A brilliant young intelligence officer and a troubled heiress stumble into a global conspiracy that pits present-day Russia against the CIA in this electrifying, globetrotting spy thriller.
Combining realistic thrills with sophisticated spycraft and witty dialogue, The Collaborators delivers a gut-punch answer to the biggest geopolitical question of our time. How exactly did post-Soviet Russia turn down the wrong path?
Criss-crossing the globe on the way to this shocking revelation are disaffected millennial CIA officer Ari Falk, thrown into a moral and professional crisis by the death of his best asset, and brash, troubled LA heiress Maya Chou, spiralling after the disappearance of her Russian American billionaire father. The duo's adventures take us to both classic and surprising locales – from Berlin and Tangier to Latvia, Belarus and a semi-abandoned technopark outside Moscow.
Dynamic, fast-paced and filled with captivating details that provide a window into a secretive world, The Collaborators is a first-rate thriller that pays homage to both meanings of 'intelligence'.
'A propulsive plot and fantastic twists, but what really sets this book apart is the writing, sparkling on every page' Chris Pavone, New York Times bestselling author of The Expats and Two Nights in Lisbon
'Crackles with energy as it veers between international caper and more classic espionage thriller, laced with the promise of romance. Idov . . . brings a pleasing cinematic sweep, insider knowledge of Russia and sharp dialogue to this enjoyable tale as it roams around the world' Financial Times
'Gathers stories from the headlines – novichok, Ponzi schemes, Wagner Group mercenaries – and blends them into a hipster spy smoothie' The Times, Book of the Month Michael Idov is a novelist, director, and screenwriter. A Latvian-born American raised in Riga under Soviet occupation, he moved to New York after graduating from the University of Michigan. Michael's writing career began at New York magazine, where his features won three National Magazine Awards, and he has also been the editor-in-chief of GQ Russia. Michael has worked on numerous film and TV projects, including Londongrad, Deutschland 83, Leto, and The Humorist. He and his wife and screenwriting partner, Lily, divide their time between Los Angeles, Berlin, and Portugal. 'A hell of an espionage thriller – thoroughly modern and frighteningly relevant, yet with clear reverence for the genre's roots . . . I did not want to put this book down' Alex DeMille, New York Times bestselling author of Blood Lines
'Compulsively readable, with more twists than a bar full of martinis, The Collaborators takes a deep dive into global espionage, what-ifs, and the things we do for those we love' I. S. Berry, Edgar Award-winning author of The Peacock and The Sparrow
'Smart, stylish, and propulsive from the very first page. I can't wait to see what Michael Idov writes next' Anna Pitoniak, author of The Helsinki Affair
'Intelligent and explosive' Paul Burke, CrimeTime
'What the ever expanding world of espionage fiction needs, it turns out, is a Yale-educated Millennial field operative who dresses in Weezer T-shirts and knows his way around a semi-automatic . . . a novel as cool as it is accomplished, that knits together action, tradecraft and quippy dialogue with flair' Vogue (named a Best Book of the Year)
'[A] globe-trotting spy adventure . . . Idov balances modern-day intrigue with Cold War flashbacks, tracing spy bloodlines from the former Soviet Union into today' Paste Magazine
'If you are in the mood for a high-stakes global espionage novel, with secret agents jet-setting all over the world, you have come to the right place. . . . cleverness and subterfuge abound, followed by a believable, real-world sort of denouement' BookPage
'A ripping gem of a novel. . . . Entertaining, rocketing, and unfo
