A Different Kind of Enemy
The Different Kind Series
In Lee Wind’s exciting novel A Different Kind of Enemy, teenage spies scramble through an alien panic and a strained marriage.
Nineteen days into their marriage, unbeknownst to each other’s callings, Nico and Sam are separately recruited by the same intelligence agency. Nico is tasked with tracking a mysterious person of interest; Sam is assigned to an analyst desk in a Manhattan building that officially has no thirteenth floor. As their separate investigations converge, it becomes clear they are not responding to a crisis but working inside one.
A timestamp countdown injects tension into each chapter, with the chapters alternating between Nico and Sam. Text messages, agency bulletins, and journal entries punctuate their tense parallel stories. The dramatic irony of both husbands working for the same agency, unaware of the other’s involvement, is milked for suspense and then complicated.
The James Bond films function as a shared vocabulary between Nico and Sam—used with self-awareness, including via Sam’s vlog critiques of the franchise’s homophobic and sexist moments. And Sam’s journaling voice is conversational and self-interrogating, prone to sudden pivots between Bond-watch obsession and genuine fear. Nico and Sam’s relationship is further defined by a single, specific asymmetry: Nico shows love through action; Sam needs it spoken. The book holds this contrast with patience, and the payoff in the final pages, wherein all the disparate threads converge with frenetic energy, carries significant emotional weight. Indeed, Nico and Sam’s ultimate fate is left in question, suiting the book’s thrilling build-up while making room for future series installments.
A resonant thriller that’s full of thrills and sensuality, A Different Kind of Enemy frames a young romance through beloved spy films.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
