Book Extract & Review: The Trap by Ava Glass

I’m very excited to be welcoming Ava Glass to Novel Kicks today and the blog tour for her latest book, The Trap. 

Edinburgh. The 50th annual G7 Summit is being hosted by the UK, and intelligence agent Emma Makepeace, has less than a week to decode, defuse and disable a deadly threat to the leaders of the free world.

The Russians are in town and Emma and her team know a high-profile assassination is being planned. But who is their target? And who is the assassin?

There is only one way to find out. Emma must set a trap using herself as bait.

From the majesty of the Scottish Highlands to Europe’s most lavish hotels, using private jets, phone taps, and her training and instincts honed by three years hunting Russian spies, Emma Makepeace must trick her way into the moneyed, champagne-fuelled playground of the super-rich in order to trap the killer.

But Emma doesn’t count on liking her target, or the fact that he might actually fall for her, and with the clock ticking and her cover wearing increasingly thin, danger looms over her. One false move and they could both be dead.

I’ve reviewed The Trap below but first, Ava and Penguin have shared extracts from The Trap with us today. We hope you enjoy it. 

*****beginning of extract*****

This Extract is from Chapter 2 of The Trap by Ava Glass, published by Penguin Cornerstone on August 1^st 2024.

As the two men shook hands, Emma stood stiffly; her mouth had gone dry. The man talking to Ripley was the most important person in British Intelligence. His real name was Giles Templeton-Ward but to everyone in the country he was known, as all heads of MI6 always had been known, simply as ‘C’.

‘Glad you could get here so quickly. The situation is developing.’ C spoke quietly. His accent was nearly identical to Ripley’s, making him a product of Eton or Harrow and then Oxford, undoubtedly.

C glanced at Emma with enquiry, and Ripley said, ‘This is Emma Makepeace. The one I told you about.’

‘Ah, of course.’ In C’s cold gaze Emma saw that he already knew everything about her. He knew about her Russian parents, the languages she spoke, her time in the army, and everything she’d done right and wrong in her three years at the Agency. He would have a list of all her weaknesses.

‘Good to have you.’ Dismissing her with that short comment, he turned back to Ripley. ‘The Prime Minister is demanding answers about our plans for securing the G7. He would like those answers yesterday.’ Lowering his voice further he added, ‘He’s under pressure on this from the Cousins. They’re threatening to withdraw if they don’t have assurances our security is on track.’

‘The Cousins’ was intelligence code for the Americans.

‘Yes. I can’t say I’m surprised,’ Ripley said, dryly.

‘Indeed. Thinking hats will be needed.’ C glanced at his watch. ‘We’d better go in. They’re waiting.’

As she followed the two men through the door, Emma exhaled quietly and forced herself to relax. But she was beginning to wonder what she was doing here. Ripley had done all the talking on the way here, leaving her little time to wonder why he’d wanted her to come along. Only now did she consider whether that might have been intentional.

Inside was a small antechamber and another door, this one made of thick metal. It reminded her of a bank vault. Ripley and C walked through it without pausing. Squaring her shoulders, Emma followed them into a small, crowded space, more an oversized cupboard than a boardroom.

Although she’d never seen one before, Emma recognised it instantly. The Americans called them ‘Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities’, because of course they would. In Britain they were known simply as ‘Secure Chambers’. The steel-walled rooms would be bug-proof and safe from prying eyes, built in secret locations for situations like this one.

Three people already sat at the table. The first was Patricia Allan, the head of MI5, barely five feet tall and recognisable by her short steel-grey hair, which gave her a pleasingly androgynous look. Next to her was Dominic Larch, the Home Secretary. Not yet forty, he’d only been in the job three months. Everyone thought he was too much of lightweight to handle being in charge of police, security, and counter-terrorism.

Emma suspected they were right.

Beside him sat a confident, tall woman with shoulder-length blonde hair in a charcoal-grey suit. Emma recognised her from news reports as Lauren Cavendish, the Prime Minister’s special advisor. She and Ripley took the two empty seats on the far side of the table, squeezing past in the confined space.

As she sat in a black leather chair, it struck Emma that there were no computers in the room. No phones. Not even a notebook. No records would be kept. When it was over, to all intents and purposes, this meeting would never have happened. But decisions would be made here.

The heavy metal door swung shut slowly. She heard a faint electronic buzz as it sealed until that sound faded disconcertingly to silence. Nobody spoke, but the tension was so palpable she could almost see it. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the Home Secretary’s right foot had begun to jiggle unconsciously.

Sitting at the head of the table, C looked at them with weary solemnity.

‘Let’s begin.’

*****

This extract is from Chapter 23 of The Trap by Ava Glass, published by Penguin Cornerstone on August 1^st 2024.

‘Is he dead?’

Nick Orlov stood in the doorway, staring at unconscious, blood-covered man on the floor of his hotel room. The hand covering his mouth trembled as Emma strode over to him, pulling him inside and closing the door.

Reaching past his shoulder, she switched on the lights. The subtle glow illuminated a spacious room, walls covered in taupe silk wallpaper that caught the light and glimmered. The king-sized bed had been turned down invitingly, the curtains pulled across the tall windows.

Every item in the room had been skilfully chosen and beautifully arranged. The only thing out of place item was the bloody body on the floor.

Crouching next to Fridman, Emma set the gun down and picked up his thin wrist. His skin felt warm. She put a hand over his mouth and noted the steady passage of his breath.

‘He’s alive.’ She remained beside the unconscious man for a few seconds more, thinking through their situation.

When she stood up, she picked up the gun and ejected the bullet cartridge, checking it with a quick professional glance. Fridman had fired three times. There were thirteen bullets left.

Lucky thirteen.

****end of extract*****

The Trap by Ava Glass is published by Penguin in Paperback (£9.99). It was released on 1st August 2024. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble and Amazon US. 

My verdict on The Trap: 

British Intelligence Officer Emma Makepeace has one week to get to the bottom of a very large threat. With new foes and unexpected faces turning up at every turn, can Emma make it to the other side alive? 

I had not read The Chase but had heard great things about it. So, when I had the chance to join the blog tour for The Trap by Ava Glass, I jumped at the chance. 

Even though this is a continuation of Emma Makepeace’s story, you don’t have to have read the previous novel to keep up with The Trap. 

Emma is such a fantastic character. She has strong convictions and knows that the most important thing is to protect her country. She tries to hide her emotions but they are there, below the surface. It’s also brilliant to see a woman, in the role of a spy and written in this way. 

The team around her are equally great/ They are believable and well rounded. There is a strong supporting cast. I also liked Mackenzie when she was introduced and found the relationship she had with Emma interesting. 

The plot was fast and full of tension. I know the following statement is said a lot in reviews but I seriously couldn’t stop reading this book. I don’t have any knowledge of the spy game but, when reading, you can tell that Ava Glass does. There is an authenticity there I feel. 

Agh, I don’t know what I can say about this book that isn’t going to spoil it. I really hope it’s one you discover for yourself. 

The Trap is a high octane spy tale with strong characters. It’s got a nail biting plot where I really couldn’t figure out what was going to happen next. All I knew was that I needed to find out. 

A great novel. I am definitely a fan of both Emma Makepeace and Ava Glass. 

The Trap Book Trailer:

About Ava Glass:

The Trap follows Ava Glass’ debut spy thriller The Chase and her critically acclaimed 2023 thriller The Traitor, which was a Grazia Book of the Month, Sunday Times Book of the Year, Washington Post Book of the Year, Cosmopolitan Book of the Year, and Richard & Judy Book Club pick.

Film rights to The Chase and The Traitor have been acquired by the producers of The Night Manager, who are currently working on a pilot, now in the final stages. Next step will be casting!

One of very few women shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, the UK’s spy fiction prize, and one of the vanishingly few female authors writing about spies, Ava Glass is breaking down the door to the most male dominated genres in the English language – the espionage novel.

Ava Glass’ fiction is based on her first-hand experience working with female spies for the British government, which has seen her dubbed “the new queen of spy fiction” by The Guardian. This alongside a decade working as an investigative journalist and crime reporter in America covering homicides for publications including the New York Times and Reuters makes her writing both fresh and dangerously believable.

Say hello to Ava on X and Instagram. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.