Suspense, humor and romance meld beautifully in Straw’s latest. Celebrity chef Sebastian Pike reluctantly agrees to allow the CIA to use his TV show, “Hangry Globe,” as a cover for an espionage operation. The CIA vows that Pike won’t be in any danger, and in fact, officials jokingly call him their MVB — “most valuable bystander.” But Pike, working in the south of France, quickly discovers the flimsiness of that promise when he’s targeted by a terrorist group out to foil the CIA’s plan, which involves safely extricating a valuable double agent from Russia. Pike’s only consolation is a CIA operative who is assigned to act as the show’s producer so she can keep an eye on him while figuring out how to use the show to execute the agency’s rescue mission. The story is peppered with much food and wine talk and, though much darker, is reminiscent of Peter Mayle’s marvelous quartet of Sam Levitt spy capers.
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