"American Spy updates the espionage thriller with blazing originality." -- Entertainment Weekly
"There has never been anything like it." -- Marlon James, GQ
"So much fun... Like the best of John le Carré, it's extremely tough to put down." -- NPR

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review ? Time ? NPR ? Entertainment Weekly ? Esquire ? BuzzFeed ? Vulture ? Real Simple ? Good Housekeeping ? The New York Public Library

What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love?

It's 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She's brilliant, but she's also a young black woman working in an old boys' club. Her career has stalled out, she's overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she's given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes. Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Sankara is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she's being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent.

In the year that follows, Marie will observe Sankara, seduce him, and ultimately have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American.

Inspired by true events -- Thomas Sankara is known as "Africa's Che Guevara" -- American Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you've never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.

NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD ? Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

"Spy fiction plus allegory, and a splash of pan-Africanism. What could go wrong? As it happens, very little. Clever, bracing, darkly funny, and really, really good." -- Ta-Nehisi Coates

"Inspired by real events, this espionage thriller ticks all the right boxes, delivering a sexually charged interrogation of both politics and race." -- Esquire

"Echoing the stoic cynicism of Hurston and Ellison, and the verve of Conan Doyle, American Spy lays our complicities -- political, racial, and sexual -- bare. Packed with unforgettable characters, it's a stunning book, timely as it is timeless." -- Paul Beatty, Man Booker Prizewinning author of The Sellout

• We started tracking this book on January 19, 2019.
• This book was $13.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 100 times in the past 2,342 days.
• The current price of this book is $1.99 last checked 14 hours ago.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on June 17, 2025.
• This book has been $1.99 2 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $13.99 last reached on April 19, 2025.
• This book has been $13.99 25 times since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its lowest price since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionUnited StatesBlack & African AmericanHistorical
• Literature & FictionUnited States
• Literature & FictionBlack & African AmericanHistorical

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 292 Pages
• File Size: 22 KB