In an imagined modern resurgence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, BBC new producer Tessa spots her sister on the security footage of an IRA robbery. Suddenly Tessa's world shifts as she is confronted with the fact that her sister is in the IRA. Asked to act as an informant, Tessa must decide where her loyalties lie, what she is willing to do for family, and how to balance the needs of a sister with those of her newborn son.

Picked as Reese Witherspoon's book club pick in April, Northern Spy has all the building blocks for a thrilling spy story. Instead, Berry opts for a slow character-driven novel that spends most of the time in Tessa's anxiety-ridden thoughts, mostly about her baby. The author missed the chance to really make you think about how terrorism from one viewpoint looks like heroism from another.

Also, I was disappointed that there was no author's note reminding American readers that the violence-ridden Northern Ireland she depicts is a gross over-exaggeration.