Kat Carlton’s Two Lies and a Spy is the first book in the Two Lies and a Spy series.
Kari Andrews seems like an average girl. She attends Kennedy Preparatory school in Washington D.C, has two drastically different best friends, has a cute younger brother, and has a crush on the cutest guy in school. What marks her as different is the fact that her parents are spies. They work for an unspecified Agency to infiltrate other countries and gather information. Unfortunately, after 20 years of service, Kari’s parents are detained by the very Agency they work for and labeled traitors. Kari decides that it is up to her to clear her parents’ name. She hatches a plan and recruits a team of teenage friends and enemies to attempt to rescue her parents.
Kari is a great protagonist. She is one of few characters that seem almost perfect. She is sarcastic, sassy, and fun without being annoying. She carries enough self-confidence so that she doesn’t lack it, yet never comes off as cocky or arrogant. She is both tough and vulnerable at the same time. She is intelligent, capable, and is extremely protective of her friends and family. While Kari doesn’t grow much as a character, Two Lies and a Spy displays her skills. Her martial art skills, ability to evade capture, and bravery provide a great foundation for future books in the series.
Two Lies and a Spy was a surprisingly good read. I was probably not the only person who went into this book with extremely low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out it was more than just the average spy book. In most spy books, there is a team of characters that fall into the usual categories of hackers, costume designers, distraction and field agents. While this book is no different, some of the characters fit into multiple categories and each one is equipped with a large arsenal of verbal weapons. Aside from Kari’s sass, the side characters are fully versed in sarcasm and are talented at both giving and receiving verbal abuse. Their exchanges make the book hilarious. Sadly, these characters are generally one dimensional and there isn’t much to distinguish them among each other and other characters in the spy subgenre. At less than 250 pages, this book is short and sweet. It mixes high intensity action scenes with hilarious moments.
I give this 245 page book 4 stars.
Two Lies and a Spy
The series follows the hijinks of Kari Andrews, the daughter of two spies. She and crew of friend insult each other while preforming heists.