The Collaborators

June 1, 2024

Idov (Ground Up) writes a spy thriller featuring Ari Falk, a CIA agent, and Maya Chou, an heiress whose billionaire Russian American father has disappeared. Together they travel the world trying to unravel a conspiracy that pits Russia against both the CIA and MI5. Prepub Alert.

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Starred review from September 15, 2024
Young CIA operative Ari Falk becomes enmeshed in a cutthroat international financial scheme with grave political implications. Working under the cover of media investor, Falk is supposed to help Russian opposition journalists come up with stories damaging to the Kremlin. His latest success is with blogger Anton Basmanny, an openly gay provocateur known for his outrageous man-on-the-street livestreams whose viral performance video from a high-ranking Russian official's secret villa leads to the official's deposal. On the same flight as the one intended to whisk Falk to safety, tech billionaire Paul Obrandt is seen seated with a mystery woman (her identity is key) shortly before he's reported dead by an elaborately planned suicide. Not believing her Russian-born father did such a thing, his feisty and fearless 23-year-old daughter, Maya, leaves their Los Angeles home to pursue the truth in Portugal, where he left her a house. Hooking up (in both senses of the term) with Falk, she risks her life to find out not only what happened to her old man, but also where $5 billion missing from his investment account went. A classic globe-trotter, the novel spreads its cold-blooded killings among several countries. But unlike most spy fiction, it's driven in the liveliest sense by young characters who reflect their generation. Falk, a millennial who wears Weezer tees, and Maya, who was up for a part in a Peacock vampire series, are an irresistible pairing. The aspirations of youth also drive the backstory of Paul Obrandt's efforts as a 25-year-old billionaire to effect positive political change in Russia during the fading days of the Yeltsin administration through the creation of a telecom firm. Good luck with that. Sharp, freshly conceived, thoroughly entertaining spy fiction.

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October 15, 2024
In Michael Idov's newest spy thriller, we are introduced to exhausted CIA officer Ari Falk and rich girl Maya Chou. Ari's last job went horribly wrong, which sets him on a path of revenge; and Maya's father unexpectedly dies by suicide, which sends her on a journey to uncover why. Eventually their trajectories align, and they must now work together to find out what truly happened to Maya's father. They soon discover there are decades, millions of dollars, and multiple powerful people behind every new clue they unravel. Taking place in various countries during 2021, the story combines history (mainly Russian history and what could have been), politics, spies, action scenes, and a sprinkle of romance. Chapters are very long which may dissuade some readers. Multiple points of view provide a backstory and insight into characters, but not enough to connect to them and get invested in the story. A lot happens at once, making the story confusing at times, but it all comes together in a somewhat predictable ending.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 16, 2024
The search for a missing hedge fund manager with ties to Russian intelligence animates screenwriter Idov’s bumpy fiction debut (after the memoir Dressed Up for a Riot). At the center of the action is CIA officer Ari Falk, who’s investigating the likely murder of one of his prized assets, a Russian blogger who was taken off a passenger jet during an unplanned stop in Latvia and never seen again. Falk eventually connects that case to the disappearance of billionaire financier Paul Obrandt, who recently jumped from the back of his yacht off the coast of Portugal. Paul’s daughter, Maya, is looking for her dad, not out of love but out of a suspicion that he staged his own death. She and Falk team up, repressing their mutual attraction as they trace Obrandt’s trail across Eastern Europe to Moscow, where they learn of his links to Russia’s military intelligence agency. Idov, whose TV credits include the espionage series Deutschland 89, shows promise in his transition to the page—the details of the tradecraft feel especially authentic—but the action lurches along at an awkward shuffle, with a few too many time-lapses, and it all culminates in an unconvincing finale. It’s a letdown. Agent: Amanda Urban, CAA.