The Spy and I

The Spy and I by Tiana Smith (2024) 331 pages

Dove Barkley and her look-alike sister Madison were very close growing up because they only had each other. Now that they're adults, Dove is an introverted nerd who works as a cyber-security consultant, hacking into corporate computers in order to assess how secure they are. Madison travels as a photographer, or at least Dove thought so, until she's interviewed by a man who seems more interested in her sister's activities than her own. A few hours later, when Dove is waiting to meet her sister in a restaurant, a man comes to her table with  a briefcase, makes cryptic comments which suggest he thinks she is Madison, and then he is shot dead. Dove flees with the briefcase, just happening to find the same man who had interviewed her earlier, who whisks her away from danger on a motorcycle to a safe house. The man says his real name is Mendez and that he works in the CIA with Madison's sister, and that Madison is in hiding. Well, things are not exactly what they seem, and Dove doesn't know what to think of her sister, or whether to trust Mendez, even as she starts fantasizing about him. 

Before you know it, they're on a private jet to Prague, to see if they can take down a weapons dealer that Madison was investigating, a guy who's got a mole in the CIA headquarters. Dove needs to lead the dealer to think she is Madison. Dove is smart and gutsy even though she is scared silly for her sister and herself, which makes her character believable. Although I know little about the inner workings of computers, I found myself impressed with her data manipulations. This was a quick read with a somewhat crazy plot that I found entertaining and suspenseful in turns.