Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

In Reinhardt by Marianne Scott, undercover CIA agent Darren is in Moscow reporting on disarmament talks while evading the KGB. Local Ludmila pretends to be romantically involved with him but later steals crucial items including a strychnine capsule. After being abducted and transported in a crate, Darren is rescued by Sergei and Svetlana from an extraction network and taken to the American Embassy in Ukraine for medical treatment. As the Cold Force network faces challenges due to the end of the Cold War and budget cuts, Darren relocates to avoid Felix Szabo's threats. Darren, now Henri, settles in Côte d’Azur, France, where he successfully works at a winery, adapts to the local culture, and becomes emotionally involved with the community. Love follows when he proposes to Monique, but fears reignite when Felix kills Darren's colleague, and Darren must fight again to protect those he loves.

From its onset, Marianne Scott gives Reinhardt a tight, well-constructed plot that creates an immediate sense of urgency and escalating tension that carries throughout. As a reader, I was fully engaged as Darren's stakes heightened and Scott propelled the narrative forward. Darren's time in Moscow is short but dramatic, and the majority of the story takes place in an almost cinematically picturesque France. Scott is skilled in breathing life into the soil and love into both the people and Darren himself, who by all appearances is truly Henri. Of course, no good spy story worth its salt lets an undercover CIA agent who has made buckets of enemies off the hook so easily, and Scott is brilliant in making Darren/Henri defend his new dream life. I loved Darren's transition to family man and how he morphs from the appearance of a groping, womanizing reporter to a man discussing who is going to watch the baby. Overall, this is an exceptionally packaged thriller that lulls us into a sense of safety and then efficiently pulls the rug out from under us.