First Look: Need to Know by Karen Cleveland

Need to Know by Karen Cleveland is the most relentless thriller you will read all year. Hard hitting, with an emotional depth that surprises and a plot that will keep you guessing until the very last word, this takes domestic suspense in an exhilarating new direction.

Perfect husband? Perfect father? . . . Perfect liar?

Vivian Miller is a dedicated CIA counter-intelligence analyst assigned to uncover Russian sleeper cells in the United States. On track for a much-needed promotion, she’s developed a system for identifying Russian agents – seemingly normal people living in plain sight.

After accessing the computer of a potential Russian operative, Vivian stumbles on a secret dossier of deep-cover agents within America’s borders. A few clicks later, everything that matters to her is threatened – her job, her husband, even her four children.

Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she’s facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust?

Sarah Adams, Fiction Publisher at Transworld, says: “Earlier this year, in a deal echoing the whirlwind of Karen Cleveland’s writing narrative, a team across editorial, sales, marketing and publicity read debut novel Need To Know overnight with unequivocal excitement. Within 24 hours of its arrival Transworld became Karen’s proud UK publishing home. Film rights were quickly snapped up by Universal (Charlize Theron) and rights to the book have already sold in 22 territories.

“Cleveland masterfully takes domestic suspense to the international stage in this relentless thriller about a husband and wife bringing up four children in a world of secrets and spies. Need to Know starts with a bang and doesn’t let up. And, as Karen worked for the CIA for eight years, her story couldn’t feel more authentic or more terrifying.

“With Transworld Art Director Richard Ogle’s ingenious cover wrapped around it, we simply cannot wait to introduce Need To Know to readers everywhere.”

Need to Know will hit the shelves in January 2018. Here’s the cover of this brilliant new thriller – what do you think?