I’ve had Passport to Spy in my reading queue for several months, but it took me a while to actually get in to the headspace of where I wanted to read again (totally a me problem and nothing to do with the book). Once I did dive into the story, I had trouble putting it down. Kat Lawson was a investigative reporter and lost her job and ended up finding a new job as a spy for the FBI working undercover as a journalist. Everyone in Germany thinks that she is on assignment to cover the holidays in Germany but she’s actually trying to find out about some stolen art. While things start off smoothly, people start catching on that Kat might not be who she says she is and the story really starts to unfold. I don’t want to give too much away but if you’re into murder mystery, spies and art heists, then you’ll probably enjoy Passport to Spy.
After finishing the book I found out that this is actually the 2nd book in the Kat Lawson series, but I was able to read it as a standalone and didn’t feel like I was missing out on any of the story having not read the first. It also is kind of sort of based on a true situation, which the author explains at the end of the book.
I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
After losing her job as an investigative reporter for The Phoenix Gazette, Kat Lawson has a new gig. The FBI has asked her to work undercover as a reporter for Travel International to cover Munich, Germany’s festive holiday scene—an excuse to get close to Hans von Hausmann, a very charismatic and popular museum curator suspected of hiding a cache of stolen masterpieces believed to be part of the World’s Largest Art Heist. The job comes with lots of perks: airfare, travel expenses, the opportunity to see the world…and for a seasoned reporter like Kat, nothing she can’t handle. But, when a trusted source is found dead, Kat realizes the tables have been turned. Armed with evidence that will expose a cache of artwork stolen from museums and the homes of wealthy Jews during the 2nd World War, Kat must find a way to avoid being caught by the German Polizie, who have enough evidence to charge her with murder, and those who want her dead to keep their hidden treasures forever secret. The hunter has become the hunted; now, Kat has a target on her back.