Democracy is fracturing—and one woman may hold the key to saving it.
This electrifying new thriller from former CIA officer and TikTok sensation Brittany Butler is the perfect geopolitical thriller for fans of David McCloskey and Alma Katsu.
When a wave of Russian cyberattacks ignites a disinformation firestorm, the United States is pushed to the brink of a civil war. State governments defy Washington. Militias rise. As trust crumbles and chaos spreads, the CIA races to expose the source behind such unrest before democracy collapses from within.
Brilliant, relentless, and haunted by her mother’s disappearance, Ava was recruited for a moment like this. Dispatched to infiltrate Russia’s foreign intelligence service, her mission becomes personal when she locks onto her target, Konstantine, a charismatic SVR officer whose shadowed past intertwines with her own.
What Ava uncovers is more insidious than she feared. With the country unraveling, she must navigate a minefield of deception. Her only anchor is Ben, a veteran counterintelligence officer with complicated romantic feelings for Ava. But in a world where nothing is as it seems, trusting the wrong person could be fatal.
Ripped from tomorrow’s headlines, The Patriot’s Daughter is a fresh new take on the international spy genre.
Brittany Butler is a former CIA targeting officer with years of experience recruiting spies and dismantling terrorist networks overseas. She brings rare authenticity to her fiction, drawing on her time in the field to illuminate the moral complexities of espionage. Her debut novel, The Syndicate Spy, explores how female operatives navigate religious and cultural divides to fight for peace. Brittany lives by the ocean with her husband, their three sons, and their beloved dog, Gus.
Her highly anticipated second novel, The Patriot’s Daughter—set for release in early 2026—tells the gripping story of a young woman’s quest to uncover the truth about her mother, a decorated intelligence officer accused of being a double agent for Russia. As past and present collide, the novel explores betrayal, legacy, and the cost of loyalty in the shadowy world of espionage.
Butler will be in conversation with I.S. Berry, who spent six years as an operations officer for the CIA, serving in wartime Baghdad and elsewhere. She has lived and worked throughout Europe and the Middle East, including two years in Bahrain during the Arab Spring. Her debut spy novel, The Peacock and the Sparrow, was named The Times (London) Thriller of the Year; a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and NPR; and won the Edgar Award, Barry Award, Macavity Award, and International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. The Times calls Berry one of “the top spy novelists of the 21st century,” and Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mission, calls her “the best spy novelist of her generation.” Berry has been featured in The Washington Post, The Times, and WAMU. She’s a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and Haverford College, and lives in Virginia with her husband and son.