by Joan M Kop, 2025
Local Spokane writer Joan M Kop’s latest book is the spy thriller The Spy from Beijing: An Espionage Thriller. She takes us on a unique journey that weaves in the intelligence threat to the US from China, embedded spies and double agents, potential theft of DNA databases to gain economic dominance, and surprising family ties that challenge loyalties. Kop is a former CIA insider whose familiarity with spy craft and geopolitical intrigue shows in this engrossing tale.
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Jenny (Jen Hae Chu) is a Chinese-American United Airlines flight attendant who, after deftly handling a drunk passenger who assaults her on a flight during the COVID pandemic, gets assisted by Dave, an FBI agent. Dave notices how calm she is during a crisis and immediately puts the full-court FBI recruitment press on her. Before you know it, Dave is transferred from his San Francisco, California base to Seattle, Washington, where Jenny lives, and the recruitment is a success. Dave also successfully recruits Jenny to be his girlfriend.
Meanwhile in Beijing, Yichén works for China’s intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), like his father Bohai. His father has been with the MSS for more than 30 years, but unbeknownst to Yichén, has become disillusioned with China’s path in the world. When the authorities find out that Bohai has been leaking MSS secrets to the Americans, Bohai is executed in front of Yichén as a lesson and a warning. After this gruesome scene, Yichén is forced into being an embedded spy on US soil, with the ultimate goal of stealing a DNA database. He’s told that if he does not comply, he will witness his mother’s death next.
Yichén is expatriated to the Seattle area, where he is picked up at the airport by his FBI handlers. He eventually meets Jenny (who gives him a false name). Jenny has had her own DNA analysis done and has realized she is related to Yichén, but Yichén doesn’t yet know. He crosses paths with the local Chinese Americans in the area and tries to blend in. He also tries to make connections, as instructed, with the DNA company of interest. But the brutal methods of his Chinese training soon land him in jail.
Jenny faces the moral dilemma of deciding where her loyalties should lie: to her country, and letting Yichén be punished for the crimes he has committed, or to the only biological family she may ever know.
I feel the writing shines brightest when describing the ins and outs of the two country’s intelligence agencies, and their contrasting styles of spy craft and spy handling. There are some rough spots, however, in the development of interpersonal relationships. For example, I was surprised to read “I love you’s” exchanged on the first night of sex between Jenny and Dave (hard to believe), and what seemed like a few weeks later, Jenny expecting a marriage proposal at dinner. Instead, what she got was an announcement that Dave was taking of leave of absence from work to be caregiver for his ex-wife, who had terminal cancer. Jenny, who never expresses an ounce of empathy or concern for the ex-wife, instead blurts out, “How could you?! What about us?” These kinds of exchanges made their relationship less than believable and made Jenny a not-very-likeable character. But these are small criticisms.
Overall, this is a fast-paced and eye-opening spy thriller that I think anyone who has read books in this genre will enjoy. I’ve read many Cold War-era espionage thrillers, and most had to do with the Russia threat, but this is one of the first focusing on China, and the very first focusing on the theft of DNA data. Kop’s vivid sense of place, both of the Pacific Northwest and of Beijing, is a strong point throughout the book. Also, getting a glimpse of the brutal tactics of China’s government will send a chill down your spine. A very enjoyable book that I highly recommend!
Joan M Kop has also written The Freedom Chaser.
