I'll Tell You No Lies

June 15, 2023
An American teenager becomes entangled in a web of lies with a Soviet defector during the Cold War. The year is 1955, and Shelby Blaine is grieving the death of her mother three weeks prior when her life is turned upside down again. Col. Blaine, Shelby's father, is in Air Force intelligence, and he's been given a special assignment that takes them from their military base in Germany to upstate New York, where his expertise is required to debrief a Soviet defector. Eighteen-year-old Shelby makes the acquaintance of the defector, a young Ukrainian pilot named Maksym Kostyshyn, at a welcoming party, but the next day she learns that he has escaped without a trace after the military found a hole in his story. When Maksym makes contact with her, Shelby has to decide whether to turn him in under suspicion that he is in fact a KGB operative or to believe him when he insists that he is telling the truth. What follows is a fast-paced, twisty story that keeps readers on their toes. Along with Shelby, they will be unsure who to believe and who can be trusted. This spy thriller is peppered with rich period details. Shelby's character feels like an authentic portrayal of an intelligent, college-bound teenager of the time, lending the book the realistic air of the past come to vivid life. A fascinating dive into a segment of history that reverberates today. (author's note) (Historical thriller. 13-18)

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June 12, 2023
An encounter with a Soviet defector thrusts an American teenager into a political investigation in this tensely wrought Cold War historical novel set in 1955. After an automobile accident kills her mother, 18-year-old Shelby Blaine’s intelligence officer father, Colonel Blaine, moves the two of them from Germany to Upstate New York’s Griffiss Air Force Base, where he has been assigned to debrief a Soviet defector. When, at an official dinner, Shelby meets said defector—21-year-old Ukrainian pilot Maksym Kostyshyn—she immediately falls for his alluring, enigmatic personality. The next day, she discovers that Maksym has disappeared after coming under suspicion as a potential KGB spy. He soon shows up in Shelby’s home, insisting that the FBI have made a mistake and begging her not to turn him in. As Shelby learns more about Maksym’s past, including the time he spent as a prisoner in Auschwitz, she resolves to help him, despite the considerable risks. Via tight prose, McCrina (The Silent Unseen) effectively sketches a high-stakes spy thriller that features period-relevant intrigue and simmering romance. All characters cue as white. Back matter includes an author’s note. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennie Kendrick, Red Fox Literary.

September 1, 2023

Gr 7 Up-When 18-year-old Shelby Blaine gets relocated with her father to a new Air Force base, she is not expecting to find a wounded Soviet pilot hiding in their new house. Maksim insists he is a defector seeking refuge in the United States. What should Shelby do, when FBI and CIA agents arrive, looking for a KGB spy? When she confronts Maksim, the truth about his past becomes even murkier. Is the young man a defector or an enemy agent? Is he Ukrainian or Russian? What was he doing during WWII? McCrina develops an exciting, engrossing plot-as an unknown Soviet mole and known American operatives close in, Shelby and Maksim must choose what secrets to share, whether to trust one another, and how to save each other. The novel is sensitive to the complicated psychology and layered identities of the central and peripheral characters: Maksim is no more complicated than his CIA handler, a Jewish-German immigrant who adopts the bland surname "Jones." McCrina also has an eye for details that make the 1950s historical setting immersive, whether naming a brand of lipstick, describing summer in upstate New York, or pointing to a specific, Ukrainian neighborhood in Toronto. As to the romance: is a strapping young man likely to be up for some smooches while suffering from a broken ankle and ethylene glycol poisoning? Probably not? Will readers be cheering on Shelby and Maksim? Absolutely! VERDICT Thrilling, historically accurate, and morally complex, this title is sure to please readers of Elizabeth Wein.-Katherine Magyarody

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 Eighteen-year-old Shelby Blaine finds herself at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, when her father, Col. Robert Blaine, an Air Force intelligence officer, is transferred there from their home in Germany to interrogate a Russian defector. Although bitter and angry at the timing, Shelby has no choice but to attend a party in honor of the defector, whose name is Maksym. The two meet cute, but Shelby is not prepared when Maksym subsequently flees his interrogators and she finds him, injured, hiding in her house. She has two choices: she can turn him in or help him. Of course, she chooses the latter and--hold on to your hairnets--nonstop action ensues with enough red herrings to feed an army (or at least a battalion) for it seems that no one is who they seem to be and lies abound. The ingenious McCrina (The Silent Unseen, 2022) ensures that readers will have a field day with this well-plotted, engaging thriller, and that's no lie.

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