house, her pant leg gets caught on a spike on top of the gate. When she tries to text for help, her cell battery is dead. When she jumps into a taxi, as spies are inclined to do, and yells “Follow that car,” she adds “Please.” However, she is intuitive, focused, and an expert on Chechen terrorism. Zara Barayeva is a Chechen terrorist; her assignment is to bomb the school and kill children. Killing these children is but a trial run. Her next mission will be even more spectacular. She will succeed, and she will survive. Then, the paths of these two diverse experts converge.
The narrative unfolds in alternating points of view showing the same events but from different perspectives. Details are revealed through conversations, what people say to each other and what they say to themselves. Things happen quickly, over just a few days, and chapters are clearly labeled for readers with the date and location. In the United States, a milestone date is fast approaching, September 11, 2004.
Ouellette puts readers in to the scenes with detailed descriptions. Readers feel the cool metal railing, know the coughing and stinging caused by black exhaust, and hear the flag’s snap hooks pinging against the metal pole, breaking the stillness in the parking lot.
I received a review copy of “The Wayward Assassin” from Susan Ouellette and CamCat Books. The book is fast-paced with action and intrigue on every page.
“The best you can do is hope that the bad stuff will lead to better things.”… (más)

Maggie Jenkins should be working on the finishing touches of her dream wedding, and instead she finds herself getting ready for her fiancé's funeral. What happened?! Steve her fiancé was a CIA operative and although she really never could get a straight answer as to what he did when on missions, she feels that something is wrong. She is left with vague answers, missing telegrams, secret meetings and a few have also left subtle hints with notes and a dropped phone call that things are not as she is being told with what really happened and why Steve was killed while over in Georgia. Maggie decides she will make it a mission of her own to find out the truth, but she is quickly learning that everyone has secrets they need to hide and she is not sure who to trust anymore. Albeit being told to leave things lie, she flies over to Georgia to research herself and although she is warned off numerous times, she has no idea what is waiting for her back home in the states.

I really enjoyed this spy thriller with a female lead. Sometimes they can be convoluted with so many story lines or characters and countries to keep straight in these novels, but this one was easy to read and although there were a few "really?" moments overall I felt it was written really well and I felt it was realistic in that a female would defiantly not let something like this go. Women don't like secrets or not knowing, so I cannot imagine having a spouse or partner and could not know what their work detail was.

Thank you to the author for the free novel, and Suzy Approved Tours for the invite. I would read more by this author.… (más)

“The Wayward Spy” immediately draws readers into a complicated plot filled with peril and nagging questions, but the motive is simple and uncomplicated; Maggie wants an answer. This is her personal journey from the start.

Maggie Jenkins is a normal person with regular problems. She has to jump out of the way of taxies; she breaks nails, and she wonders why files at work are not better organized. People seem to think won’t be able to handle things, but she is a survivor. She would be a horrible witness or spy, and yet here she is, working in DC where everyone is a spy for one side or the other, trying to find out why her fiancé, Steve Ryder, was killed in a terrorist bombing overseas while meeting an “asset.” The “spy establishment” concludes “wrong place, wrong time” but this was Steve who died, her Steve. She cannot just move on without a real answer.

“The Wayward Spy” unfolds with secret agent, counter terrorist threats, and espionage of all sorts. It is conversation driven so readers get glimpses of how the players present information and how they interact with others. Rumors abound hinting that someone is selling US secrets, even hinting that the culprit was Steve himself. Tangible clues appear only to vanish later. Friends become enemies, and enemies hide in plain sight, and people on every side lie. Maggie started down this path, so there is no turning back

“The Wayward Spy” has a strong sense of place from DC with its monitoring and secret alarms to Tbilisi where Maggie puts her hand on the cold stained concrete where the unthinkable happened. The pace is deliberate, organized, and purposeful. The intensity increases, and events come to an unexpected end. I received a review copy of “The Wayward Spy” from Susan Ouellette and CamCat Publishing. It is powerful, and focused. The questions have answers that none of the players anticipated.… (más)