From Amanda McCrina, the acclaimed author of Traitor and The Silent Unseen, I'll Tell You No Lies is a riveting YA novel of the Cold War era about a girl in post-World War II America who becomes entangled with an escaped Soviet pilot and must learn to decipher truth from lies.
New York, 1955. Eighteen-year-old Shelby Blaine and her father, an Air Force intelligence officer, have just been wrenched away from their old life in West Germany to New York’s Griffiss Air Force Base, where he has been summoned to lead the interrogation of an escaped Soviet pilot. Still in shock from the car accident that killed her mother barely a month earlier, Shelby struggles with her grief, an emotionally distant father, and having to start over in a new home.
Then a chance meeting with Maksym, the would-be defector, spirals into a deadly entanglement, as the pilot’s cover story is picked apart and he attempts to escape his military and intelligence handlers—with Shelby caught in the middle. The more she learns of Maksym’s secrets, including his detention at Auschwitz during the war, the more she becomes willing to help him. But as the stakes become more dangerous, Shelby begins to question everything she has been told, even by her fugitive friend. Allies turn into enemies, and the truth is muddled by lies. Can she trust a traitor with her life, or will it be the last mistake she ever makes?
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
New York, 1955. Eighteen-year-old Shelby Blaine and her father, an Air Force intelligence officer, have just been wrenched away from their old life in West Germany to New York’s Griffiss Air Force Base, where he has been summoned to lead the interrogation of an escaped Soviet pilot. Still in shock from the car accident that killed her mother barely a month earlier, Shelby struggles with her grief, an emotionally distant father, and having to start over in a new home.
Then a chance meeting with Maksym, the would-be defector, spirals into a deadly entanglement, as the pilot’s cover story is picked apart and he attempts to escape his military and intelligence handlers—with Shelby caught in the middle. The more she learns of Maksym’s secrets, including his detention at Auschwitz during the war, the more she becomes willing to help him. But as the stakes become more dangerous, Shelby begins to question everything she has been told, even by her fugitive friend. Allies turn into enemies, and the truth is muddled by lies. Can she trust a traitor with her life, or will it be the last mistake she ever makes?
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Praise for this book
"A thrilling dive into the complexities of the Cold War, I'll Tell You No Lies also provides a heartbreaking glimpse of lesser-known Ukrainian experiences during WWII. With unexpected twists and vibrant characters, McCrina's sharp, powerful prose shines in this brilliantly researched, fast-paced novel." - Erin Litteken
"McCrina's writing soars in this masterfully built Cold War-era thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats with its astonishing twists and turns. Start to finish a compulsive and emotional read." - Marina Scott
"Amanda McCrina has hit it out of the ballpark with this tense and lean Cold War thriller, meticulously researched and tightly written. What I loved most about this novel is that it relied on no tropes nor stereotypes, but instead plunged the reader into a breathless time and place with authenticity and nuance. Brava." - Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
"McCrina's writing soars in this masterfully built Cold War-era thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats with its astonishing twists and turns. Start to finish a compulsive and emotional read." - Marina Scott
"Amanda McCrina has hit it out of the ballpark with this tense and lean Cold War thriller, meticulously researched and tightly written. What I loved most about this novel is that it relied on no tropes nor stereotypes, but instead plunged the reader into a breathless time and place with authenticity and nuance. Brava." - Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
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