Armistice: The Amberlough Dossier, Book 2

Donnelly’s bracing, timely second spy thriller, set in a fantasy world with Jazz Age and art deco touches, brings back characters from Amberlough, this time amid the glitz and glamour of the film industry. It’s been about three years since the fascist Ospies prevailed, ostensibly “uniting” all four states of Gedda, and a resistance has taken root. Cordelia Lehane, former burlesque dancer and founder of the revolutionary group Catwalk (notorious for train bombings), has stowed away to the tropical Porachis and now works for fellow performer Aristide Makricosta, who directs films for Hadhariti Studios. Lillian DePaul, press attaché for the office of regional affairs (and sister of Aristide’s missing lover, spy Cyril DePaul), is ordered to seduce Cyril’s former comrade Vasily Memmediv to uncover possible treason. If she doesn’t succeed, she may never see her son again. In a precarious new era that’s anything but certain, their lives are destined to intersect with explosive results. Donnelly has successfully built upon her intricate, lush world of passionate spies and shadowy turncoats, and each character leaps off the page in this satisfying novel that succeeds on both grand and intimate scales. Agent: Connor Goldsmith, Fuse Literary. (May)